What an awesome hike. We found this in the Day Hiking, Olympic Penninsula book and decided to make a go of it. The directions to the trailhead were a bit confusing and we think that the road names may have been altered since the book was published. The book says to find the trailhead at the junction of the D-4000 and D-5000 lines. We actually found it at the junction of the D-4000 and D-4400 lines. We marked the spot with our GPS at N 46 55.228, W 123 06.927. From that spot the Mima Porter Trail No. 8 also goes south to Mima Falls. This hike goes north across the road down to Trail No. 20.
The wife, dog and I really loved this trail and the variety of environments. That first breakthrough into the cut area was magnificent. Once we got down to Sherman Creek, the soothing water sounds stayed with us all the way around and back to the No. 8 and No. 20 junction again.
Quite a bit of the trail was muddy, but not too bad. We especially enjoyed the last leg along Lost Valley Creek through what looked like a tree tunnel.