This hike was along the Lewis River, starting at the Curly Creek Falls Trailhead. Access the trailhead by driving Forest Road 90 4 or 5 miles east of the junction with FR 25. Turn left at the sign and drive less than a mile, to a bridge over the Lewis River. Cross the bridge, then 0.3 mile later, turn left into the parking lot. There is a vault toilet and a signboard featuring a map of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument: South Side (which does not even include this area). Parking is free. Note: As of this writing, the WTA Hiking Guide lists the one-mile "Speed Trail" #31E as the Lewis River Trail #31. Most of our hike was along the lower part of the real Lewis River Trail #31. The Hiking Guide is wrong. From the parking lot, we walked west a quarter mile to the viewpoints for Curly Creek Falls and Miller Creek Falls. Both featured brand new signs affixed to trees. Unfortunately, the first sign is misspelled "Curley Creek Falls". The falls is largely in shade, but features a two-tiered drop below a natural rock bridge. Very pretty. Miller Creek Falls is farther away from the viewpoint and also mostly in shade. It is a classic single drop waterfall. From this spur trail (#31A) we backtracked then bypassed the access trail to the parking lot, walking straight along #31A to the bridge, where we picked up Lewis River trail #31 on the other side. This is a fine, well shaded trail along the Lewis River through old growth forest, usually within sight of the river. There are few ups and downs. There was however, one blowdown about a half mile north of the bridge, which required ducking under. Bicyclists would be able to dismount and drag their bikes under the large log. There are three nice camps along the river at about 1.75 miles from the bridge, one with a rope swing hanging over the sunlit water. Nice. We stopped briefly at Bolt Camp, 2.5 miles from the bridge. We explored the shelter, then continued on another 2.5 miles, looking for the junction with the Speed Trail, #31E. (This is the one called "Lewis River Trail" in the WTA Hiking Guide.) I was curious how deep the river was running at the ford location. At the right mileage, we saw a tent and its owner on the opposite side of the river, and just past there on our side was a nice camp site. But we saw no indication of any path that might lead to a ford of the river, or a connecting path on the opposite side - just the person camped there. In fact, the water was running high and swift, so high that it appeared to be chest deep at its deepest. We turned around after eating lunch and had a pleasantly shaded walk back to the parking lot. Total mileage: about 11.

This hike along the Lewis River Trail #31 started at the Lower Falls Recreation Area, along Forest Road 90 about 14 miles east of the junction with FR 25. (The 13th mile currently includes 0.6 mile of rough and potholed dirt and rock road, due to an earlier washout.) The day use area has vault toilets and picnic tables. A Northwest Forest Pass is required. Note: The WTA Hiking Guide currently lists the one-mile "Speed Trail" #31E as the Lewis River Trail #31. Our hike was along the real Lewis River Trail #31. The Hiking Guide is wrong. From the day use area, we took one of two paths to the Lower Falls viewpoints. The Lower Lewis River Falls were spectacular. Photos I had seen in previous trip reports had led me to believe the falls were not that large. Wrong! They're a respectable 43 feet high and 200 feet across! On the left side is a churning trough which gathers most of the water flow. There are several viewpoints to capture the scene from. Another mile and a half further upstream was the Middle Lewis River Falls, a river-width combination of a waterfall and a cascade of water along a sheet of bedrock. The viewpoints are limited here, but even the riverbed is pretty, the clarity of the water revealing its ragged volcanic nature. We chose the short side trail up to Lower Copper Creek Falls, a small trickle of water that drops 32 feet in a classic formation. Returning to Trail #31, we continued upstream one mile to the very impressive Upper Lewis River Falls. Again, photos don't do it justice. The falls are 58 feet high and 175 feet across, again with a churning trough on the left side. We ate lunch at the river's edge below the falls and enjoyed the view. We knew about Taitnapum Falls a short distance further up the trail, so we continued on. What we didn't know was that there is also an upper viewpoint to the Upper Falls, about a quarter mile beyond the lower viewpoint. It requires climbing steeply uphill, but I highly recommend it. The view from above was not as picturesque, but like I said, photos don't do it justice anyway. See the churning trough up close. Taitnapum Falls drops only 16 feet, across the 60 foot width of the river. Its most noteworthy feature is the raggedness of its lip. Most waterfalls course over a well-rounded lip, but not Taitnapum. Its lip has resisted wearing evenly, leaving a bizarre-looking ragged undercut edge for the water to spill over. From Taitnapum Falls, we continued the remaining one third of a mile to the Quartz Creek Trailhead, where we turned around and headed back to our starting point at the Lower Falls Recreation Area. Total mileage was about 7 miles. The trail was in excellent condition, with only a couple muddy areas.

This is a loop, beginning and ending at the Crab Creek Trailhead of the Lewis River Trail, #31. The Crab Creek trailhead is on Forest Road 90, 13 miles past the junction with FR 25, 100 yards north of a bridge across the Lewis River. (The 13th mile currently includes 0.6 mile of rough and potholed dirt and rock road, due to an earlier washout.) The trailhead sign reads LEWIS RIVER TRAIL #31. Parking is along the shoulder of the road. From the trailhead, we set out west, climbing at first, then dropping sharply to cross Cussed Hollow Creek on a sturdy bridge. At 0.5 miles is the junction with the Bluff Trail, #24 (as it is known on signs and the Forest Service web site). The Bluff Trail is 2.7 miles long, gaining 1800 feet. 1000 feet of that gain occurs during a one mile grind in the middle. The flora is typical for the elevation: ferns, salal, berry vines, and lots of vanilla leaf. There are no camps, no views, no water, and (oddly) no bluff! There is water at the upper terminus, where Spencer Creek crosses FR 93. From here we walked north on FR 93 about a mile to Spencer Meadow, then headed south on Trail #30 to Spencer Butte. Unlike Trail #24, this trail was badly rutted from motorcycle use. You need strong ankles and a contorted gait to make decent time hiking it. At 1.25 miles, we were treated to a view of Mt. Adams on our left. Then at 1.5 miles, we reached the high point at 4247 feet and the concrete foundation piers of the former Spencer Butte lookout. There were just a few patches of snow. Unfortunately, there were no views. The trees had grown tall enough to block all but a glimpse of Mt. St. Helens or Mt. Adams. We returned to FR 93 and followed it a very short distance to the upper trailhead of the Cussed Hollow Trail #19. This too was rutted, at first not so badly. But halfway along, the ruts were so deep as to make me wonder whether motorcycle gear shifts could get bumped inadvertently. I later encountered a rider and asked him. He said, "I know exactly which part of the trail you're talking about. The ruts are so deep, the trail has become unrideable". Sadly, those same ruts make it unpleasant for hikers, and treacherous when wet. At 3.3 miles, Trail #19 ended at a junction with the Wright Meadow Trail #80. We followed this broad trail the remaining 0.6 mile back to FR 90, crossed the road, and continued until meeting the main Lewis River Trail #31. We followed this outstanding trail the last 2.3 miles to complete the loop, stopping in the middle to admire the Lower Lewis River Falls. Total mileage was estimated at 13.8. Most was in forest, and therefore shaded.

Beautiful hike. We packed into Bolt Camp. The shelter was partway down, but still very usable. the old growth trees were wonderful. We hiked on up the trail for a day hike. I highly recommend this hike to others.

This was a GREAT hike to end our 10 day hiking vacation! We were camped at the Lewis River CG which is one of the nicest forest service campgrounds in which we have stayed. We have hiked this trail many times and have never seen the falls as full and beautiful as they are now. This is a 7 mile RT hike with 500 ft elevation gain and a lot of ups and downs along the way. We ate lunch at the top of the Upper Falls. When we reached the upper falls on our return we met a kayaker and his wife who were discussing his route over the falls. We stayed to watch his "ride" over the falls. What a thrilling experience to view "live"! We learned after his ride that he was Bobby Miller and that he is featured on the cover of "Whitewater Magazine" this month. The trail is in excellent condition. Wild ginger, bunchberry, spring beauty, penstemon, and yellow monkey flower were some of the flowers seen. We started our hike from the CG at the Lower Falls Rereation area. There are trail heads along Road 90 for the Middle and Upper Falls if you don't want to do the entire main trail.