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The Pratt Valley

The Pratt Valley from the top of Bandera Mountain. The valley is wet, lush, and very isolated. It runs from the Middle Fork, just North of Russian Butte, to its headwaters behind Alpental and Snoqualmie Pass. Note the cut of the old logging railroad in the lower center of the picture. The North Bend Timber Company logged the valley from 1936 to 1942. In 1940 there was a large forest fire in the Pratt Valley.



The trail connects up with the old railroad grade where the rails did a switchback. The trail, too does a couple of switchbacks to join up. The famous "Big Trees" sign lies close to complete ruin at a fork in the trail (switchbacks to the left, railroad grade going downhill to the right). If you take the right and head down a very faint path leads to the big trees. There is a grove of them on the right, although they are barely discernable from the massive second growth throughout the valley. Keep going and you will find the Pratt Giant just off the grade to the right.

Big Tree Camp

Big Tree Camp


On November 21, 2008, Zach and I hiked into the Pratt full of hope in finding many hidden pockets of giants. The connecting the Middle Fork Trail and the Pratt had laid abandoned for thirty years and, for whatever reason, I had these images of the Pratt being carelessly logged by loggers who had ample available trees. Perhaps the rumored "Big Trees" sign indicated a big tree grove with many hidden groves to be found.

The Forest Service is scheduled to put the connector trail in during the summer of 2009. The trail itself is certainly not maintained but it also is not cross country. At the bottom of this page are some helpful hints for getting in on the trail until the new trail is put in..

Zach and I made Big Tree Camp just past the "Big Trees" sign. Weather reports were for scattered showers in the morning and then clearing. It poured all day. I must say this is the wettest place I have ever seen short of the Olympic Rain Forest and, quite frankly, I don't think I could tell the two apart. We explored quite a bit of the lower valley. We did not find any significant old growth, the North Bend Timber Company did their job very well. I guess when you secure a loan to put a railroad in, you are probably pretty motivated to get every tree. There might be more to find there in the future, and I plan to go back. The second growth here is very impressive. Trees towering to 120-150' tall are the norm and the forest has an "old-growth" feel. It is a deep, dark forest, even though it was logged less than a century ago.

The Prat t Giant

The Pratt Giant
(170' tall)



Going right at the "Big Trees" sign (if this sign is gone, you go right where the trail heads up hill to switchbacks. If you get to the switchbacks in the trail, turn around and go back) you follow a very slim trail down to a group of big trees to your left. Further down, you will find this large giant to your right.

A sign downhill of the tree says it is 250' tall and 9' 6" in diameter. I measured it as 10' in diameter and 170' tall. Someone clearly measured it in the 1960's or 70's and I suspect they were correct. I believe the top 80' of the tree is lying on the up hill side of it in two pieces. It looks like it blew off not long after it was measured. It's a shame, and illustrates why you will rarely find a tree much over 50-70 feet taller than its neighbors. Isolated giants become trees with blown off tops.

This tree is obviously worth the visit if you are in the Pratt valley. I would not recommend the trip to the Pratt for the trees I have found so far. I hope there are more in there somewhere.

Zach and I attempted to cross the Pratt River but with no luck. We could have waded but that seemed like a cold prospect in November. The Pratt is a decent sized river and certainly not a stream. The little blue line on the map does not do it justice.

The Prat t Giant

Getting to the Pratt





Click link for more detail on hiking to the Pratt Valley
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