Started out at 11:00am on a Sunday. Parking gate to the campground closed until May 15. Trailhead is just beyond the (closed) privy. We took the trail clockwise and the 1.9 miles up was a slow and steady incline. You could hear the creek through much of the hike. And so many wooden bridges and benches!

We continued up the Mount Ellinor connector trail to the viewpoint. It was worth the switchbacks and extra climb. What a great view of Lake Cushman and even a little spot to soak in the sun and have lunch!

We backtracked to the big creek loop and continued clockwise - and so glad we did.

The trail is very well maintained and looked like a lot of recent great work had been completed - bridges, slopes, and benches.  Thank you to whoever these volunteers or workers are!

Hardly any other hikers out - passed about a half-dozen other parties and all were pandemic courteous.

Clocked 8 miles roundtrip and over 1000 ft gain. A great hike!

It's all new spring green right now. I arrived at the trail head at 10 a.m. on a partly cloudy Saturday. It was easy parking on the side of the road, light hiker traffic all the way to the lookout point and back to my car, snow-free, and absolutely beautiful. The bees are active along with the mosquitoes; nothing too annoying yet. Besides the bright green everywhere you look and the rushing water, wild flowers dot the sides of the loop trail. So far you can find pacific trillium, salmon berry, yellow evergreen violets, bleeding hearts, and spring beauties. I wasn't sure if the lookout on a cloudy day would be worth it. It was worth it times ten. Happy hiking.

Hit the Upper Big Creek TH at 8:40am, one other car in area. Went clockwise and glad we did. I'm 62, a bit overweight and deff out of shape, this was probably more than I should have done. We had to stop alot, which obviously made the trip longer than what most report on here. But... I did enjoy this hike tremendously! Stopping and drinking a lot of water was the key. Lots of trillium, Oregon grape, some Skunk Cabbage and so many water falls and bridges it made me so very appreciative of our Creator. We did take the 1.9 mile spur to the Mt Ellinor lookout and while it pretty much kicked my butt, it was also worth it. What a view! We saw one other person the entire trip, she was headed up to the lookout and on to Mtn at a quick pace...shaming me for sure! Heading back we continued the clockwise trip across more bridges and saw lots of Canadian Jay's, Chickadees and even an Eagle. I'm sure there was more as I could hear others but I had to keep focused on the trail so as to remain on top of it rather than spotting something as I tumbled down! The trail itself was in great condition, well marked and no debris. All in we hit the TH parking at 12:45 so as I mentioned it did take us longer than many others but was a really nice hike. I personally would rate this as difficult for someone my age and condition, and prob modest for most.

A nicely shaded year-round forested hike approximately 4.8-mile loop long with river views and peekaboo glimpses of Mt. Ellinore and Mt. Washington’s snowy mountain peaks. Until a bit later in the season, the campground is closed so consider arriving early (after a mandatory stop at Hoodsport coffee) to get one of the limited parking spots just outside the closed gate. The well-signed Upper Big Creek loop trail (#827/827.1) starts adjacent to the vault facilities (also closed) and allows the hiker to ascend (approx. 1112') in either direction. Many find the counter clockwise route a bit steeper but more pleasant with river sounds and views along the way. The trail tread is dry with no obstructions and, on our hike the Trillium were in full bloom. Kudos to trail maintenance teams who have really improved the drainage and footing as well as repairing bridges and benches along the way. Just before you cross the bridge over Big Creek there is a terrific lunch spot with a bench, a lovely side stream flowing into Big Creek and perhaps a bit of late morning sun? As you pass the top of the loop over the bridge and past the signage for the Mt. Ellinor connector trail (#827.2) the trail becomes an easy gradual descent back to the campground.  

Another fantastic morning on the Big Creek Trail.  Trail is in great condition as usual; dry (except for one very small, easily stepped over patch of mud) and clear of blowdowns.  There have even been some new benches put in since the last I was there.  Huge thanks as always to the Mount Rose Trail Crew for all the work they put in on the trails in this area!

We got to the trailhead around 8:30 AM and nabbed the last defined spot in the parking lot.  Both the privy buildings we checked in the campgrounds were locked, so plan accordingly. 

Trail is snow free up to the look out on the trail up to Mount Ellinor, though there was weather moving in and a chance of snow is in the forecast so not sure if this will change.  There were a couple off trail patches of snow left on the way up to the look out point.

Also wildflowers are starting to come out!  Beautiful trilliums and yellow violets leading the way (even a trillium nurse log).

Per Gaia, starting at the small parking lot on the road side of the locked gate I had 7.46 miles and 1721 ft total elevation gain for the Big Creek loop plus the Ellinor lookout (this includes walking through the campgrounds to get to the actual TH).

Overall it was a great way to spend the day!