Eagle Creek Cutoff Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Old Baldy West Trailhead
- End Point: Eagle Creek Ford
- Trail Log:
- Hike Type: Out and Back
- Distance: 4.8 miles round-trip
- Elevation gain: 2040 feet
- High Point: 4,050 feet
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Seasons: Summer into Fall
- Family Friendly: No
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: No
Contents |
Description
A short, steep downhill trail is not everyone’s idea of a pleasant day hike, particularly since the Eagle Creek Cutoff Trail #504 was built in the days when switchbacks were switchbacks and not lazy meanders along a slope: the 20+ tight switchbacks on this trail could easily translate into 40 or more (or 20 much longer switchbacks) on a modern trail gradient. In the good ol’ days, before logging roads came up to the South Fork Saddle, this was a connector from the Old Baldy Trail to the pristine bottomlands of Eagle Creek. You can hike down and ford the creek to reach campsites in the upper Eagle Creek area (see the Eagle Creek (Salmon-Huckleberry) Hike), use it as an extension to the Old Baldy Hike, or do a hike/bike (leave the bike at the Old Baldy West Trailhead) with the Fanton Trail to Tumala Mountain Hike. Rhododendrons bloom here in late June, a viewpoint offers a glimpse into the trailless upper Eagle Creek valley, and a number of springs near the beginning of trail support lush mid-elevation bogs. You can also begin this hike at the Upper Fanton Trailhead or the Fanton Trailhead to make it longer.
Note: I have classified this trail as 'moderate,' but it doesn't easily fit into a category. By length, it would be 'easy.' By elevation gain/mile, it would be 'difficult.' Hence the compromise.
Head in the from the trailhead and go right on the Old Baldy Trail. After 70 yards, where the trail begins to rise, reach the Old Baldy-Eagle Creek Cutoff Trail Junction and go left. Drop into an alder-shaded spring area with marsh-marigolds, false hellebore, and dense clumps of stink currant. Traverse along a slope in an old growth woodland of Douglas-fir, silver fir, noble fir, and western hemlock. The trail rises to another lush opening with springs and salmonberry thickets. Drop and then rise along a ridge crest of rhododendron thickets, the rhodies in full bloom towards the end of June. The ridge becomes narrower, and about three-quarters of a mile into the hike, you reach a clifftop viewpoint over the upper Eagle Creek drainage. Most of what you see here is untrammeled wilderness.
Undulate along the ridge crest before dropping off to the left and heading steeply down. The gradient becomes gentler as you descend through a bear-grass carpet. Hike through a rhododendron thicket under noble and silver firs and then drop down to the left. Make five switchbacks down to a sloping bench and then wind down under hemlock, Douglas-fir, and red-cedar. Then make fifteen steep, tight switchbacks down the slope on a stony tread. Ignore a trail leading left and switchback, traverse, and switchback again down to the Eagle Creek Ford. Across the shallow creek, you can see the Eagle Creek Trail, overgrown in the spring; you can ford the creek at almost any time of year (Use poles for stability: see Tips for Crossing Streams) and hike down the Eagle Creek Trail to campsites in cedar bottomlands.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Eagle Creek Cutoff Trail #504 (USFS)
- Green Trails Maps: Fish Creek Mtn, OR #492 and Cherryville, Oreg #460
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, Bull of the Woods Wilderness, Opal Creek Wilderness, Opal Creek Scenic Recreation Area
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Zigzag Ranger District
- Discover Your Northwest: Mt. Hood National Forest North: Trail Map & Hiking Guide
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Mt. Hood National Forest
- National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map: Mount Hood
- Adventure Maps: Mt. Hood Area
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Eagle Creek Cutoff Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Eagle Creek Cutoff Hike
- New trail signs at Old Baldy, Eagle Cutoff are flipped
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Afoot and Afield: Portland/Vancouver by Douglas Lorain
More Links
- Eagle Creek Cutoff Trail #504 (USFS)
- 10/8/2012 - Eagle Creek Cutoff and east end of Eagle Creek - 504, 501 (Rob's Hiking Diary)
- Misadventures in Hiking (Linda's Lens)
Page Contributors
- bobcat (creator)