Beautiful day for a hike up Sauk Mountain!  The road is clear of snow but the final hundred yards is a bit rough. If you don’t have high clearance you may want to park at the last pull out before the parking lot on the left.   The parking area was full at 11:00AM when I got there but this was a holiday. 
The switchbacks are snow free and the trail is in pretty good shape. A few minor wash outs but easy to get over. The snow is continuous beyond the top of the switchbacks all the way to the top but the summit block is snow free!  Amazing views!!!

As previously reported, I needed to park 2 switchbacks (.5 mi) before the parking lot due to snow on the road.  When I arrived at 10 am, there were already 4 vehicles.  When I finished the hike, a couple of large trucks had pushed through and parked 1 switchback below the parking lot and there were a couple of dozen cars parked on the road.

Trail is clear of major snow until about 5,000'.  These patches of snow are pretty steep, so some may be more comfortable having poles.  As a heads up, there really isn't any place to sit on or by the trail the and enjoy the view, if you are planning on turning around at the snow. Snow becomes continuous at 5,300', where you need to cross a snowfield for about 1/3 of a mile before gaining the ridge and end of the trail. This section of snowfield is not as steep as the patches earlier on the trail.

Views from the top were AMAZING! I did not scramble over to the true summit (one more hump over), but am told that it is doable with a dog.

Speaking of dogs, there were a lot of well behaved dogs on the trail.  Many were off leash, so be careful if you have a reactive dog, or children that are afraid of dogs.

Went up the old Sauk Mtn trail but tagged Sauk mtn trail as I was on that trail briefly above where the Sauk Mtn trail gains the ridge, for maybe 500 ft.

The Old Sauk mtn trail starts at the Barr Creek conservation area off Conrad Road, about 2 miles East of Rockport. There is parking for 3 cars if the first car that gets there parks far to the right or left. Please be considerate. 

Very close to the trailhead the Dancing Bear trail splits off, but they merge again after a few minutes. At 800 ft elevation you leave the Conservation area and are now on the old Sauk Mtn trail. The trail is easy to follow, though a bit overgrown in some places. Virtually all blowdowns have been cut out recently by some volunteer (thank you!!!). 

Between 3000 and 4500ft the trail is awesome, in mature forest with no undergrowth and plenty of moss everywhere. 

Above that the trail becomes a bit harder to follow as it sometimes disappears into a huckleberry meadow. But at this point you simply follow the ridgeline up and eventually will find more trail. You have to try to get lost here. 

The junction with the Sauk Lake trail at 5000 ft was still under 100% snow and from there to the junction with the Sauk Mtn trail was 95% snow. I was glad I had the Gaia map loaded on my phone. Even before I reached the Sauk Mtn trail it was at times impossible to know where the trail went. I followed someone else's footprints (who had also come up the Old SM trail) to the false summit and decided it was good enough for me for today. 

There were no footprints on the switchbacks coming up the Sauk Mtn trail. 

The Old trail is about 4.5 miles with 5000 ft of elevation gain. A little less well maintained than the nearby Cow Heaven trail, but similar in nature. 

Later in the year you may be able to bum a ride down to Rockport if you like the climbs but not the descents. 

Headed up for an exploratory late afternoon out, knowing it’s still early season, temps are warm, and I might have to turn around early. I parked about 0.8 miles from the trailhead, as the switchback beyond still had snow. After that point some downed trees blocking the road will need to be cleared once the snow melts. The last portion of road and parking lot were still entirely snow covered.

From there on the trail was mostly dry for the first few switchbacks. Some snowfields to cross down low, which got increasingly trickier. I ended up stopping about 3-4 switchbacks from top as I got to a spot that looked like a no fall zone at the moment. The snow was mush, as I started at about 330pm, and I didn’t have confidence that a fall in this spot could be safely self-arrested this late in the day. I was solo with my dog and he wasn’t too keen to continue anyways lol.

I highly recommend an ice axe until the snow melts out more if you’re going to attempt to make it to the top. I would guess that it’ll be a few more weeks until these sketchy snowfields near the top have melted out.

Views were still gorgeous, doggo had a great time in the snow, and wildflowers are blooming.

Note: another couple saw a mama bear and 2 cubs on the forest road about 3 switchbacks down from where I parked. Be bear aware and carry your bear spray with you!