Began my hike up the Bessemer Road off the Middle Fork Road by the DNR blue gate to see some waterfalls. Parked at the small lot for the Oxbow Loop Trail and walked the paved road to get to the gravel road. A short way up the road I crossed West Fork of Blowout Creek on a metal road bridge where some of the wood planks have rotted away. When I got up to the junction with the CCC Road Trail I checked the one log bridge over the roaring WF Blowout Creek. It is about a foot wide with no hand rail. I turned right and continued up the road where this section is also part of the CCC Road Trail. On the left side of the road, I saw a side trail heading up through the forest.  I soon came to the first replacement CMP (a 4 foot culvert metal pipe). Part of this road had been washed out, covered in mud and had many fallen conifer trees on it from a heavy rainstorm about a year and a half ago. At the first switchback of the Bessemer Road is where the CCC Trail continues NW past Tall Moss Cliff. A new trail had been built to get through the blown out creek area. Several fallen trees had to be cut out. I continued hiking up the road where I could see the damage from the creek blowout. Further up another new large culvert had been installed. I then saw the upper part of the trail I had spotted down below meeting with the Bessemer Road. I found out it had been built when the road was washed out.

Before getting to the second road switchback I saw a sign on a tree stating, "Danger, Active Haul Road". I could see that there had not been any vehicles using this road for quite a long time. I then came to a rock storage area on DNR land. There were many big boulders piled up, two large track-hoes, a front end loader, a scale shack for weighing dump trucks and a storage shed. This was for a rock pit higher up the road that is on private property. After three more switchbacks I came to the Middle Fork of Blowout Creek crossing with a nice waterfall. The culvert is gone and the road goes over solid rock. I could see this was a real gulley washer. After the next switchback the road recrosses the creek where I saw another tall waterfall up hill. Part of the big metal culvert is still there, but the outlet end is smashed flat. Crossing the creek at this location in a vehicle would be pretty hard. No trouble hiking it. I had some mountain views from this road. I turned around here at the creek crossing and headed back. When I got to the connector trail off the Bessemer Road I hiked it down to the Bessemer/CCC Road Trail. This was a nice one to hike on and better than hiking the gravel road. When I got to the log bridge over the West Fork of Blowout Creek, I stopped for lunch and saw a coyote walking on the road. The only wildlife I saw plus two snakes.

I met only five other hikers on my trip and three mountain bikers. No crowds like the Mail Box Peak Trail. If you enjoy waterfalls, check this one out. At the blue gate at the start of the Bessemer Road, DNR still has their "Road Closed" sign for road construction, even though the road work has been completed with new culverts installed, the road cleared of mud and trees on the DNR section of this road. The upper section of the road by the waterfalls is on Forest Service land. George

Our group of four hikers and two dogs met today at Oxbow and hiked up the CCC road to Blowout Creek. We parked, found the gate and had a pleasant first mile up to the left cutoff to the trail.

Now the  trail cutoff immediately poses a challenge for some (including us). The log bridge crossing the creek, which I assume is Blowout Creek, is always sketchy. Currently the creek is pretty full of water and the only way across is on this log. Even though it is carved with a flat surface, it still is a bit spooky to cross. Two of our members went across it seated or straddling. We all made it across but it was a little out of our comfort zone. 

We proceeded down the trail to about the three mile mark and reached another pretty loud, rushing creek and not feeling like we wanted to cross another challenging spot, we decided to turn it into a decent lunch spot. After eating we headed back and had an easier time crossing the log bridge though again two members straddled or scooted across. 

We are not sure if we made it to "Brawling Creek" as the WTA guide says but it was a nice walk in the woods non-the-less. Suggestion to WTA to reinforce that log bridge, or put some kind of railings on it, would be a welcome project.

Beautiful day hike, easy grade and perfect for taking the dog. Finding the trail was easy - exactly as described to find the blue gate, then walk up the gravel road for about a mile until seeing the trail to the left. It is marked with a sign and there is a large creek crossing immediately when you step off the gravel road (there is a log bridge across the creek but today the water was low enough to step across rocks). More creek crossings along the way, all were easy to cross on foot though poles would have been helpful for some. My 50 lb husky had few issues crossing but it takes a bit of rock hopping. Got to the “falls” (a glorified creek this time of year) at almost exactly 3.5 miles from parking. Walked a bit further until hitting another forest road and turned around, making the trip about 8.5 miles. 

I parked at the Oxbow Loop TH and hiked up Bessemer Road, first going west at the junction with the CCC road and up the trail simply marked 'trail' on Gaia in the direction of Bessemer Man, then back down and east along the CCC road to the lower CCC trailhead.

The trail up from the junction with Bessemer Road is really a mountain biking trail, but no bikes today because of snow. It's a fun trail to hike if you don't mind the steep, non-graded nature of it and some sections that are a little hard to follow. When the snow is gone I wouldn't recommend it since there will be bikes coming down and there's not a lot of wiggle room.

Snow started on the trail at 2,400 feet and became constant at 2,600 feet. I plowed through the snow hoping to get to the viewpoint and upper junction with Bessemer Road, but turned around at 3,200 feet since the snow was thigh deep at that point. Only the occasional posthole. The trail has been cleared of debris up to where the snow starts.

Back down at the CCC road heading east from Bessemer Road, the trail was clear and easy after the entry from the road. There was a washout where the trail exits Bessemer Road, and although it looks bad from the road (see picture), it's easy to get through. Once on the trail I hiked east to the lower CCC trailhead and back. Nice views and a forested stroll. Not as lush and nice as the upper section of the CCC road, but still pleasant.

Set out with some Boy Scouts for a short hike along the Big Blowout Creek Trail. The snow level was ~1000’ with fresh snow from the night before. The trail was covered with up to 14” of heavy, wet snow the entire route. Fun for snowballs, but slow going. Several small downed trees made the trek more challenging, but easy enough to get around. Crossing the icy log bridge over Big Blowout Creek (located on the left at the Y in the trail) was daunting for some of the group but no one fell in and it made for great photos. We decided to turn around about 2.5-3 miles in once we got to what I feel was Wise Creek (based upon a prior trip report), because it looked unsafe to cross for our group. Although there was no rain, the constant snow, slush and water falling from the trees soaked everyone pretty thoroughly. A few good views of Mailbox peak, but no vegetation to see under all of the white stuff.