Tin Cup Joe Falls — Saturday, Mar. 1, 2025

Hiked with polarapfel to Tin Cup Joe Falls on Saturday.  We hiked from the Dingford Creek trailhead which meant a rough ride.  We took a high clearance vehicle and saw trucks and Subarus in the parking lot.  The bathroom at the trailhead is locked for the winter.  There was plenty of room in the parking lot when we got there, but it had filled up quite a bit when we left--16 cars.  The trail from the parking lot down to the Middle Fork trail was in great shape, as was the Middle Fork trail.  

Once we were on the trail to Tin Cup Joe Falls, the trail was narrower with lots of logs to step over at the beginning of the trail.  The second half of the trail involved climbing over or under larger and sometimes slippery logs.  Towards the end of the trail there were some steep rocky sections which weren't always clear at first.  I dont think the trail has been hiked much since the snow, and it was good to have two sets of eyes looking for the trail.  We followed the trail on the right side of the creek and the end takes you to a great viewing spot.  We took some pictures of the falls and headed back the way we came.  We did lose the trail on the way back near the rocky section, but found it after wandering around a bit. 

We were considering taking a trail that continues on the other side of the river, and we found cairns marking it; but, the water was flowing fast and we didn't consider it to be safe to cross, especially if we wanted to stay dry.

Some of the other trip reports for this hike mention spring as a good time to do the hike while the vegetation is low from snow sitting on it.  I haven't tried the hike in summer; but I would agree.  There were some trail finding that we were doing near the river that involved walking through limbs and dead stalks with thorns that would be much more challenging when they are at full strength.

Gaia had the trip at 5.1 miles and a little over 1000 ft of elevation.  Plan for some extra time on this hike, because of all the obstacles, it will take longer than expected.