It had been over five years since I had last hiked the Sitka Spruce Trail up to the CCC Road Trail, so decided to do another trip. The trail begins at the NW corner of the big cement concrete bridge over the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River on the Middle Fork Road out of North Bend. I went behind the guardrail and down a steep rocky section to get to the trail. In a short time I was at the first creek crossing. Five years ago there was a log bridge. It is now gone. Going down a slippery bank, I used some big rocks to get across the creek. Some rocks are under the water. I went up a muddy slick bank and then was on the trail hiking through the old growth Sitka Spruce, big leaf maple, red alder and vine maple forest. The trail is level through the old growth forest where I came to Brawling Creek, another rock hop. Then I headed up a steep hill and passed a big fir tree with a 2x4 ladder nailed to it. Further along I crossed another creek on a log bridge. Past the bridge the trail got steeper and I had to go through a couple of really muddy areas. The trail continued going up and got to the ridge line where I had some views of a few mountains. From the ridge the trail met up with an old DNR road, now grown over. I hiked it up to where the trail went back into the conifer forest. There were a few switchbacks, another old DNR road to cross and finally out to the CCC Road Trail. I turned right (NE) and hiked this trail for about 25 feet. Turned left, and began the Green Mtn. Trail, went up through a thick conifer forest and met the old Green Mtn. DNR road. This old road had been converted to a trail years ago with all of the culverts pulled out, but no tank traps. Before getting to the first switchback, I had a nice view out to the east of Russian Butte and some other peaks. 

Further up the trail I found a flat rock for a lunch time seat. While eating a lone hawk came flying over me. After lunch I continued up the trail. After passing the second switchback about 100 yards up the trail while stepping over a fallen tree I noticed another old road bed below. The old road was heading down hill and had trees growing in it. This one did not show on any of my maps. After getting to another view spot I decided to turn around, as the trail was getting steeper again and my 70 year old legs decided they had had enough for today. I figure is was about another mile up to the Last Chance and Absolute Last Promontories view points. Plus I had all the steep down hill sections of the Sitka Spruce Trail to do.

The Green Mtn. Trail is listed in a couple of old guide books, "Mountains to Sound Greenway, Snoqualmie Pass" from 1993 and 2001 and "Footsore 2" from 1978, both by Harvey Manning. The latest guidebooks for this area do not list this hike up Green Mtn. The Sitka Spruce Trail has not been in any guide books or shown on a GT map. It is on an All Trails map. By hiking the Sitka Spruce Trail you can save 2.5 miles of hiking one way from taking the Bessemer Road off the Middle Fork Road up to the CCC Road Trail to get to the Green Mtn. Trail.

I wore my boots with short gaiters for this hike due to the creek crossings and muddy areas. Trekking poles were good for the creek crossings and steep sections of the Sitka Spruce Trail.  Parts of the Sika Spruce Trail are getting overgrown. I used my trekking poles for some brushing. This trail is not for everyone, but if you don't mind a rough and tumble type of trail, check this one out. There won't be any crowds. There are no trail signs for these trails. Hiked 10-14-2019, George

Parked at the turn off just past Bessemer road for the Oxbow lake trailhead. It was a rainy Sunday and we were the first car there at 10am and never saw another person the whole day.

After turning off Bessemer and onto CCC there were numerous stream crossings. They were all passable but many were difficult to get across without stepping in water deeper than hiking boots.

We continued on CCC until it joined a dirt road, about 4.5 mi from where we parked. We only walked a bit on that road before turning back. 

We saw nothing that we'd call water falls and I'm guessing the falls mentioned in the hike description (Brawling Creek) were just one of the many stream crossings we did.

Overall a very nice and peaceful hike. We saw a large owl, a handful other decent-sized birds, and numerous frogs, newts, and slugs.

Some other reports mentioned lots of bugs but we didn't see any, apart from some beetles on the trail.

Did this hike on a Friday afternoon and didn't see another person on the trail.  The bugs were terrible on the gravel path in, all the way up to where you can either go right to the CCC road, or left to Blowout Creek.  A lot of snakes on the path, too, sunning themselves.

Truthfully, we weren't sure exactly which Creek was Blowout Creek, as it's not marked, and went all the way to another section of what I'm assuming was a CCC road, before turning around.

Nice all-around easy hike, but BRING BUG SPRAY!

*also, we heard a noise like thundering hooves along the trail, which scared the crap out of us, but the same thing happened on the way back, and it turns out it was a grouse, taking off very quickly when we approached.

I went to the right to follow the trail toward the end of Middlefork Rd. The initial section of road continues past where the trail goes left and then the trail takes off into the trees while the road continues upward. The trail is narrow and overgrown in many places. In a few sections the amount of grass on the trail makes it look like an animal path rather than a hiking trail. There are several trees down along the trail, but all can be stepped or climbed over (if you're short like I am). All of the creek crossings are either dry or running low but there are a few muddy spots along the trail. I got more wet from the brush. I went all the way to the next parking area then returned for a round trip of 8.9 miles. The trail runs high along the road, but it's never steep. Bugs (mosquitos) were the worst on the gravel road section. I imagine this trail is very pretty in the fall.

A beautiful trail good for getting away from crowds. I went with a couple of friends who are just starting to hike, and they enjoyed it a lot. Just past the gate is a pullout for the Oxbow Lake trail, and we parked there. Although there's a sign for a bathroom, it points down a winding trail that takes you .2 miles away to another parking area. Probably we should have just parked there, as it's really not far down the road.
The uphill part, up Bessemer Road, isn't very steep at all, and is nice and wide. I was expecting the CCC road to be more like that, but in fact, it's a very narrow trail. SMooth, but with a lot of plant growth almost overgrowing it. There were a few nettles, but they didn't seem to hurt me, despite my shorts. Some of the stream crossings are tricky, particularly the first, right when you get to the CCC road. There are grooves cut in the log bridge, but I didn't trust it, and hopped across the stream on rocks, getting my feet only a little wet.
There are some really nice views across the valley to Russian Butte on this trail, and lots of beautiful streams. The description mentions falls at Brawling Creek, but they were pretty tiny. Still, it made for a nice turnaround point. We added the 1.8 mile trip around Oxbow Lake to the end of our trip, just because we weren't too tired yet.

Gaia link below