Hike number four today. A beautiful short hike through some Old Growth Cedar. The suspension bridge at the beginning crossing over the Skagit River was nice. The loop trail takes you through some old growth trees which was more that just Cedar but also a massive variety of Ferns through out the trail. This Trail is mostly in the shade which was nice as the temperature was hot. You still had a slight haze of smoke from the Easy Fire since the smoke was blowing Westernly toward Newhalem. All and all a beautiful little trail. Checkout the video of this hike by clicking on the link below or checkout 100's of other hikes I have doen in Washington State and beyond on my Vimeo Channel by clicking on the other link below.

As always get out and see this beautiful state and enjoy your hiking!

Take Care,

Mike

What a beautiful day at North Cascades National Park. We started on the River Loop Trail from the visitors center. We saw tiger lilies in this area and a few other little ground flowers. Huckleberries ripe all over. Then we headed toward Newhalem taking the Linking Trail to Trail of the Cedars. So many cool bridges! Once in Newhalem we stopped to use the bathroom and then went to Ladder Creek Falls where there are lots of flowers in bloom. That area is worth it to stop and see. Lots of stairs and uphill at Ladder Creek Falls. Overall we did 5.5 miles and that includes walking around Newhalem. Highly recommend linking them all together to make it a longer hike and worthwhile to see all the fun bridges. 

Fantastic area for short lowland hikes to avoid crowds in the summer or to stretch your legs snow free in the winter.

1) Ladder Creek Falls - We'll defined path that starts with a beautiful bridge over the Skagit. The trail does have some incline but has railings along the way. The interpretive signs paint a unique picture of how this area was used at it's origin. Really nice trail.

2) Trail of the Cedars - We parked in front of the Inn. Then crossed a bridge over the Skagit. From there the trail is a loop, we went clockwise. The trail lives up to its name and has beautiful cedars and nice views of the river. Wide path with relatively no elevation gain.

3) Rock Shelter - We linked trail of the cedars with rock shelter and the Skagit river loop. There is good signage in the area with maps that can help you stay out of your car and explore the area as a whole. The Rock Shelter trail starts off a gravel road from the campground and then has a slightly steep but short grade. Once it levels off it ends at a boardwalk overlooking the creek and the shelter. There are interpretive signs explaining the cultural history of the site.

4) Skagit River Loop - Nice trail especially when the campground is empty. The trail does wind very closely to campsites. It also goes along some big trails and has nice views of the Skagit river.

After the excitement of watching the forest fire extinguishing operations near Diablo Lake we took a break from the crowds and vehicles in the area. We went into Newhalem and did the short walk through the huge cedars. At first it was noisy and crowded there too, but after a short time everyone departed and we could enjoy a quiet walk amongst the trees and along the Skagit River. A nice way to decompress before the drive home.

Short but sweet hike on the trail of the cedars. The bridge over the Skagit River is fun and has river access below on the south side. lots of signage if you want to learn about the trees on the trail.

there's parking in the town of newhalem, or if you happen to be at newhalem campground, there's a linking trail over from the c loop sites which is how we got there. one caution though if you're coming from the campground-- expect that the trail should be generally flat. when we got to about where we thought the trail of the cedars loop should begin, we briefly followed what we thought was a branch of the loop up a hill... before realizing something was amiss and finding that we had detoured to an evacuation route trail rather than the trail of the cedars loop. oops!