The Suiattle River Road is mostly clear with a few blowdowns on the sides you can go around and two very small trees you can drive over as long as you have a high clearance vehicle. Snow starts to get deeper near the end I would definitely not recommend anything without 4wd and high clearance. This was my first time on the Downey Creek Trail and someone had gone before so there was a nice path beat out in the snow for us. We followed this for a little over a mile until it stopped. The snow at that point was about up to my knees and not knowing the trail or having snow shoes we decided to turn around. Up until that point there was only one minor blowdown on the trail that was easily stepped over. The forest in snow was beautiful I cant wait to explore more of the Suiattle area this summer.

Hiked Downey Creek August3 with my old buddy Paul. It was a beautiful sunny day. I would recommend this hike to anyone as the trail is relatively flat with minor ups and downs as one hikes along the contour of the mountain. The trail follows along Downey Creek most of the time a couple hundred feet above the stream which is actually more river like than creek like. The trail itself is very comforting underfoot as it is mostly carpeted with pine needles. The forest is cathedral like with huge ancient Western hemlock and Western Red Cedar. As one hike hikes along, The understory changes from a Mossy floor to sword ferns to Salmonberry, Devils club and Hucklberry shrubs. The trail is interspersed with several streams flowing off of the mountain to Downey Creek. As one travels along, Pockets of lush vegetation are passed, evidence of an underground aquifer. The sense of quiet and peace Is soothing and calming has one walks along. We encountered no other hikers and we hiked nearly to the end of the trail which is about 6 miles long. After about 5 miles we descended to Downey Creek and a small campground where we turned around and headed back after eating our lunch. As I said beer, Downey Creek is more like a small river than a creek which is a beautiful,clear Boulder strewn stream. I have been hiking my entire life , I am 65, and this trail is one of the finest I'ved been on. It had recently been maintained, Thank You WTA. Arthur

Having dealt with Bachelor Creek and Downey Creek Trails when they left me a whimpering mess, my recent experience was pure elation. Our party finished the Ptarmigan Traverse this past Saturday and came down the 13 miles from Cub lake via the Bachelor and Downey Creek trails. The Bachelor Creek Trail was beautifully ribboned and brushed out. It might not be like the hwy to Cascade Pass but to climbers that have previously gotten lost for hours in the slide alder thickets... the trail was perfect. Think a deluxe climbers route. Thank you to the people who did this work!!!! Berries, both blueberries and huckleberries were everywhere. Downey Creek trail was nearly perfect. The tread and bridges were in fine shape. Several massive (4+ feet in diameter) were across the trail but nice work-arounds did not delay progress in the least. Again, thanks to WTA for making the end of this traverse very pleasant.

I began this hike not knowing how much of a trail would exist past the old six mile camp, and every account I could come across said there was no trail up Bachelor creek. With this in mind, we cruised through the first six miles of train up Downey Creek (thank you WTA!!) which were logged out and almost completely brushed. The official trail ends just past the log bridge crossing Bachelor Creek, and there is a nice place to camp if you are so inclined. The next several miles were a different story. A path does exist, and by following the cairns we found the old trail fairly easily. It winds its way on the north side of Bachelor Creek for a few miles, and there were long stretches where the trail is in good shape. However, many spots were overgrown with huckleberry or vine maple, creating a nice little tunnel for a rabbit but I couldn't even see my feet! Still, by looking for the trail on the ground, we were ably to work our way up the creek. In a few places we lost the trail and had to backtrack to regain it, but never more than a dozen feet. When we went up, there were bits of flagging marking the trail, but they mainly served as confirmation that we were on the right path. The path eventually made it to a log crossing, we later heard it is at about 4000' elevation but the crossing was well marked with flagging on either end of the creek. The south side was more overgrown than the north, often winding through slide alder and through overgrown meadows. The occasional flagging was a help, but the path was still discernible under the brush. There is another campsite a mile or more from the crossing, a good place to stop for the night. The trail levels out a bit here, and was muddy and marshy in spots but nothing like we expected. When the path begins to climb out of the meadows there are more blowdowns, some of which were marked at the ends. The trail here was harder to follow, especially where many trees covered a section. There is a final scamper straight up an old slide, and this section is dusty and eroding quickly. The occasional flagging or cairn still points the way through to the end... Honestly, all the work we had to do to get up to the top hardly seemed worth it. We camped a night at Mule lake to sample vegetation on the ridge north of Bachelor creek but decided to pack up and head to Cub lake for a night. The views of this lake from the top, the waterfall near the lake and the little meadow between Cub and Itswoot Lakes made up for the bushwhacking and more. It's a hard trip for an alpine lake, most people take this path to climb Spire or Dome, of to come out of the Ptarmigan traverse, but I think it is a worthy destination on its own, and the lack of a true trail should discourage most. Don't try it unless you have some decent route finding skills!! Maybe WTA can work on the upper trail, now that Downey Creek is in good shape?? :-)

I had not been here since the 2003 floods. Plan was to check out recently repaired trail and day hike up to Cub and Ipsot lakes. Downey Creek trail was in good shape thanks to WTA response only a couple blow downs left! When I got to camp there one one person there camped in the only flat spot. Since I was solo I found a small but comfortable spot next to the creek. The next morning started up the creek. The trail started,steep but eventually flattened a bit and actually had some switchbacks. There were many blowdowns most could be circumvented. The brush was wet and I was soon soaked in a full rain suit. In many places you could not see your feet. The rrail stuck mostly to timber cones separated by swaths of slide alder and small muddy creeks. There were a few ribbons marking what was left of the trail. Eventually the ribbons ended and brush consumed all. I wandered around for an hour or so in the area where the trail once crossed the creek thing I could find a trace, no luck. The creek was running high and I could see solid brush up the ridge. In a normal year snow would cover the brush here on Memorial Day now I could only see one patch at about 6000'. I saw one woman from Darrington who was also checking out the trail who said her beta was the same. Finally admitting defeat I walked back to camp seeing the flat spot had opened up. Ate lunch and decided to bag it. After lunch headed back to the car as there is no place to go other than up the creek. This is a great place if you want solitude I only saw two people on Memorial Day Weekend. The parking lot has been cleared out and is now open.