Has anyone been on the trail this year or know what it's condition is like?

I'm thinking of taking my son up to do the loop. It sounds challenging, but I think he (and I) could manage.

I called the ranger station and they didn't have any information to share, though the offered maps.

I've done a fair bit of research online, so I know the big picture. I'm wondering if anyone has been on the trail this season.

Thanks!

This probably won't help a lot, but I was on it last year and and it was in good shape. I've been on the Kek and Snowbank trail this year and neither suffered much damage over the winter. A friend just got back from hiking the Astrid-Mauer trail just a little north of the Sioux-Hustler and said it was in very good shape.

Sorry I can't offer better information than this, but since no one else had responded with an experience from this year I thought I'd throw this out. Normally I would have hike it by now, but the BWCA closure pretty much shut down my normal late April / early may hiking plans this year.

Sioux-Hustler is a great trail. Might be my favorite BW trail. Pretty easy to navigate, nice campsites, and plenty of solitude. I hope you get to go.

Also, you might want to join the hiking subforum on this site.

Thanks much. I appreciate the feedback. I'd heard that the trail was in really bad shape a few years ago, so it's nice to know that it's not completely overgrown.

And also, I completely overlooked the hiking subforum--maybe I'll go cross-post this.

Second that it is a fine hike. People do it in fairly short order, but I like to take about five nights and lollygag (or, I am just older and out of shape...). It follows old roads in parts (such as at the beginning), so you need to keep an eye out for where the foot trail turns off.

I've hiked the entire trail several times in the last few and always found it to be in pretty good to spectacular shape for Boundary Waters trails. There is one section of blow down that the trail goes through that would would have been very tough hiking before it was cleared, but it's not a problem now.

As rtallent said you can make the hike as relaxed as you'd like. I usually pack for 3 days but have always done it in two. Part of the reason is that the approach in to the Devils cascade does not really have any good spots to camp, so once you get past the loop coming out your're pretty committed to finishing. Once you get to the loop camp spots are plentiful and generally pretty nice sites.

Thanks. We're thinking of spending five or six nights--might stay in on spot two nights. I'll be with an 11 year old, and we're not in a hurry to get back to the cities, so we figured a few "longer" (6 mile days) and few "shorter" (2-3 mile days).

Any major concerns with water crossings with a kid? In some of the reading I've done, it sounds like the water can be quite high, but I get the impression by mid-summer that water levels aren't typically as high.

Generally the water crossings aren't bad. Expect wet feet and maybe we legs, but no worse. I did have one year I was hiking the trail the first week of November. We'd had a lot of rain and the morning I was hiking was below freezing and there was a little bit of ice. When I came to Heritage Creek where I would normally just wade the rapids it was too high to safely wade in the current. There was a log I might have tried to use, but it was icy. I ended up wading the pool above the rapids. Got wet to above my waist, but lots better than a bad fall on rocks or getting swept off my feet. Not saying in of this to scare you. Having hiked the trail a half dozen times, this was the only time I had a water crossing that really got my attention and if it hadn't been icy it probably would not have been a concern.

During high water you will have more water coming over beaver dams you need to cross, but even though the Forest Service has warned me about these, I've never found them to be much of a problem.

Like you said, typically water levels are down mid to late summer and crossings are pretty low stress.

With an 11 year old I'd be more concerned about the distance, but you are allowing plenty of time. Not sure how heavy your packs will be, but if your son can safely carry the load and still enjoy the walk I do not see any reason it cannot be done. I'm assuming this is not his first backpacking trip. If it is, I'd suggest loading up like you were heading out for 5 or 6 days and doing an overnight hike and see how it goes.

Just passed the trail & the Cascade yesterday. Briefly spoke to a group of maybe 6 or so hikers staying at the Devil's Cascade site - I did not enquire to the condition of the trail, but they were certainly hiking it!

We had hoped to camp there but found the Pauness lakes packed and instead kept going...got to the EP at dark.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the insight. We're heading up there in late June. I'll report back on the state of the trail when we return.

Have fun! It really is a wonderful trail.