Eastside Trail is one of our go to rainy day hikes when at Rainier. It also works well on hot sunny days like today as the trail is shaded nearly the entire way. Our goal today was Stafford Falls. We arrived at the Grove of the Patriarchs trailhead at around 2pm. The parking lot was full but we lucked out and got a recently vacated spot. Lots of people on the Patriarchs trail, but quickly left them behind at the suspension bridge. We encountered 8 people on the rest of the trail today, three were NPS staff doing trail maintenance, and all were within the first two miles of the trail. Lots of old growth to marvel at along the entire way. There are also many waterfalls, which are running heavy right now due to snowmelt. They acted like much needed air conditioners on a hot day like today. The trail does have a bit of elevation gain, roughly over a 1000ft round trip with all the ups and downs. You don't notice it at the time until you are wiped out at the end. Had lunch at Stafford Falls, then headed back. Did around 12 miles total. Spent most of the day alone in nature. Even Grove of the Patriarchs was empty when we returned at 7:30pm. Might be the best time to go to avoid the crowds. Other than a few small mud patches, the trail is in great shape!

Weather was perfect on Sunday morning, sunny and cloud free, and we got there at 8:00am. There was only 1 other car in the parking lot so we were lucky to have the trail to ourselves for the first half. You'll reach the lot to your right, after entering the Stevens Canyon Entrance where the rangers will check for your pass or you can purchase one, we used our America the Beautiful Natl Parks pass (make sure you sign the back of the card!) There are restrooms, water fountains, and a decent amount of parking spots but they'll fill up quickly.

The suspension bridge is 1 person at a time, and people like to take photos, so definitely recommend trying to come early or you'll be waiting to cross. I had a neck gaiter I pulled over my mouth as there are some bugs and webs we walked through. The trail follows the river, crosses the bridge, then you'll get to the really tall trees, some 1000 yrs old! Many signs throughout the hike to learn more about the ecosystem and reminders to stay on the trail to protect the plants. 

Ended up spending about 40 minutes total, enjoying the space, and taking photos. By 8:30am a lot of families and other hikers had arrived, it's definitely a great, easy family friendly trail to check out.

Loved the short hike. Weather was perfect, the trail was clean, water was beautiful. The bridge was the highlight, and passing kids loved it. The trees were amazing, minimal bugs, the only thing I would say is get there early. Parking fills up quickly as the day goes on.

Three words: rainy, slippery, and wet! Come prepared for all of those and you will have a lovely hike.

The river is absolutely stunning and flowing very fiercely right now with all the snow melt. 

We had a reservation to camp at Ohanapecosh but bailed due to the rain. Still very happy we got to do the two trails. Both trails clocked in at 5.5 miles with a little under 1k feet in elevation gain.

Hiked these trails starting from ohanoceposh campground.  Trail was pretty straight forward and easy to follow.  If you're simply looking to do the silver falls loop then it doesn't matter which trailhead you start off at from the campground.  If you're wanting to add in the grove of the patriarchs to this trail like we did then the direction does matter in my opinion.

If you start the loop from the campground going clockwise (starting after crossing the bridge) then you're better off going all the way up to the grove of the patriarchs and then back down to the falls and back to the parking lot.  The reason for this is bc where silver falls meets up with the groves trail you have to hike down to the falls and then back up.  The other option is to start before crossing the bridge and go counterclockwise.  This allows you to see the falls on your hike up but I felt that there was more incline or incline for longer stretches this way.  Either way, the trail is easy to follow, muddy in spots though.

Saw lots of people who'd climbed down to the rocks which is not advisable.  It's steep and slick and if you fall in, good luck as the water is raging.  Saw lots of dogs on and off leash even though no dogs are allowed and 0 rangers.  We followed the trail up to the Steven's entrance where we had to cross the busy road to continue on.  Cars were parked everywhere and there were a ton of people on the trail.  Once at the suspension bridge, we had to wait for long periods of time due to the line that had formed on both sides as people took their sweet time crossing while taking selfies or videoing their crossing.  We hiked out the same way we came in except when we got back to the loop we finished with seeing the falls and heading back to camp.