I normally don't drive this far for a hike, but after the Eagle Creek Fire, what are you gonna do? It took just short of 90 minutes from my home in NE Portland, but the last half hour after entering the Mt. Hood National Forest was quite pleasant. After passing about a dozen campsites (I think all but one was closed for the winter) I reached the Rainbow campsite. This was also closed, with a gate across the road, but there was room for about a half dozen cars to park. There was just one other car when I arrived at 10 am.
I walked around the gate and a couple hundred yards down the road to the start of the campground, where there would be room for maybe 10 cars when open. There was no relevant signage and no indication of a trail, but I kept left past several campsites and found the unmarked trail just before the second set of bathrooms.
I saw no markings on the trail until a small "<-- Riverside Trail -->" sign two miles in! But it was very easy to follow. There were several short, side paths to river lookouts, but I had no trouble identifying the main trail. The trail never strays far from the river, either.
After a calm drive and a desolate campground, I was in the mood for an empty trail and nearly got it. I only saw two other hikers for the first three miles. The forest was lush with a thick carpet of moss in most areas and a different view of the river around every corner. The terrain was flat to undulating, with a few steep but short sections. I don't like walking along cliff edges, and this hike only had a couple spots that gave me a brief tingle of acrophobia. The trail surface seemed well-drained, except for one swampy area that had a series of raised platforms to walk on.
After the spur to the Riverside trailhead at mile 3, the character of the forest changed, becoming less mossy and with more deciduous trees, and running close alongside the road in some sections, touching up against some pull-outs where cars and campers were parked. I also started encountering more hikers in this section. So I enjoyed this part less, and that trailhead junction would be a good turnaround point for a shorter hike. On the other hand, the biggest old-growth trees were in this section.
I kept going to the Riverside campground, where that end of the trail was marked, rested for a few minutes, then headed back again. The north section was still quieter, and when I returned to my car at about 1:30, the number of other cars had only grown to three.
By the way, both Google Maps and Apple Maps recognized the Rainbow Campground, so I just followed the GPS there, but I had no cell signal at the trailhead and couldn't pull up directions to return home. Fortunately I just headed back the way I came, and there were no turns to make until Estacada.
One other note is that the temperature on the trail (according to my keychain thermometer) was about 10 degrees colder than the temperature in Estacada (according to my phone), so the whole hike was in the mid-30's. I had an extra layer and was fine, but I might have brought a warm beverage if I had anticipated that.
I logged 9.1 miles, including from the car to the start of the trail, and 950 feet of climbing.
- Squeeze between the trees.
- Typical view looking down.
- Typical view looking across.
- I love this!
- So much moss.
- One of a few strange rocky features.
- National Recreational Trail.
- Now we're on the Wildwood Trail?!
- No bark, no bite.
- Granddaddy cedar.
- Snow in the distance.