The trail is clear of snow with no obstacles. It is great shape after the past few winter storms that have hammered the area.

Big Creek loop has some snow, but it's easily hiked without traction devices. Which I know because I brought both micro-spikes and snow shoes but needed neither (used the former just on principle). The trail is in great shape, as reported by the Mt. Rose Trail Crew who maintains it. They came out a couple weeks ago to clear downed trees and limbs from the storms but were astounded to find none. I guess one hapless worker walked the entire loop with his unnecessary chainsaw (don't worry, Dave; I won't mention names). The campground is closed, so you park outside the gate and take the road to the end and past the gate. The TH is on the left. Today based on Joe's post we did the View spur 1 mile up the Ellinor Connector trail. It has a nice view of Lake Cushman, which is very low right now. There is little snow on the hills from this viewpoint; we actually preferred the peek-a-boo views of Ellinor and Washington from the loop trail, but the extra 2 mi. (total) was very pretty and had no other hikers. GPS said total distance 7.5 miles with 1,800' total gain for the loop plus the view spur. A few more photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/51278183@N05/sets/72157629194638721/

I was very impressed with this hike. It was close to home(Olympia) and just what I needed: the woods and cascading water. The bridges are beautiful and the WTA crew should be congratulated. I also like the option of making this a longer hike by following the Mt Ellinor trail! No snow on trail but a dusting on the trees which added to the beauty... I found the troll! Way to go WTA!

A couple days before Christmas each year I like to take time for a hike to clear my mind before the craziness of Christmas day. I love Christmas. The commercial distractions that come with the season I could do without however. A walk in the woods alone is a great way to refocus and concentrate on what Christmas really means to me. Big creek Loop and venturing on up the Mt. Elinor connector trail is a nice place to do this. The trail was free of snow. Despite the rain we've had the trail wasn't muddy at all. I can't wait for this trail to have snow on it however. The confluence is beautiful in the snow.

Parked next to closed gate for Big Creek Campground. Left around 10am, back around 3pm including extra 2 mile roundtrip trail extension to lookout point. What a beautiful trail! We took the counterclockwise route, suggested in the guidebook. About half the loop trail had an inch or two of snow, the rest was bare with snow along each side. It was cold, but clear today. Just past the end of the first half, just beyond the long bridge across Big Creek, there is a switchback that takes you up a steep, extra 2 mile roundtrip to a spectacular viewpoint (see panorama photo). On this extra section the snow was 4-6 inches deep and we were glad to have climbing approach shoes on to avoid slipping. The viewpoint is a deadend with a bench. Since more wnow is expected for the rest of this week, it would probably be a nice snowshoe trip for the rest of the winter.