Trip Report
Day Hike - Pratt River Connector to Big Tree
7 of us enjoyed this very wet scouting trip that ended up at Pratt River Big Tree on a rare sunny and foggy (no rain!) January day.
Courtenay Schurman
- Tue, Jan 13, 2026
- Day Hike - Pratt River Trail
- Pratt River Connector & CCC Trails
- Day Hiking
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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There were clearly areas along the paved Middle Fork road where trees have been removed / cut, and at least one area where the road narrows to one lane (road damage?) but the route is passable all the way to the Middle Fork Trailhead. The one-way fork to the right past Mailbox is CLOSED so use the two-way to the left.
Four of us arrived early, three arrived late, and one missed entirely and ended up scouting the Middle Fork for next week's trip.
OF NOTE: the latrine door at this TH does not stay closed without locking from inside, and on our arrival the door was open -- critters had chewed one of the rolls of TP to shreds. PLEASE, close the latrine lid and secure the door.
The Connector trail has a number of blow-downs that are passable step-overs, but two of the larger ones include reroutes up-trail to get by and were shared in a trip report from 5-6 days ago.
Water runoff is very high -- almost thunderously so in places -- expect to get wet. High recommendation for waterproof footwear (no tennis shoes, even trail runners are inadequate on this one, in my opinion) and gaiters to keep debris out of your boots. We also noticed a few areas where trail maintenance has been done... and needs to be revisited, including a snapped bridge railing (below).
Also highly recommend at least one pole as the trail can be slick and there are a few areas where running water covers the trail. Safety first, always.We only saw one other couple the whole day; most of those in the parking lot were visiting the Middle Fork trail which turns left across the bridge.
Northwest Forest Pass is needed per car.
7 of us met for this (new-to-me) scouting trip along the Connector and as far as we could get up the Pratt River Trail before a firm turn-around time of 11 a.m.
Once we took a 10-minute break at the Pratt River camping area, we headed up the narrower trail and I had spiderwebs and dewy/rain brush giving me a thorough soaking. At one point the mud and puddles were so big and deep I wondered whether we should just call it.
At that point my informal "co-leader" pointed out that we were close to the Big Tree junction and Big Tree was only .5 miles farther, so we made that our turnaround point. Holy mackerel, what an impressive Doug Fir. I don't think I have ever seen such a big tree in WA state -- only Redwoods in CA. Wowzers. We had our "lunch" break there and photos, then returned to the camp ground to get pictures of the river and back to the cars by 1:15.
RT moving time 4:30 for 9 miles (2 mph) and only a handful of bird species including a raven and some brown creepers. Highlights: the big grotto cave near the "ramp" trail maintenance crews have created and Big Tree. Worth the visit for the tree alone.
I highly recommend giving this some time -- I might return in June when it's had time to dry out, although with all the overgrowth this might be a brambly mess by then. Glad I did it but it will be a while before I go back.