Camped at Newhalem Campground last night and decided to take a morning walk around. Got to check out both the To Know a Tree trail and the River Loop Trail.

Both trails are in great condition! Bugs were not too bad in the morning but were very annoying the previous evening. Not much else to report. They're both great low-grade nature walks.

I preferred the River Loop because it was more serene and took you next to the water — I went to stand next to the river on a rocky shore and it was delightful ☺️ I ended up doing it in both directions, and I preferred going counter-clockwise because you get great views of the mountains once you leave the river side of the loop.

To Know a Tree is the trail to the walk-in campsites, which was a great forest walk, although less remote-feeling since you're walking past campsites the whole time.

Camping note: The Newhalem hydroelectric plant siren went off around 10:30pm the night before. It spooked some of my group because we didn't expect it, but it doesn't seem anything came of it, for campers at least. 

Parked at the North Cascades visitors center, stopped in use the bathroom and fill up my water. You walk through the visitor center and out adore on the back right hand side of the building to access the trail. The initial portion of the trail is a gorgeous downhill slope that takes you into Meadows, soon you pass the Newhalem campground and this was when I saw my first person on the trail today. I turned towards the left at the intersection for the river loop trail which continued straight for a while before descending towards the river. I saw four people in two groups coming up from the other direction here. The river has some nice sand areas along the trail that were nice to stop off at for a bit! Headed back passing another portion of the campground before ascending back up to the visitors center.

We picked this trail due to proximity from the Newhalem camp ground. We took this trail four times over the two days we were present. If you've got time, I would recommend hiking it from both directions and enjoying some of the shadier, sandier banks in addition to the most popular, rocky area. Lots of rafters coming through these days!

As part of our annual camping trip to Newhalem, we hiked the Skagit River Loop two of the evenings. The shade and air conditioning effect down by the river was very much appreciated on a hot day. the part of the trail that was overtaken by the river last year (or possibly the year before) has been rerouted higher so you don't have to limbo hug a tree any more. We found some ghost pipe starting to emerge and a few other interesting flower varieties. The red huckleberries are everywhere right now. An overall great trail for kids and dogs.

This is the perfect trail to do when you need to get out of the car and stretch your legs. It’s easy, well maintained, and close to amenities. It was very green and lush, I thought it was more rainforest than the Hoh trail. Lots of big trees, ferns, and other underbrush. The Skagit River was running fast and high and it was interesting to see that many of the large trees near the river bank were growing in submerged water.