As others have mentioned, the trailhead is deceiving. Go straight to start the loop—the other end of the loop lets out at a different part of the parking lot. There’s an unmarked spur trail to the right that leads to a giant downed tree. This is a good quick hike to sneak in when arriving at the park in the evening or seeing one last sight before you leave, and I’ve never seen this parking lot full. Apply bug repellent before you hike though - I forgot for this short hike and got two nasty bites in return.

After working all day on a different trail with WTA I decided to do this short half mile trial on my way out of the Park. 

The trail head is very visible from the small parking area on the side of the road, the trail itself is a little hard to find when you walk past the trail sign. I thought it went behind the large downed tree on the right, but when I noticed people had used that area as a restroom and left toilet paper behind it must be straight. 

The trail does incline a little bit, but some chuck steps do help with this. The trail is pretty well maintained for the first few hundred years, but then all of a sudden it seemed like the trail petered out, and opens to a wooded area with old growth firs (hence the name). I thought I had lost the trail but then I saw a downed tree that had been cut, and what looked like a trail. 

The trail is starting to get over grown after this point, there is a foot bridge over a small creek that is almost covered by vegetation, but still passable. Once you start heading back down the hill is when the trail really starts getting sketchy. For being a half mile trail I knew I was almost done wit the the loop. 

On the foot bridge that crosses back over the small creek there is a large downed tree which the size is impressive if you've never seen old growth forests before. There is also an impressively sized skunk cabbage as well which I admired for a few minutes. 

The final stretch of 50 years of this trail needs some serious brushing of vegetation as it is growing over the trail, and with summer just starting I'd hate to do this little loop later on. 

Other interesting thing I saw on this trail were two different sections of old cables half under the ground. I only had my imagination to wonder were the from old logging? mining on the mountain? Or were they from something else?

If this trail were to be cleaned up a little it, it would be even better for children. Even with the slight overgrowing vegetation I would highly recommend it as a short little jaunt through old growth trees that are up to five and a half feet in diameter. 

Until next time see you on the trails, and if you want to donate to my hike-a-thon page visit https://give.wta.org/fundraiser/1515269 to  help raise funds for WTA!

This is a short forested loop off the road on the way to Longmire. The trail has some rocks, roots, and a short plank bridge. There is a little bit of elevation gain to it, but should be manageable for anyone without significant mobility limitations. 

Plenty of large old growth trees are present, as well as, lovely nurse logs sprouting all sorts of mushrooms, ferns and new trees.

This hike was perfect to go on with my two year old niece. We went right at the start of the trail thinking that it was a loop and it didn't matter which way we went. It was not a trail and it came to a dead end. The trail is a loop, but it ends at a different part of the parking area. There are no views of the mountain. It is a beautiful walk through the woods with one or two steep parts.

This loop is quick, easy and offers a look at the big beautiful trees in this part of the park. Parking is just a big turnout loop but only two other cars were there (even on a Saturday with the Paradise parking area full). We did this hike in flip-flops without a problem.