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Bells Mountain Hike

From Oregon Hikers Field Guide

Cedar Creek at the footbridge (bobcat)
East Fork Lewis River from the high bridge, Moulton Falls County Park (bobcat)
The Dole Valley from Spotted Deer Mountain, Bells Mountain Trail (bobcat)
Cedar Creek, Bells Mountain Trail (bobcat)
Old burn snag on Bells Mountain (bobcat)
Route of the Bells Mountain Hike (not a GPS track) (bobcat)
  • Start point: Moulton Falls Upper TrailheadRoad.JPG
  • End point: Cedar Creek Bridge
  • Hike Type: In and out
  • Distance: 16.3 miles
  • Elevation gain: 3040 feet
  • High point: 1,690 feet
  • Difficulty: Difficult
  • Seasons: All year
  • Family Friendly: No
  • Backpackable: Yes
  • Crowded: No

Contents

Hike Description

The Bells Mountain Trail has been designated part of a 31-mile “National Recreation Trail” which begins at the Hantwick Road Trailhead and ends at the Bluff Mountain Trailhead. This moniker is slightly ironic as the trail takes in several clearcuts and brand-new logging roads, with logging activity often resulting in trail closures; in this respect, and because of destructive ATV incursions, it has been declared an “endangered” trail by the Washington Trails Association. The trail was constructed by the Chinook Trail Association, using a substantial grant, which has included it in their vision for a 300-mile loop trail around the Columbia Gorge. From the clearcuts, however, there are great views on a fine day of the Dole Valley, back to Yacolt, Kloochman Butte, Larch Mountain, Silver Star Mountain, Mount Saint Helens, and Mount Adams. Wildflowers will be out in the spring and the second half of the hike runs along quiet Cedar Creek. A car shuttle is possible in the spring and summer when the road to Cold Creek Trailhead is open.

WARNING: Pay attention to temporary signs posted at the trailheads and junctions. There is frequent logging activity along this trail. The trail may be closed at some points, entirely closed, or closed on weekdays.

You can visit both Moulton Falls and Yacolt Falls before crossing the East Fork on the high bridge and heading down the East Fork Lewis River Greenway on the “baby stroller” trail on the old railroad grade. To reach the bridge from the Moulton Falls Lower Trailhead, walk on the path next to the highway and then cut in past a shed and traverse up the hill to the bridge. From the Moulton Falls Upper Trailhead, which has many more parking spaces, drop in Douglas-fir woods with a sword fern, salal, Oregon grape, and salmonberry understory to a junction. Go left here and head up to cross the East Fork High Bridge and get a bird’s eye view of the gorge on both sides.

Keep straight on the wide, flat railroad grade to pass another picnic area down to the right. You'll get a view through the alders and cedars to little Moulton Falls pushing through its cleft. After passing under a ferny rock face, hike along an alley of red alder. The path crosses a footbridge and, a few yards later, arrives at the East Fork Lewis River-Bells Mountain Trail Junction, with its kiosk and signboard indicating 7.2 miles to Cold Creek.

Go left here to rise up the slopes of Bells Mountain. The trail switchbacks in mossy Douglas-fir, big-leaf maple, and alder woods with a sword fern carpet. Then you'll make a descending traverse and cross a footbridge above a small waterfall. After ascending in three switchbacks, you'll pass the 0.5 mile marker. (You will see these DNR half-mile posts the length of the hike.) Keep left at a junction with an unsigned trail that leads down to a clearcut. Cross a footbridge at a spring sprouting skunk-cabbage, and keep rising to pass your first clearcut of the day. There’s a view back down the Dole Valley to Yacolt from here, and Mount Saint Helens rises above the hills across the East Fork. The trail runs through a stand of forest left along a creek and then enters a replanted clearcut, crossing the end of a logging spur, which is the north junction with Sword Fern Way. There's a sign forbidding motorized vehicles from using the Bells Mountain Trail. When you enter leafy woods again, you'll cross a creek and come to another clearcut. (It should be said that the clearcuts leaf out with lush shrubbery and blooms in the spring and early summer, making the trip a little more palatable.) Navigate the slope, cross another forested creek drainage, and meet a large clearcut at the signed south junction with Sword Fern Way.

The Bells Mountain Trail enters a recently replanted clearcut, and Spotted Deer Mountain rises straight ahead. From the clearcut, you'll get wide open views to the Dole Valley, Kloochman Butte, Sturgeon Rock, Silver Star Mountain, and Larch Mountain. In a stand of conifers, you'll cross a stream and pass the 2.5 mile marker. The trail drops to a gravel logging road in a clearcut. Head left to follow the road around a bend for 125 yards before picking up the Bells Mountain Trail again on your left. Wind through a few slash piles and reach a logging road, where you need to head uphill for 15 yards before resuming the trail. The trail reenters shady forest to cross a creek and then make a descending traverse through the salal above pretty Spotted Deer Creek. A couple of switchbacks take you down to the sturdy footbridge over cedar-shaded Spotted Deer Creek

From the bridge, you'll rise into a clearcut with views back to Bells Mountain and reenter woods before switchbacking to an older clearcut. In another stand of conifers, you'll pass the four-mile marker. When you reach a logging road, bear left for 200 yards before turning off to the left in a replanted clearcut. Now you'll get closer views of Silver Star Mountain through the trees. At another logging road, walk right for 15 yards and proceed on the trail, hiking through alternate bands of clearcut and tertiary forest, passing over a couple of streams. After descending to cross another creek, you'll enter a plantation of 20-foot Douglas-firs. The trail switchbacks down and turns south to parallel Cedar Creek, which you'll eventually glimpse through a screen of vegetation.

The rest of the hike heads up the creek, sometimes crossing or using an old ATV track. Posts have been set to prevent ATVs from taking the foot trail. The lush woods along the creek are comprised of Douglas-fir, western hemlock, western red-cedar, red alder, and big-leaf maple interspersed with skunk-cabbage bogs. Footbridges cross the tributaries to Cedar Creek. Where the ATV track fords Cedar Creek, head up a sword fern slope, and then traverse down to creek level. The trail rises again in mossy woods of older Douglas-fir, cedar, and hemlock. Drop to a boggy area of devil’s club, skunk-cabbage, and salmonberry. At about Milepost 7.0, get views of the Cold Creek Day-use Area across Cedar Creek. Switchback down from the edge of a clearcut, cross a creek, and hike on the level to reach the bridge over Cedar Creek.

This is a good turn around point. To the right is a small viewing platform at a pretty scene: tall conifers shade a short drop in the cold, clear waters of the creek, and you might observe a dipper bobbing for insects in the spate. From the junction, the Bells Mountain Trail continues another mile to its meeting with the Tarbell Trail. If you are doing a car shuttle, it’s 0.2 miles on a universal access trail to the Cold Creek Day-use Area.


Maps

Regulations or restrictions, etc

  • Share trail with mountain bikers and horses
  • Be prepared to encounter logging activity on weekdays
  • Occasional trail closures because of logging activity

Trip Reports

Related Discussions / Q&A

Guidebooks that cover this hike

  • Afoot & Afield: Portland/Vancouver by Douglas Lorain
  • Urban Trails: Vancouver by Craig Romano
  • Day Hiking: Columbia River Gorge by Craig Romano
  • Best Trail Runs: Portland, Oregon by Adam W. Chase, Nancy Hobbs, and Yassine Dibboun

More Links


Contributors

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Oregon Hikers Field Guide is built as a collaborative effort by its user community. While we make every effort to fact-check, information found here should be considered anecdotal. You should cross-check against other references before planning a hike. Trail routing and conditions are subject to change. Please contact us if you notice errors on this page.

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