For the most part the trail is in decent condition - Old blow downs have been cut, but there are a few old ones that are only notched for climbing over and a few new ones that require stepping over. The way is a little less cleared at the first viewpoint, it's still easy to miss the side trail as there's a brushy blow down right at the entrance and then again after passing the shelter at the ridge, where the snow has more recently melted out. There's still a little patchy snow on the ground from about 1/4 mile below the ridge and along the ridge top, but the patches are small and don't require any special gear to cross. Most should be gone in a few days if not sooner if the weather stays as warm as it's been.

There's one large chunk of the trail completely missing  - a big rootball took out a whole corner of a switchback when the tree fell - there's a few ways that you can climb around it and the trail isn't hard at all to pick back up. It was giving the mt bikers a bit of a scare though as on the downhill the trail suddenly drops off.. Be aware that this part of the trail is open to bikers and horses - though there wasn't any sign that it's ever used by stock, it is used by bikers. We didn't see any until the afternoon - the downhill ones make enough noise to announce their presence, but the uphill ones can be pretty quiet - keep you eyes open..

Morning was relatively quiet - only one other car when we arrived, though another party showed up as we were leaving - but a bit of quick walking put enough distance between us that we didn't see or hear them. Coming back the mountain bikers had shown up, most of them were on their way up as we were coming down.

Just a note - you don't really reach Little Ranger Peak proper, unless you want to bushwhack up there. Follow the ridge out from the camping shelter to it's end, where you get a view out over the valley and Rainier. There's a small patch of rocks off the trail that a few people can sit and have some lunch - but there's not much room there and a big group will just block the trail...

There's still lots of fairy slippers blooming and if you look closely you'll see teeny tiny orchids (Listera cordata) along a much of the trail.

The trail was in good condition with only one or two trees blocking until mile 4. After 4, there is a switchback that was washed out by a fallen tree and then several snowpacks which had me turn around after 4.5miles in. I attempted to jump switchbacks but the trail was lost about 1/4 mile from the junction with Palisades trail. Still a beautiful trail run on a warm day with a quick stop to take in the views. Give it a couple of weeks and we should be clear.

To clarify, there IS a small parking area at the trail head on the east side of Rt 410. However, if it's full, simply park at the Buck Creek Recreation Area just south of the trail head. Today the parking lot was only half-full (and trail traffic was light), probably due to the weather. Although the forecast called for partly cloudy skies with a 10% chance of rain, we ended up encountering most types of precipitation on this hike -- hail, snow, sleet, and rain. Mountains certainly do create their own weather, so it pays to be prepared and bring plenty of layers (including a waterproof layer). The lower portion of the trail features many beautiful woodland wildflowers, namely trillium (a couple blooming but most on their way out), calypso orchids (going strong), and yellow violets (just starting). Note: Just before the Ranger Peak viewpoint there's a signed junction that's easy to miss because the sign isn't facing you as you approach it. To the left is the Ranger Peak viewpoint. To the right is the connector to the Dalles Ridge trail. The trail to the viewpoint is a bit tricky to identify because it's blocked by a few large fallen trees, but look closely and it's there. We had to walk all the way up to the fallen trees before seeing the trail beyond. Apart from those large fallen trees, there were only 2-3 other blowdowns on this trail, which were easily passable. The trail is in good shape and there's surprisingly little mud for this time of year.

I went on a sunny clear day and it was brisk due to wind but there was little to no snow. The only snow encountered was about 4 miles up but the views were amazing. Some branches and small things on the trail from wind but very accessible. Very worth it.

Took advantage of a mild and sunny day to hike the 2.6 miles to the Little Ranger Peak viewpoint. No issues except on the spur trail to the viewpoint where there were multiple blowdowns, including a big one close to the junction with the main trail. The spur trail is probably more easily accessed from the main trail at a point just on the other side of the big blowdown about 100 feet down from the junction sign, at a gap between two downed logs. The view from the viewpoint was mostly to the high mountains to the south; getting better views appeared to require taking your life in your hands, which was confirmed by another article I read on this trail. My total hiking time was about 2.25 hours.