I drove right past this looking for a large sign or at least the typical brown sign with white lettering that you get at Rainier. The only sign is a white laminated print out attached to a pole which you can't read unless you are already there. 

The bathroom is clean and well stocked at the trailhead. I had read many reports on a FB group reporting a 20-30 minute wait both sides to cross the suspension bridge. So we left our campsite at Ohanapecosh before 8 am on a Tuesday and had the bridge to ourselves. The children went back and forth several times. They loved the boardwalk loop and the 1000 year old trees.

The loop is a slow descent down to the river where you cross the bridge to an island with a boardwalk through old growth forest. There is a sign on the right as you enter the island warning of an active bee hive. We didn't see any sign of it. 

Thru hiked the Eastside Trail from Owyhigh Lakes trailhead off of Hwy 123 to Ohanapecosh Campground. There were so many beautiful waterfalls to admire and the shady trail was nice with the hot day. We saw very few people until we hit the intersection with the Grove of the Patriarchs, then is was people city. Be prepared to wait in line to cross the bridge to the island with the big trees. We crossed and ate lunch by the river, toured the trees then continued south to our last falls of the day before finishing off with a side trip to Ohanapecosh Hot Springs. Our waterfall tour included the following five named falls: Deer Creek Falls, Stafford Falls, Ohanpecosh Falls, Olallie Creek Falls, and Silver Falls along with countless other unnamed falls and viewpoints.  

Between Deer Creek Falls and Stafford Falls there is a section of trail with four to five blowdowns to navigate. Our party was easily able to clear them and we did have to get low to the ground to go under at least two of them. A little further south of the blowdowns but within the same same section of trail, we encountered a 20 to 30 foot span of trail that was flooded. We crossed the area on a pile of rocks and easily found our way back to the trail without getting our boots wet. Poles were helpful with the water crossing but it wasn't difficult. Several smaller bridges were in various states of disrepair and were still able to be crossed safely.    

Trail in good shape.  30 minute wait to cross the bridge.

Pleasantly warm Wednesday hike to Mt Rainier area. The trailhead parking area was crowded, but we managed to find a spot off the side of the road. We visited the Grove of the Patriarchs first, then did the Silver Falls Loop.

The Grove was quite crowded, with a wait of 10-15 minutes to cross the suspension bridge. But I hadn't seen the big trees for many years so it was worth it.

The Silver Falls Loop was not crowded at all, and it was fantastic to see all the water booming down the falls. Plenty of shade and views of the beautiful river.

With a bit of a late start today, I arrived at the Grove of the Patriarchs trailhead at 1030 and found the parking lot full. I ended up parking at the Cowlitz Divide trail junction a bit farther up Stevens Canyon Road and then took that trail down to Silver Falls. I was hitting cobweb after cobweb on the way down towards the Silver Falls loop, so I don’t think anyone had used the Cowlitz trail all weekend. Silver Falls was pretty spectacular with all the high temperatures vis-a-vis snowmelt happening higher up the mountain this weekend. After viewing the waterfall, I did not continue on the Silver Falls loop, but instead headed up to the Grove of the Patriarchs.  The trail for the Grove was much more crowded and had about a 30 minute wait to cross over to it via the suspension bridge. Only one person is allowed on the bridge at a time, but it is worth the wait to see some very large, and super old trees! Both the Patriarchs and Silver Falls (without the loop) attractions can be done together in less than 2 hours, and are great hikes for kids (if you can trust them not to go near the water). I saw several groups of folks getting way too close to the raging river while posing for photos when one slip would have put them in the drink and potentially six feet under. I had to just turn around and walk away as it was too scary to watch! These trails were a great way to beat the heat as they are completely shaded by the forest and cooled by the river.  I will have to come back and do the entire Silver Falls Loop on another day when it is not 100 billion degrees out :)