Boulder River — Sunday, Apr. 13, 2025

The road to the trailhead is riddled with potholes, and there is one downed tree that narrows the road somewhat - proceed with caution!  The road also had 6 or so pull-offs that would be nice for dispersed / car camping.  Arrived @ 9:30 A.M. w/ party of 4 - end of road was more or less a 'cul de sac' wide dirt parking area, with a majority of it taken up by cars.  But there were plenty of spots just a bit further back on the road.  

A beautifully crisp, sunshine-y morning and spirits were high - There's not much that beats early A.M. sunshine filtering through mossy trees. Some (verrrry) slight bugginess.  Salmon berries were starting to pop and the fiddleheads pushing up.  The sun on the damp foliage was creating steam columns everywhere we looked.  The only bird-song we noticed on this hike were chatty Pacific wrens and the occasional distant raven.   We noticed at the Boulder River wilderness boundary, the permit self-register station seems to be in disrepair - we didn't see any permit registration materials besides the information board itself.  

 You get some nice vistas of the mountain-scape to the north at the onset of the trail - The trail is wide for a short while, but then narrows and gets immediately rockier, and wetter, but it's still very manageable.   It seems as if this trail has seen some slide / washout action, as there are chunks taken out of it at times.  So watch your step, and also because for much of this trail you are walking next to a pretty sheer drop down to Boulder River below.    At about a mile in, we explored a trail leading down to two distinct campsite areas, which could maybe fit around 3 tents each.

The roar of the Boulder Falls up ahead spurred us on, and boy was it incredible - she was FLOWING.  A slightly technical descent down the bluff gets you next to the river, and right underneath the waterfall amidst all the spray.  Plenty of families and dogs out on this morning, enjoying the early spring sunshine.  And I saw a lot of good dog-owner etiquette on this hike :).  I looked hard for any signs of American Dippers in the rapids (our favorite bird - we even named our cat after it), but alas no sign.   

I also want to give a shout out to the group of 7 or so young men who were giddily driving their electronic truck toys on the rocky trail - I have never seen that before!  They were all very respectful in giving other hikers their space, while obviously still having a ton of fun with their adult Hot Wheels.  Loved seeing this type of bonding activity, and seeing folks embrace their inner child :D.

We continued on past the falls - there is one big downed tree across the trail that requires some over-under limbo wizardry, but besides that the trail proceeds about the same. After about a mile we reached another (slightly smaller) waterfall, with a nice mossy river-side sitting spot to boot.  Lunched here and turned around.   

It's embarrassing that it's taken me this long, but I finally remembered to bring a trash bag, and collected a few poop bags and other littered items along the trail.   I am going to be better about giving back to the trails and spaces that give me so much joy -  especially with all of the recent forest service & trail maintenance cuts.  I urge others to do the same!

Slightly more cars in the parking area upon our return @ 1 PM, but it still didn't seem over-crowded.   Went 5.5 miles in total - I will need to return so I can reach the trail terminus and check-out the campsite at the end!

There are restrooms halfway back down the road to the Oso Highway - they were open but did not have any toilet paper or hand-sanitizer.