Arrived at the TH around 10:15am on a Wednesday. Half of the lot was full, but there was still plenty of parking available. The road doesn’t get rough until the last 2 miles. There are some small exposed rocks and potholes, but any car can make it as long as you take it slow. I took a Toyota Corolla up and it did just fine. There’s no cash envelope parking at the TH. You either need to have the NW Forest pass OR pay ahead of time. We have a pass, but others were struggling to pay because there’s only a QR code to download an app, but there’s zero service out there to download anything.
The majority of the trail is in good shape and you will hike a variety of terrain (ie. Loose gravel/pebbles, dirt, rocky bits of trail). The thing you need to be prepared for is the water crossing. At 10:45, we got report from earlier hikers coming down that the water was already much higher than when they passed in the morning. There’s a path in the water with several logs strewn together that we saw most people take, but there is rebar wire sticking out of the logs in multiple areas… with how fast the current was, we opted to stay away from the logs and cross a little further up. The water came up to just below my knees (I’m 5’2). I HIGHLY recommend bringing water shoes that strap securely onto your feet AND hiking poles to cross the water. On the way back at 4:30pm, the current was much stronger and the water higher. The log path we saw many people take earlier in the day was mostly covered by water. We went south of the logs and were able to find an area to skip-jump across on rocks, but again we needed water shoes and hiking poles to help.
There’s a second water crossing that has a metal bridge you cross. In the morning around 10:45am, the water level was below the bridge. At 4:30pm, the water was splashing up onto the bridge occasionally but was totally safe to cross.
The trail is well-marked throughout the hike. At the water crossings, follow the small pink flags to the trail.
The hike was amazing, turning out to be one of my favorites. Don’t let the water crossing scare you, but also know your limits.
TLDR
-Rough road last 2mi, but any car can make it
-Bring water shoes and hiking poles for water crossing - BOTH are necessary.
-Have NW pass or pay ahead, no paying available at TH
-Trail is well-marked and marked by small pink flags at the water crossings
Happy Hiking!
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