A pleasant short loop hike along the river. According to our GPS, the loop is 2.4 miles with 318' of elevation gain/loss.

The drive to the trailhead is mostly paved. The unpaved portion is 4 miles long and in good shape -- EXCEPT for the giant pothole immediately following the transition from pavement to dirt, right after crossing the bridge. Watch out for that one! 

Backpacked to LaCross Basin and back from the Staircase trail head. Spend first night at Home Sweet Home, second at Marmot Lake and third ay Two Bears. The basin with the three lakes is stunning. Great colors from the water and so many berries. The hike to the basin is through woods. I prefer more open trails. A crew from Grey Wolf just finished cleaning this trail and it was incredibly smooth. No jumping over trees anymore. Another hiker saw one bear at LaCross lake. If you have the stamina camp at Hart Lake.

What a beautiful way to celebrate 108 years of National Parks and 23 years of marriage. Cool but sunny, the weather was perfect.

We arrived at about 10:30am on a Sunday morning and got one of the last parking spots. Gravel portion of the road was a bit washboardy but we just slowed down and made it fine. Took a little side quest to see the Big Cedar, dang that thing WAS big! Enjoyed scrambling over to the waters edge and the beautiful green hue of the deeper pools.

Approximately 5 miles of the road along Lake Cushman is gravel and a bit rough.  Even though it had recently been graded, it has a washboard surface which makes it a bit rough for RV's.  I traveled slowly and made it just fine.

The hike along the river was beautiful with lots of places to scramble down to the water's edge and enjoy the rapids.  Lots of great photo opportunities.  

I encountered a few mosquitoes but it wasn't bothersome at all.  

No pot holes on the dirt road which was really nice! Trail was super well maintained, clean bathrooms with TP and sanitizer. Went clockwise and it was less crowded. There are some roots and rocks that were a little slick from the rain but not terrible.