Big Eddy Picnic Area

Was out there this last weekend (7/29/2017), and there are two picnic tables shaded by some trees off the the left at the end of the trail down. These sites would be idea for a group of 10 since they are basically attached at the hip. If you stay straight on the trail down from the parking area, there was a picnic table that didnt appear to get any shade at all. There are some "game" trails (most likely just light foot traffic) around the big eddy and a few spots to get down to the river for shade in the morning to early afternoon, There appear to be post for standing BBQ pits, however, the BBQs had either been permanently removed, or just removed for fire season. The vaulted toilet may be the nicest vault toilet i have ever been in for those who do not like the vault toilet idea. It was hard to tell whether or not I could use my annual NW Forest pass to park here. I spent the $5 bucks to be safe, Upon further review of the Forest Service site it does appear that the NW Forest pass would work here. The parking area is just a double wide maybe even triple wide shoulder. Limited shade for the cars. We arrived around 1130/12 in the morning there was a large family down on the banks of the slower moving portion of the eddy, and a couple people on the rocks near the exit of the eddy to the big eddy rapids. around 2 pm more and more people started to show up. There isnt really a whole lot of space to spread out, so make some friends or head to a less traveled area.