We planned to do this hike but could not make it past a really rocky section of the forest road heading up.  My friend has a Jeep Liberty but we didn't feel like it could make it so we turned around and went to Dirty Harry's Balcony instead.  Until the road gets some attention I'd consider doing another hike especially if you have a low clearance vehicle.

I'm posting this report just to say that there are some very sharp rocks/potholes on the road about 1.4 miles from the trailhead.  We chose not to attempt to pass them in our Jeep and parked on the side of the road just around the corner, and walked up, as did many people. A number of people successfully passed the rough spot and had parked near the trailhead.  One guy coming down in his compact car scraped the bottom a few times. 

Perfect short hike to start the day! Rough road to get to the trailhead, but any high clearing vehicle can make it. Several sedans were parking at the last hairpin turn before the big rocks on the road - about a mile (rough estimate) before the trailhead. Parking along the road (no lot or facilities). Arrived at 8:20am on a Sunday with a parking spot right in front and 5 cars already parked. Trailhead to the right of the road as driving up, with a “Mt. Catherine” sign a few hundred feet into the trail. 45 minutes from start to the top at a clip pace with a steeper grade and a good amount of switchbacks. To get to the views, there is an established cable wire for about 20-30 ft up a steep face. This face can also be used without the cable wire but there for those who need it. There is another slightly less steep trail you can take without a cable wire just before the cable wire option. Beautiful 360 degrees of views at the top! There is also a small box hidden under one of the trees directly across from cable wire pathway with a log book :) 

Hiked during camping in denny Creek. 

Did this hike today and the view from Mt Catherine was beautiful. The road condition was quite bumpy, full of potholes and rocks. If you care about your car’s suspension system, I would recommend going up in AWD with high clearance. If you don’t care, then drive at your own risk. Get there early so that you won’t run into too many people on the trail. Lots of folks had masks, but some did not. Got to the top and the view was beautiful! I highly recommend this hike.