Beautiful trail & well worth the road trip from Eugene, OR. We were warned about the silt that gets into every nook & cranny of the bicycle (and even all over our legs) in puddles. Well, we rode our tandem through the first - and longest at 1.5 miles long - tunnel, and discovered there was no way to avoid the “puddles” since there is a perpetual stream from the walls & arched ceiling of the tunnel! On the way back to the parking lot, we discovered a beautiful waterfall with a small stream right next to the trail outside that longest tunnel. It provided a perfect rinsing, cooling opportunity for our silted legs and shoes! Start early to avoid lack of shade and afternoon heat in late summer. We started at about 10 AM, and had a great picnic lunch near the bottom of the trail before heading back up to the East Portal parking lot.
p.s. There is some confusing signage on the way back up that made us think we had to ascend a steep hill to return to East Portal. Just remember the Hiawatha trail is ALL Rail Trail, mostly 2% grade, no more than 4%.