Hard to think of a better way to spend Thanksgiving than a crisp, clear, and beautiful day on the Skokomish with barely anyone else around. Went out to the first bridge (~3.5 miles) and back and didn't see/hear anyone until I made it back up the switchbacks. There's a minor blowdown about a foot in diameter and waist-high just before you reach the first river access point, but otherwise the trail (and road) are in great shape.

Found a pair of Tifosi sunglasses and left them at the Le Bar trailhead. Seems like they might've been out there awhile, but you never know.

Trail was excellent and in wonderful condition. Dry and sunny.

The road to the trailhead is partially paved and partially gravel, but all in good condition. We arrived at the trailhead around 11:00am and there was plenty of room in the parking lot. The lock on the outhouse wasn’t working, but the TP was stocked!

The trail was in great condition, as were all bridges. Counter to what it might sound like in the description, this portion of trail does not go next to the river very often. We came near enough to go down to the water itself twice in our 4 miles out (we hiked 8 miles total), but the trail mostly winds through beautiful old-growth forest. We saw many varieties of birds, Douglas squirrels, and even a massive Western toad! We enjoyed lunch by the river around the 4 mile point, then turned back.

This trail is excellent for all hiking levels, and didn’t feel too overpopulated for a sunny Saturday, so we were pleased!

I love this trail! This was the second time my son and I hiked it. Despite this being Labor Day Weekend (expecting a larger crowd of people) and a trip report from another hiker from a month ago saying that river access was no longer possible, I’m happy to report we had an identical experience to our trip a year ago.

Feel free to go back and read my report from that year-ago trip, as the photos, hike conditions, and directions on how to access the riverbed where we camped then holds true today. In 2022 we hiked this trail in mid-July and camped for two nights, and were relatively bug-free the entire time. This year’s hike, in early September, was different. The first day was hot (near 90°), and made for more buggy conditions. The hike in and out were bug free, but once we got settled they started to appear. The most prevalent bug were sweat bees, and while we did see a lot of them, they’re harmless. But since it was hot, and they’re attracted to sweat, if you stop moving for half a sec, you’ll end up with a handful of them buzzing quietly around you. Thankfully days 2 and 3 of our trip were overcast and cooler, so they were leaving us alone. I managed to even find a hive of them on our last day there, at the base of one of the many driftwood logs in the area. Yellow flies were the most annoying while we were there – I got bitten by one on the first day, but the bite had no lasting effect. Only saw a few of them on that first day, and they didn’t reappear on the cooler days. Thankfully, we only saw one or two mosquitos all weekend.

There was a bit of confusion upon getting to the trailhead and seeing the “NO OVERNIGHT CAMPING” sign on the trailhead billboard. I don’t remember it being there in 2022, and I’ve not found any explanation for its existence today. We carried on, convincing ourselves it only pertained to car camping at the trailhead and not backpackers. We did see two other pairs of people camping with us on day 1, but they had all cleared out on day 2, leaving the vast space to us alone.

We saw one pair of bike-backpackers on our hike out of camp on day 3, and about 10 day hikers. I was thoroughly impressed on the lack of people overall, given this was Labor Day Weekend. This hike remains a gem – only 4+ miles to a great camping spot, no issues with parking at the trailhead, rated “moderate” due to the massive switchback incline right at the beginning but otherwise relatively level for the rest of the hike. I backpack only once or twice a year, and consequently I don’t tend to go back to the places I’ve gone before. But this is now the 2nd time I’ve gone to the Lower South Fork of the Skokomish River, and I plan to again. It’s wonderful.

This was the fourth time I hiked this beautiful trail.  The only disappointment was that we weren’t able to access the River.  It’s been a few years, but in the past I was able to hike down the bank and enjoy sitting on the rocky bank or wading across to the other side.  We weren’t able to get down in our usual spot.  All I can think of is that the river washed it away after a particularly heavy snowfall.  But I’d definitely go back.  It was beautiful.