There were an amazing number of cars in the parking lot, more than a dozen when we arrived in the early afternoon. Fortunately, we encountered nearly all of those people hiking out as we were hiking in.
The trail passed through a VERY lush forest. Everything was very green. And wet. We unfortunately got drizzled on.
After hiking down the well-graded easy trail for 1.3 miles, we came to the big impressive suspension bridge. I was completely amazed to find this impressive structure in the middle of the forest. (Here is a 1997 article from the Seattle Times about the bridge.)
You can look down on Drift Creek Falls from the bridge.
We hiked the remaining 0.2 miles down to creekside so we could get a better view of the falls. There was a group of photographers down there and a few other people. There wasn't a whole lot of dry shore to work with, and I didn't feel comfortable rambling around in the rocky shallows, with my foot still recovering. So I just snapped a few handheld shots and didn't even get out my tripod.
Unfortunately, the drizzle refused to cease. There was nowhere dry to sit and I didn't have my rainpants. So I left Greg to his picture-taking and slowly hiked back out to the car so I could wait someplace dry. This is a nice little hike. The falls still had plenty of water flowing and the forest was beautiful and lush. The hike is short, and probably about a two-hour drive one-way from Portland, so unless you live down thataways this is a hike best done while you're camping on the coast in the Lincoln City vicinity.
