This was a wonderful spring hike! It was cloudy today but no rain. The ground and forest was damp but no issues with mud. 

We parked outside the Big Creek Campground - the campground is closed for the season. There are a few spots to park right outside the gate and along the road. Past the campground gate, we found the Upper Big Creek loop trail not too far down the campground road on the left side. We took the trail clockwise as seem to be described in the trail description. The trail was in good shape the whole way and seems really well taken care of. There was one log down on the trail, but was no issue to step over. We noticed quite a few benches along the trail which is nice to have. There are lots of bridges to cross. We did notice on the newer looking bridge on Big Creek, one of the railing logs seems to be detached and coming off? 

There were lots and lots of trillium along the trail, but most all of the flowers seem to be on the way out. For most of our hike we were relatively alone on the trail. The second half of the hike we crossed paths with more people. Getting back to the parking area there were many cars parked alongside the road, so I guess it got busy during the day. 

Amazing blue skies on the upper big creek trail. We went counter clockwise to get the mountain views. The trees have all been cleared and the narrowing section after the Skinwood bridge looks like it's been addressed. There is one tree when you first start on the Ellinor connector to the overlook that looks sketchy. It stretches above two parts of the trail to the water. The Ellinor connector had a dusting of snow on it today, but I bet it melted before the day was out. Go all the way until you see the "RLOOK" sign and take that hard left up to the bench and beauty that awaits. The views were amazing and the gray jays must have found something else to do because they didn't hop around telling all their friends humans were taking a lunch break. Happy trekking!

This is my new favorite early season hike! Though I've hiked (and camped) in the area many times, somehow I missed this one.There are several creeks besides Big Creek—running full right now—many bridges, and benches all along the way. It's a very well maintained trail, with excellent signage.

Park outside the closed campground gate (several spaces in the lot and plenty of roadside parking when that is full). The trailhead and clean pit toilets are not far beyond the gate.

Trillium are just beginning at lower levels, and I saw a patch of yellow violets at the other end of the loop (done clockwise). Otherwise, no flowers yet. As other reporters have noted, the area took a big hit this winter. Many downed trees and dense branches on the ground. The trail is clear, though. Well done!

I decided to go the additional mile to the viewpoint (all up) and ended up not going quite far enough. The view of Lake Cushman, partly hidden by trees, is not the viewpoint, I learned from another hiker on my retreat. There were clues it wasn't, but the big giveaway I didn't think of was ... no bench. Ah well, next time. My unseasoned legs were tired anyway.

One note, the loop trail passes an offshoot trail to the confluence of three creeks. It looked steep and long. I passed. After the passing the fork to the viewpoint and Mt. Ellinor, the loop passes the other end of that confluence trail. It looked long and steep. I passed. But then there's a third trail to the confluence. It looked not steep and not long. And I was right! And there's a bench, of course. I ate lunch there with the roar.

The end of the loop is the old road, I guess. It's narrower than a road, but boring. Otherwise a fantastic hike. Oh, I got a late start (for me, also I don't usually hike on weekends). At 10:00, there were already several cars, but I didn't see hikers until I started down from the "not the viewpoint," then there were many. Too many cars to count lining the road back at the gate.

Ice cream in Hoodsport! More words coming soon on my blog: www.writingdownthestory.com.

Decided to give this trail a go as it looked to be pretty snowy/rainy up in the mountains today, and what a beautiful trail it is! We showed up around 9:30 am and were one of four cars in the lot. As others mentioned, due to recent storms, there are a ton of downed trees, but all of been cut and moved aside so the trail is clear. We went clockwise and definitely worked up a bit of sweat as the trail began to ascend, but the cool air felt fantastic. We decided to check out the lookout as it was only 1.4 miles longer, and I'm so glad we did! Great place to have lunch, nice foggy view of Lake Cushman, and we had it all to ourselves! It was snowing a tiny bit while we ate, and I'm glad we brough layers and gloves...it was chilly. Headed back down and continued the loop to see the rest of the trail, and it was smooth sailing all the way back to the campground. Would love to come on a sunny day and see even more of the mountains!

A nice early spring hike for two newbies and 2 getting in shape for summer hikes. We did the trail clockwise and had beautiful views of Mt Ellinor and the creeks below. The area was hard hit by a winter storm and there are trees and branches down, but the trail is clear. It’s a mostly uphill climb to the first bridge but after that it’s fairly flat before the descent. Happy we were staying close to the trailhead so we could get to post- hike beers quickly. Recommended for all hiking types!