We decided this day to drive the Mountain Loop Highway and include some hikes on what turned out as a gorgeous day, perhaps the last truly nice day of the season. The trailhead parking is essentially a very wide turnout off the narrow unpaved forest road that climbs up about a mile from the MLH. The road is fine for any car, just narrow in places. The trailhead is well marked with a big sign with rules and information posted on it. No restroom facilities at the trailhead.
We were the only car parked at the trailhead. We hiked about two miles up the trail to where the trail switchbacks then turned around. The trail we traveled was gentle with no appreciable climbs or descents. It's a nice walk through forest. There was one good view point near the start, but don't step too close to the edge as it's undercut in places as the river down below continues to erode the bank. Vegetation is encroaching along some short stretches. A ribbon tied to a branch warned of a hornet nest. We didn't see any hornets. We saw some piles of bear poop at the switchback. The fall colors were out and mushrooms were coming up. The only person we encountered was a trail runner who passed us going up and then coming back.
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