For a hike that relies on a Forest Road to get you there, you are well served on FR 90. I was surprised at how much of this is paved -- only about a mile and a half is not before it goes back to pavement. I thought the road was in phenomenal shape and the trails along the three falls (Lower, Middle and Upper Lewis Falls) were in great shape and well-maintained. 

If you're on a fall foliage kick, I'd wait a couple weeks for best results.

Use caution when walking down to Middle Falls -- the rocks can be rather slippery.

Great hike.

The Lewis River Falls Trail on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest is absolutely stunning! I first experienced the trail back in August 2000 when I rode my mountain bike on the 32 mile Pedal the Pinchot ride from the Curly Creek trailhead to the Lower Lewis River Falls. I swore to go back again soon but only just recently returned to hike the Lewis River Falls Trail from the Lower Falls to the Upper Falls. The awesome Lower, Middle and Upper waterfalls and amazing old-growth Douglas-fir / Western Red Cedar / Hemlock forest make this one of the most spectacular hikes and mountain bike rides in the PNW region!

We obtained a parking permit for Middle Falls, on fairly short notice.  There were a 2-4 available for each parking area when we obtained ours.  We  hiked from the Middle Falls trailhead up stream passed Middle and Upper Falls, then onto the Quartz Creek trail.  We continued past Straight Creek, making Snagtooth Creek our turnaround point.  We returned to Straight Creek for some explorations before returning the way we came.  Once back to the Middle Falls lot, we decided to gain the extra miles (for the Hike-A-Thon) and continuing downstream to Lower Falls then back to the Middle Falls trailhead.

We only saw a pair of backpackers near Straight Creek, other than that we had the trail to ourselves until the return trip, as we approached the Quartz Creek Trailhead, around 1:30pm.  

We clocked 17+ miles and ~ 3400' elevation gain

The Bigfoot 200 is next weekend, notices are posted and the route is marked.

Permit for day use lot on Thursday, arrived at 12PM

Road: Entirely paved if heading from Cougar except for 1 mile section of gravel road ~3 miles out from the Day Use/Camping area. Paved road can be uneven/rough at times but is clearly marked with white spray paint for the affected area and reflected pole to the right of the road. Drove my mini cooper and had no issues. 

Trail: well maintained and shaded. The detour from lower to middle falls is ~1/4 mile to the parking lot. Signage to the right to continue to upper and middle falls. I did continue past upper falls to Taitnapum Falls but would not recommend the add on. The views are minimal for the extra mile. 

All in all great place to go for a swim and hike beneath shade of the old growth. 

Wonderful river hike and some stunning falls! Definitely worth it to go to the Upper Falls.

Trail and road in great condition, and permit system removes the parking stress - good to see people using the crowd but didn't feel overwhelmingly crowded.