From the Cedar Breaks trailhead.
The best part of the hike was definitely the Crockett Gardens Fall. Note that for the best view of the falls, you'll need to take a little side trip--follow the stone marker and take the path to the right. It's less than a quarter-mile. Everything else was grey and dreary and leafless, but the falls were this glorious mound of emerald, cascading with maidenhair ferns and crowned, implausibly, with a huge pool of elephant ears.
The old farm ruins were pretty neat, too, and when you return to the main trail and climb up above the falls, there's this magical spot where the springs puddle before they trickle over the rock, and it's full of irises--would love to see them in bloom.
Cons: the trails are full of pointy, irregular, ankle-twisting rocks.("karst" maybe?). It's extra work to pick your way over this treacherous footing, and all the time you have to spend watching your feet really limits your sightseeing. Picturesque, but a PAIN in the arse. Unless you're a mountain goat, pack an ace bandage, just in case.
Also, the trail mile markers don't appear to begin counting until the trail hits the lake, which means you get an extra mile to and from the parking lot. We meant to walk 7 miles (manageable), but because of the weird way the miles are counted, we accidentally ended up hiking 9.4 miles, which beat the stuffing out of me.
I'd do it again (especially when the irises are blooming), but probably only to the Crockett Gardens and back, so that it doesn't turn into a death march.
