Monday, 6/5/06, I set out on a long overdue hike. Ruckel Ridge seemed more like a legend than a trail by all I could find out about it. In my wanderings around the Northwest, I frequently asked about the famed Ruckel Ridge Trail. Few hikers had heard of it, fewer knew where the trailhead is, and fewer still had hiked it recently. But, no one I talked to even came close to describing it.
Make no mistake, this is not a trail to be trifled with. It climbs over 3700 ft in less than 4 miles and travels over the tops and around the sides of the steepest basalt formations I've ever seen a trail set on. I would NEVER take this trail in the rain. I would ALWAYS use trekking poles (for safety as well as for the effort necessary to climb -- sometimes there are no good handholds). I would NEVER rush. Footing is especially critical on this trail. And, you MUST be conditioned for the climb. Don't take along inexperienced hikers or you may find yourself carrying them out. The trail is not maintained but it is passable -- I can only assume this is because no organization is willing to take the risk of being sued if someone should get hurt. The Columbia Gorge Hikes book by Don and Roberta Lowe states "Ruckel Ridge seems to be a magnet for people who grossly overestimate their hiking skills." Please be careful.
Leaving Gresham soon after 6, I headed to exit 41 on Hwy 84 (Eagle Creek). I parked in the lot next to the fish hatchery and the road to the campground. A sign in the bathroom indicated that it was safer to leave vehicles in this lot than the one further to the south at the Eagle Creek trailhead. I hit the trail at 7 am.
Starting from the parking lot, walk up the paved road a couple hundred feet to the east and take the path to the left up the hill to the campground. You will come out on a campsite. Continue up the campground road to campsite number 5. The trailhead is just past the campsite. It is not labeled Ruckel Ridge. Head up the trail veering to the right at the start. After passing under the power lines and entering the woods again, take the trail to the right, drift downhill and begin crossing the rock slide. A few hundred feet into the small rocks, the trail begins climbing straight up the rockfall to the left. Climb to the base of the basalt rock face and follow it to the left. Around the end of the rock face the trail is much easier to follow.
The trail follows the tops of the ridgeline and is absolutely spectacular. It's not the views that make this hike. It's the trail and the ridge itself. The climb is brutal and tricky. If you're in shape, you'll love it, if not you'll hate yourself. Take time to enjoy the magic. Stopping just to look around, not just to catch your breath.
The Catwalk, watch your step!
Refer to my gallery: http://portlandhikers.com/photos/jboppelt/category1003.aspx
I reached the Benson Plateau at 9:40 and headed north to intersect with the Ruckel Creek Trail. After finding a convienently placed log over the creek, I headed back to the parking lot via the Ruckel Creek Trail. Pausing to eat a few snacks, I wondered why this trail didn't seem as steep as it did last summer... After Ruckel Ridge you will never see other trails in quite the same way. Flying down the trail, exhillarated by the experience, trekking poles flying, I was down and in the parking lot at 11:13 am. And I never encountered another hiker, at the trailhead, in the campground, or on the trail. What a morning!  | 
, thanks to your TR! I'm doing the loop over to Wahtum Lake.