The trail was easy enough for my active 71-year-old mother and my 3-year-old daughter. It follows a raging creek/river the entire way and at times you are on a narrow catwalk almost in the river except for the iron railings. Very exciting! Reminded me of some of the waterfall hikes in Yosemite. Very popular trail, so don't expect solitude. Almost a river of people going up and down it in the summer. Still, the scenery is so dramatic and the reward at the end of the first trail section so surprising, that it's worth the shoulder brushing.
The NEAT thing is that at the end of the first section there is a small tunnel entrance. It is very wet and the ceiling is dripping. As you enter it you can hear this sound of water thundering. When you get to the exit you see an 8-foot wide by 8-foot high opening and hear roaring water. As you approach and exit the opening, you see that you are standing on a ledge within a sort of rock tube.
The river is pouring down the opposite side of the tubular canyon, about six feet in front of you--so you get very wet. People had to take turns standing there in pairs to look at it because of the small area. Most people didn't have rain ponchos and didn't stand there more than a few seconds. We had our ponchos and enjoyed a few minutes before we felt like we were being selfish with the experience and relinquished it to the people behind us. In all the park guides there is no mention of this spectacular aspect of the trail. They just say it's a trail that follows a river with 'boiling inkpots' along the way.