Went up on April first, trailhead is unmarked across from Buck Creek Recreation Area, started at Ranger Creek Trail and that led us to the right trail. The trail is in good condition, a dozen or so blow downs but nothing terrible to cross. We made it about 1 mile from the summit and ran into about a foot of snow, we didn't have the right gear and the grade was pretty steep so we turned around. Give it a week to melt out and I bet you can make it to the top easy. The trail to the lookout (only 2.6 miles in) is completely snow free. Only saw one other person all day, its a nice getaway on the woods.

First time hiking in this area, did not disappoint. We started at the Camp Sheppard trail head and did the Snoquera Falls loop, came back down, then took the White River Trail to the Ranger Creek trail head and made our way up to little ranger peak. There were a significant amount of blow downs on both the white river trail and ranger creek trail, but nothing impassable. Total mileage was somewhere around 11-12mi. All in all a great day.

I needed a shake down hike for some new gear and my 13 year old son to have his first big overnight hike and Palisades certainly delivered. We went in the opposite direction of the loop so hiked along the lower river first, through the boy scout camp and then up to little ranger peak. The trail was in great shape and we saw lots of other day hikers, mountain bikers and trail runners. We camped at the lookout shelter, which was great as there was no one else there, it had a little creek for water and a well established fire pit. Clearly this shelter gets used a lot as a stopping point for various hiking, running and biking activities but we were fortunate to have it to ourselves. The next day we hiked out with some really great views of Mt Ranier, some significant creeks - although very low water for July due to low snow pack. The hike out was much prettier than the hike in with better views, more water and mostly downhill. The one big bummer is that our car was broken into at the Palisaded trail lot. I would not recommend parking on 410 in the pull out for this hike if you are going overnight. You need to find an off highway place to leave your car overnight - lesson learned...

Hiked Little Ranger today, snow after about a mile on the trail. Beautiful morning and a great hike. Some cloud cover but still worth getting out of bed to experience the solitude and the beauty of the snow in the higher elevations. Met a few other folk but in general it was a quiet day on the trail. Parking on the road side or across the bridge in the parking lot at Buck Creek is an easy option.