Trapper Creek Wilderness, located in Southwest Washington near the Wind River, includes around 25 miles of trails in old-growth Douglas-fir forests.

distance: 7 miles (out and back with small loop section)
elevation gain: 1,550 ft.
difficulty: moderate
best season: summer and fall
parking pass: NW Forest Pass
hike description: Gifford Pinchot National Forest: Trapper Creek Trail
drive time from Portland: 1 hour 30 minutes

Note that this area was impacted by the 2020 Big Hollow Fire. Learn more about hiking in burn areas on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest website.

Trail Map

The Hike

All of this trail highlighted here is forested with no views. You can continue on the Trapper Creek trail all the way to Observation Peak, but that makes for a much longer hike. For this hike, we stopped at the junction of Trapper Creek and a tributary at B&B Camp (a backcountry campsite area) before hiking back. On the hike out, we took the Deer Cutoff Trail for a small loop at slightly higher elevation than the lower Trapper Creek trail.

Not all of the trails within the Wilderness area are maintained by the Forest Services. There are about 12 miles of primitive trails that are steep and a bit more difficult to follow than the maintained trails.

The trailhead has a large parking area and a vault toilet.

The trail enters the Trapper Creek Wilderness 0.8 miles from the trailhead.

One of several backcountry campsites along the Trapper Creek trail.

Trapper Creek winds through lush lower forest thick with ferns, oxalis, and Devils Club.

The trail crosses several creeks, including this one with a washed out bridge.