South Fork Hoh River - Big Flat

The South Fork Hoh Trail penetrates a wild and remote wilderness and offers hikers solitude just a short distance from the crowded main Hoh Rain Forest. The easy trail stays in the bottomland among groves of towering spruce and grassy maple glades. The farther one wanders the more grotesque the forms become, displaying remarkable growth behavior that is the way of life here.

The South Fork Hoh Trail drops immediately from the trailhead to cross a stony stream bed before heading into second-growth Sitka spruce. This part of the valley was logged in war times when spruce was in high demand. Ferns and oxalis decorate the forest floor under the uniformly spaced trees.

After 0.4 miles the trail enters Olympic National Park. Suddenly hikers are surrounded by large trees and tenacious shrubs. This is old growth. Several Douglas fir trunks over 10 feet thick disappear into the canopy and host a community of young hemlock trying to make a living in the crevassed fir bark.

At about a mile the trail crosses a small stream, rounds a point, and descends to the level of the river. This is Big Flat, a glaciated bottom lying between two relatively high ridges which catch unfathomable amounts of precipitation. The rainfall and occasional fog combined with the low elevation and moderate climate promote vegetative growth unparalleled anywhere on earth.

At 1.3 miles a sign marks Big Flat campsite to the right. A short path leads to the river and several places for tents along the way. The main trail proceeds across Big Flat through halls of incredible spruce. Nurse logs and colonnades line the trail here and there among "rooms" of hanging moss with a carpet of oxalis.

There is a brief glimpse of the river at about 2 miles before heading back through the jungle. Notice that even though plants cover everything one sees from ground to sky there is an ordered look to things. This is partly due to elk browsing, which has been the focus of extensive study in the valley. Moderation in species diversity is also credited to the overall landscaping design.

A small meadow on the right invites explorers in at 2.8 miles, after which point the main trail becomes rough and faint. Trees often lie upon the trail and by midsummer grass and shrubs crowd the way. But soon hikers hear the river again just as the path strikes the foot of the north ridge. Here the river has cut into the base and the old trail has been washed away, which marks the official trail's end at 3.5 miles.

It is possible to descend the bank onto the gravel bars and access the river. Anyone wishing to explore the upper valley should wait for low water levels after most of the snow has melted in the high country.