We started from the north trailhead and the road is still miserable, only works for high clearance vehicles and those not concerned with car paint scratches, BUT the trail is gorgeous, with stupendous views.  Wild flowers still blooming nicely.  We tried the southern access last year 2021 in June but the road was closed I'm not sure what the status of that is now.  We met no one all day, maybe since the north access road is so bad.  Motorcycles do come up on this trail though we didn't encounter any this time.  North access starts higher so you get to the vistas soon after starting. About 3 miles in you get to what seems the highest point on the ridge then the trails drops down to the southern trailhead.

It's a very rough road getting to the trailhead. Only go if you have a high clearance vehicle. There are mounds, ditches, branches, rocks, and deep puddles. However, once there, you'll be treated to an amazing assortment of wild flowers. I don't know names of most, but there are wild roses, lupin, etc. and best of all the lewisia. The Tweedy Lewisia are amazing and there was also Columbia Lewisia.  The trail is in good shape but quite grooved by motorcycles. The views are terrific as well as the many very old gnarled trees that really set off the view on the ridge.

It was a gorgeous hike with wildflowers blooming everywhere, bumble bees and stunning butterflies. The views of the mountains were picturesque. The park maintenance staff has done such a good job maintaining the trail, given that it is not a popular trail, and we saw very few people at Tronsen Ridge. 

The hike itself is doable but there are two key issues to take note of: The road to the Northern trailhead needs high clearance- it's covered with rocks and potholes and can be unnerving to drivers who haven't driven in such conditions such as myself. Secondly, even a bit of rain can cause flooding. It was a pretty sunny day but just a 15min drizzle caused a few pot holes to be flooded with water, causing driving across them to be a pain. 

As such, monitor the weather conditions conscientiously and do not go there on a rainy day. This is a wonderful hike but is only meant to be done on sunny days. 

We drove 0.9 miles beyond Haney Meadows to a jeep track at a right curve on 9712 and parked to the right of the jeep track near a campsite. We did the 2 1/2 mile loop described in Spring and Manning's "100 HikesAlpine Lakes". When we reached the South Tronsen Ridge TH at 1 mile rather than descending on the Tronsen Ridge Trail, we went left on the jeep track to a rock outcropping where we saw several species of wildflowers. Mt Rainier was behind the clouds, but the Stuart Range was visible. Mosquitoes were a nuisance in the meadow area where we parked to begin our meander, but they disappeared once you left the wet area. We usually see a few pink lupine in this area, but the lupine leaves were just beginning to show. Many buttercups were in bloom to add color to the meadows. Shooting stars were past their prime. Sitka Valerien was prevalent, but many were not blooming yet. About 1/2 mile from the TH there were several white, pink and lavender phlox bouquets and paintbrush blooming. The forest floor was covered with Jacob's Ladder as we turned left to stay on the jeep path to reach the rock outcroppings. Cinquefoil, small lupine, Ivesia, cushion buckwheat, Sulphur flower buckwheat, onions, yellow biscuit-root, red paintbrush and one scarlet gilia plant were some of the flowers seen in the rock outcropping areas. There were many bitterroot plants not yet in bloom so one had to be careful where they walked. 

Agree with prior reports that the road to the south trailhead is pretty rough in places but passable in a high clearance vehicle. In addition to the great views, there are abundant Tweedy’s lewisias and balsam roots. Also saw purple clematis, prairie smoke, and bitterroot. Mosquitoes are bad in the parking area where there is a lot water, but disappear once you get away from that area. Next time I will do a one way parking a vehicle at the bottom of the road to the north trailhead and then driving to start the hike at the higher south trailhead. The road to the north trailhead is seriously bad, so parking just off 97 and walking the road back to car at the end of the trip is recommended. It’s a long, rutted 3.5 mile road walk, but there are lots of flowers to distract you right now. More Tweedy’s lewisias than I’ve ever seen. There are better views closer to the south trailhead, but better flowers towards the north. Do it as a one way and see it all.