We did about a ~7 mile round trip dayhike along this trail starting at the Thirtymile Trailhead. From Winthrop, taking the East Chewuch Road north of town, then crossing over to West Chewuch Road (it's signed) is more scenic. The road is paved to the Andrews Creek Trailhead, then there are five miles of unpaved but decent road to the end of the road at Thirtymile. Stop at the interpretive signs you see along these last few miles; they detail the origins and timeline of the Thirtymile Mile, which was started by someone's campfire and led to the deaths of 4 young firefighters. You'll drive by a memorial as well.
I last hiked this trail in the 90s, before the fire, and it was a wonderful river valley hike. Now of course, it's burned. Even 23 years later, the first mile or so is pretty stark. As you continue it becomes more vegetated, and there are some nice aspen groves and shrubs turning colors. I think it will be a few weeks before peak color. The trail itself is in great shape. It does get horse packer use so there will be horse apples. One correction to the hike description: the trail does not stay close to the river. You are generally on a steep slope above it and you have no access to it in this area, except at the trailhead. So bring a water bowl for your dog (and don't do this trail at all when it's hot). I probably don't need to do this hike again, but I was curious to see the state of the area, and it was worth the trip to the trailhead.
A clarification about the intersection of the trail from the Chewuch Trailhead: that trailhead is accessed from the town of Loomis, and would take about 2.5 hours to get to from Winthrop. That trail meets the Chewuch River Trail at a point 4.8 miles north of the Thirtymile Trailhead.
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