Lewis was devoid of hikers on this rainy Friday. The road has a few potholes that should be easily avoidable, making it possible for any car to access the lot. There was a small boulder that had fallen on the road as well, but a forest service employee was in the process of moving it off of the road. We parked at the day use area by the Lower Falls, spent some time enjoying the waterfall, and then made our way up to Copper Creek and Middle Lewis Falls.

We occasionally ran into others on the trail (most of them conglomerated by Lower Lewis Falls) but had the area to ourselves for the most part, especially once we got to Copper and Middle.

Fall colors were spectacular. Larches get a lot of hype, but now that the ones in the alpine are past their peak it's well worth heading down to the Gifford and enjoying the decidious display there. Between the waterfall viewing, fall colors, and lack of crowds, this is a great rainy day hike.

Getting there: it’s about 1.5 hours from Woodland, so just know it’s a journey from the Seattle area! From Cougar it’s 50 mins to 1 hour driving. One small section of gravel and the rest is paved. Most pavement is decent though NF 90 has some potholes. Easy to follow signs! And lots of permit/reservation required warnings as you approach.

Recreation.gov passes: enforced! We camped near Cougar and arrived around 10am on Sunday, beautiful day and the lot was mostly empty. Toilets at trailhead and at the nearby Lewis campground. We noticed that rangers were checking cars as they were coming in by 1p and we noticed them checking parked vehicles around noon. Don’t forget it’s 2 items- the lot reservation and a day use or forest pass or national park pass. We saw someone turned away !!! After that long drive, hopefully they enjoyed eagle cliff park (no reservation needed). Honestly it also looked nice on a hot day.

Trail is easy/moderate and well maintained, worth it to plan out your trip so you can enjoy the water and pretty views. Also, worth it to read WTA Trail description and hike up to the 2nd upper falls viewpoint! Water is crystal clear and I can tell why everyone wants to visit here at some point. We started at the lower Lewis trailhead and hiked up to taidnapam (just passed upper falls) and then back down to lower, stopping at Middle as well. The hike plus hanging out was about 3 hours hiking quickly with stops and some water time and pictures, we would’ve stayed longer but anticipated a long drive home. I think our watches measured ~8 miles.

There is no doubt, this is a beautiful area; however, you need to plan accordingly.  It is a slow long drive through the forest road an NO, it's not in the town of Cougar.  It's about 30 miles from there.  Yes, the permit parking system is fully enforced.  We didn't know and were turned around to get a permit.  So we drove to the closest area where we could get internet service, the  convince store parking and that  was an additional 22 miles.  Also know that the pass is only good at the location you select.  if you are planning to see all three falls and get the pass for the middle falls, it will add miles to your trip.  Once the parking ordeal was settled, I was able to get a permit for the Crab Creek parking lot.  That is a mile hike to the lower falls.  Very pleasant a long the river and it's a well maintained trail.  Shaded for the most part.  We eventually made it to the higher falls but it took some planning.  Overall, I loved the area but it's a long drive and you definitely need to plan ahead. With no traffic, it took us  almost four hours from Olympia to get back.  I plan to go back some time,  but camp and take advantage of seeing the surrounding areas. 

What a remarkable place!  We camped at the Lower Falls Campground which was quiet and clean.  The lower falls are amazing and a great place for a swim after the hike.  The hike to Middle Falls is beautiful and woodsy.  Middle Falls is less dramatic but also beautiful. The hike to Upper Falls had more cliff edge trail at times which was safe but might not be for everybody.  The bottom of Upper Falls is quite nice to explore and a great place for lunch.  Be sure to continue along the trail to get the top of Upper Falls for the fantastic overlook.  Highly recommended.

Warning!  Permit system is now in full effect and rangers are turning people away.  The drive in is long and a mostly forested road.  Once you pass the turn off to the Ape Cave you still have 26 miles to go to the Lower Falls campground/day use area.  They are working on a short chunk of road where there is a big dip which was a little disconcerting while towing a small camper but we made it through.  The campground is lovely and we had an absolutely perfect weekend of weather.  The trail has many access points from the campgrounds and day use area and follows mainly along the river.  It is well groomed, wide, and in great condition except for a few short areas.  We passed a handful of other hiking groups and a few mountain bikers on our out and back to the upper falls.  The middle falls is worth a short side trek down but do be careful of slippery rocks.  I don't know if it was the time of day/or lighting, but the upper falls seemed more impressive than the lower.  It is worth the hike to get up to them.  The mild elevation change and mostly shaded trail made for a relatively easy family hike as long as the distance can be handled. The bunchberry was out in full bloom along the trail and we saw some bear grass near the upper falls.  This is worth the long drive!