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Difference between revisions of "Archer Mountain Loop Hike"

From Oregon Hikers Field Guide

(Delete trail log)
(Edited description to match new trail alignment)
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[[Image:View to Beacon Rock and Bonneville Dam, Arrow Point, Archer Mountain.jpg|thumb|400px|View to Beacon Rock and Bonneville Dam from Arrow Point, Archer Mountain ''(bobcat)'']]
 
[[Image:View to Beacon Rock and Bonneville Dam, Arrow Point, Archer Mountain.jpg|thumb|400px|View to Beacon Rock and Bonneville Dam from Arrow Point, Archer Mountain ''(bobcat)'']]
 
[[Image:Old wall steps, High Valley.jpg|thumb|250px|Rock wall and steps, High Valley ''(bobcat)'']]
 
[[Image:Old wall steps, High Valley.jpg|thumb|250px|Rock wall and steps, High Valley ''(bobcat)'']]
−
[[Image:Douglas-fir above Archer Creek, Archer Mountain.jpg|thumb|250px|Douglas-fir above Archer Creek ''(bobcat)'']]
 
 
[[Image:Larch Mountain from the Yellowjacket fir, Archer Mountain.jpg|thumb|250px|Larch Mountain from the yellowjacket fir, Archer Mountain ''(bobcat)'']]
 
[[Image:Larch Mountain from the Yellowjacket fir, Archer Mountain.jpg|thumb|250px|Larch Mountain from the yellowjacket fir, Archer Mountain ''(bobcat)'']]
 
[[Image:View to Archer Falls from Scott Point,  Archer Mountain.jpg|thumb|250px|View to Archer Falls from Scott Point ''(bobcat)'']]
 
[[Image:View to Archer Falls from Scott Point,  Archer Mountain.jpg|thumb|250px|View to Archer Falls from Scott Point ''(bobcat)'']]
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* End point: [[Arrow Point]]  
 
* End point: [[Arrow Point]]  
 
* Hike Type: In and out
 
* Hike Type: In and out
−
{{Distance|6.4 miles}}  
+
{{Distance|4.5 miles}}, plus optional detours
−
{{Elevation gain|2145 feet}}  
+
{{Elevation gain|2,000 feet}}  
 
* High point: 2,020 feet
 
* High point: 2,020 feet
 
{{Difficulty|Moderate}}
 
{{Difficulty|Moderate}}
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* Crowded: No
 
* Crowded: No
 
{{Hazards|f=y|p=y|n=y}}
 
{{Hazards|f=y|p=y|n=y}}
 +
 +
=== Background ===
 +
 +
[[Archer Mountain]] is the westernmost of a quartet of similarly formed basalt prominences on the Washington side of the [[Columbia River Gorge]], the others being [[Hamilton Mountain]], [[Table Mountain]], and [[Greenleaf Peak]]. All are the result of layers of Columbia River Basalts backflowing up creek valleys. Softer strata between them are now highly eroded into expansive bowls or deep creek valleys.
 +
 +
The mountain was named after Finch R. Archer, an Englishman who was granted title to 178 acres at the foot of the mountain in 1901. Archer homesteaded on the west side of Archer Creek. He had been special agent to the Quinault Indian Reservation and was later appointed as Warden of the infamous McNeil Island Penitentiary in Puget Sound. Archer Mountain was dragged out of obscurity when embers from the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire jumped the river and created the only part of that burn on the Washington side. The rough trail system suffered as a result, but has become more simplified and a little easier to follow.
 +
 +
This area is divided between two jurisdictional bodies: Gifford Pinchot National Forest and the Washington Department of Natural Resources’ [https://www.dnr.wa.gov/columbia-falls-natural-area-preserve Columbia Falls Natural Area Preserve]. The preserve, which covers the upper cliffs and reaches of High Valley, as well as [[Archer Falls]], is off limits to the public (although none of the "Trail Closed" signs remain); it protects two threatened plants, four sensitive plant species, and the rare Larch Mountain salamander. However, [[Archer Mountain]]’s summit, the cliffs facing the Columbia River, and the lower entrance to High Valley are all part of the National Forest, and a network of user trails will take you to these destinations from the south.
  
 
=== Hike Description ===
 
=== Hike Description ===
−
[[Archer Mountain]] is the westernmost of a quartet of similarly formed basalt prominences on the Washington side of the [[Columbia River Gorge]], the others being [[Hamilton Mountain]], [[Table Mountain]], and [[Greenleaf Peak]]. All are the result of layers of Columbia River Basalts backflowing up creek valleys. Softer strata between them are now highly eroded into expansive bowls or deep creek valleys. On another note, the area of [[Archer Mountain]] is divided between two jurisdictional bodies: the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and the Washington Department of Natural Resources’ Columbia Falls Natural Area Preserve. The preserve, which covers the upper cliffs and reaches of High Valley as well as [[Archer Falls]] is off limits to the public, and protects two state threatened plants, four sensitive plant species, the Larch Mountain salamander, and nine endemic plant species. As of 2018, none of the numerous Trail Closed signs which were originally put up along the preserve’s boundary remain. However, [[Archer Mountain]]’s summit, the cliffs facing the Columbia River, and the entrance to High Valley are all part of the national forest, and a network of user trails will take you to these destinations.
 
  
−
[[Archer Mountain]] was dragged out of obscurity when embers of the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire jumped the river and created the only part of that burn on the Washington side. The rough trail system suffered as a result, but has become more simplified and a little easier to follow. [[Archer Mountain]] was named after Finch R. Archer, an Englishman who was granted title to 178 acres at the foot of the mountain in 1901. Archer homesteaded on the west side of Archer Creek. He had been special agent to the Quinault Indian Reservation and was later appointed as Warden of the infamous McNeil Island Penitentiary in Puget Sound.  
+
Walk up the road bed (formerly Forest Road 1853), and pass around a gate above a forest of secondary-growth Douglas-fir.  After walking through the west side of an open field, you'll approach a thicket where the track splits below a thin poplar that gleams bright yellow in the fall. Bear right here, and in about a tenth of a mile you'll see a small sign for the Archer Mountain Trail heading downhill to the right. (Note that these are all user trails, with no official signage.)
  
−
The description first takes you in a figure of eight around the lower reaches of High Valley, where there was once a hippy commune which lasted from 1971 to the 1990s, and then begins the hike to the summit of [[Archer Mountain]]. Walking around the valley floor takes 1.4 miles of the 6.4 mile hike. Note that these are all user trails, without any signage at all, and which sometimes burrow through dense vegetation.
+
From 1971 until the 1990s, there was a hippie commune in this area, called High Valley (pun intended?).  If you'd like to visit the former site of the commune, follow the instructions in the paragraph below to take a 1.2-mile detour in the form of a figure-eight loop:
  
−
Walk up the road bed (FR 1853), and pass around a gate above a forest of secondary-growth Douglas-fir. Keep left at a farm road junction in an open field. You’ll approach a thicket where the road track splits below a thin poplar that gleams bright yellow in the fall. Go right here, and 10 yards later, pass [[Archer Mountain Trail-FR 1853 Junction|the junction]] with a path that leads down the grassy slope: This is the Archer Mountain Trail.
+
: ''Instead of going down the Archer Trail, keep straight/left on the old roadbed. Pass through a thicket of encroaching blackberries, and then enter a woodland of big-leaf maples and large Douglas-firs with snowberry bushes overhanging the track. Leave the forest to hike up through a grassy field studded with bracken ferns, getting a view up to the cliffs of St. Cloud Point, also known as Indian Head. Reach another track, and make a right. Drop down into Douglas-fir woods with an understory of thimbleberry, Oregon grape, and sword ferns. The road curves to the left, and becomes a footpath under a vine maple bower. Return to the bracken field, and keep right (southwest) on the grassy track. After re-entering the woods, you’ll arrive at a stone wall where a homestead once stood. There’s an old electrical box hidden in the shrubbery near this site. Follow the road as it descends past a blackberry thicket which conceals the foundations and electrical boxes of the commune. A thick stone wall, now very much concealed by brush, runs along the bottom of the slope to your right. Pass under some old apple trees and you'll soon reach the main track again. The turnoff for the Archer Mountain Trail is 500 feet to your left (north).''
  
−
If you’re visiting the site of the commune, keep left on the road bed. Pass through a thicket of encroaching Armenian blackberry, and then enter a woodland of big-leaf maples and large Douglas-firs with snowberry bushes overhanging the track. Leave the forest to hike up through a bracken field, getting a view up to the cliffs of St. Cloud Point, also known as Indian Head. Reach another road bed, and make a right. Drop down into Douglas-fir woods with an understory of thimbleberry, Oregon grape, and sword fern. The road curves to the left, and becomes a footpath under a vine maple bower. Return to the bracken field, and keep right on the grassy track. After reentering the woods, you’ll arrive at a stone wall where a homestead once stood. There’s an old electrical box hidden in the shrubbery near this site. Follow the road as it descends past a blackberry thicket which conceals the foundations and electrical boxes of the commune. A thick stone wall, now very much concealed by brush, runs along the bottom of the slope to your right. Pass under some old apple trees and reach the [[Archer Mountain Trail-FR 1853 Junction]] at the poplar tree again.
+
The latest incarnation of the Archer Trail, with its handmade sign, was constructed in 2019. It descends gently through mixed forest for about 300 yards, then switchbacks down to a bridge made of logs tied together, including a "handrail."  After crossing Archer Creek, the trail climbs steadily for another half a mile until it runs parallel to a small seasonal stream on the right. An old eastbound logging road is visible on the other side of the gully, but you'll continue uphill to the north.
  
−
Go left for 10 yards, and then find the footpath that descends the grassy slope. The path joins a road bed that drops steeply down a wooded valley. The road curves right under a mossy hazel, and then traverses under alders above Archer Creek. A shortcut path peels off the road bed to the left. Once on the road again, head down the slope and switchback. Then see a trail descend from the road to the slippery and narrow footbridge at the [[Archer Creek Crossing]]. Head up a steep slope under alders and maples. The path comes close to the wide gasline corridor which was used by fire crews to access the area and contain the 2017 Archer Mountain Fire. Continue rising to an old logging road now populated by 60-year-old Douglas-firs. Descend gradually to where the trail leaves the road on the left, passes a large Douglas-fir, and then crosses another old logging road.
+
Now you’re rising sharply on a tread of loose scree under a canopy of alders. Make numerous short switchbacks, and pass under a mossy basalt outcropping. Switchback at a small waterfall, and make seven more switchbacks up before crossing a steep hanging meadow rimmed by oak trees. Arrive at a viewpoint where you can look across to [[Sherrard Point|Larch Mountain]] and [[Multnomah Falls]] on the Oregon side of the Gorge. After eight more switchbacks, you'll arrive at a mossy point colonized by a single tough Douglas-fir. (The tree has also at times hosted a yellowjacket nest, so be careful about approaching too closely.) Views from here extend across the river to [[Sherrard Point|Larch Mountain]] but also downstream to [[Phoca Rock]] and the cliffs of [[Cape Horn]]. You can also see east to Quiver Point, which used to be accessible via a rough and narrow user path, but that route was totally scorched by the 2017 fire.
  
−
Now you’re rising sharply on a tread of loose scree under a canopy of alders. Make numerous short switchbacks, and pass under a mossy basalt outcropping. Switchback at a small waterfall, and make seven more switchbacks up before crossing a steep hanging meadow rimmed by oak trees. Arrive at a viewpoint where you can obtain views across to [[Sherrard Point|Larch Mountain]] and [[Multnomah Falls]] on the Oregon side of the Gorge. Eight more switchbacks see you arriving at a mossy point colonized by a single tough Douglas-fir (The tree also hosts a yellowjacket nest, so be careful about approaching too closely.). Views from here extend across the river to [[Sherrard Point|Larch Mountain]] but also downstream to [[Phoca Rock]] and the cliffs of [[Cape Horn]]. You can also see east to Quiver Point, totally scorched by the Archer Mountain Fire and which used to be accessible via a rough and narrow user path.
+
The trail traverses up from here – this was also the western edge of the fire. Switchback above a clump of clifftop manzanitas, and cross an open slope to get views down to the fields of High Valley as well as to St. Cloud Point and the valley’s western cliffs. At an unmarked but obvious trail junction, make a left to descend a narrow mossy ridge to [[Scott Point]]. From here, there’s a great view up Hidden Valley to 218-foot tall [[Archer Falls]] (a.k.a. Columbia Falls), which spouts off sheer cliffs in spectacular fashion during the wet season but runs totally dry in the summer. As a nice bookend, to the south you can see [[Multnomah Falls]] on the Oregon side of the river.
  
−
The trail traverses up from here – this was also the western edge of the fire. Switchback above a clump of clifftop manzanitas, and cross an open slope to get views down to the fields of High Valley as well as to the St. Cloud Point and the valley’s western cliffs. At a trail junction, make a left to descend a narrow mossy ridge to [[Scott Point]]. From here, there’s a view up Hidden Valley to 218-foot tall [[Archer Falls]], also known as Columbia Falls, which spouts off sheer cliffs in spectacular fashion during the wet season but runs totally dry in the summer. As a nice bookend, to the south you can see [[Multnomah Falls]] on the Oregon side of the river.
+
Return to the junction, and continue up under maples and alders to an old logging road. Swing right here to pass through thimbleberry thickets and reach another logging road coming in from the left.  (If you choose to visit the summit of Archer, this is where you'll re-join the main trail.) Head straight and climb steeply up the slope, then work your way over a broad crest through thimbleberry and snowberry thickets which will be lush and overgrown in the spring; at times, some flagging might guide you. Begin a descent under moss-draped Douglas-firs. Swing right at a brush pile, and drop through a dense Douglas-fir wood to re-enter the burned area. When you reach the southern face of [[Archer Mountain]], keep left to cross an extremely steep and unstable slope denuded of vegetation by the 2017 fire. (It may actually be safer to make this traverse higher up on the slope.)
  
−
Return to the junction, and continue up under maples and alders to an old logging road. Swing right here to pass through thimbleberry thickets and reach another logging road. Go left here for 15 yards, and take a trail leading steeply up the slope. Work your way over a broad crest through thimbleberry and snowberry thickets which will be lush and overgrown in the spring; at times, some flagging might guide you. Begin a descent under moss-draped Douglas-firs. Swing right at a brushpile, and drop through a dense Douglas-fir wood to reenter the burn area. When you reach the southern face of [[Archer Mountain]], keep left to cross an extremely steep and unstable slope denuded of vegetation by the 2017 fire (It would actually be safer to make this traverse higher on the slope.). Then work your way out along the narrow, rocky promontory of [[Arrow Point]], which was also denuded by the fire. This is a far-reaching, if exposed, viewpoint with a serious downclimb if you want to reach the end. You don’t have to do this, however, to get views across the Columbia River to [[Horsetail Falls]], [[Oneonta Gorge]], Yeon Mountain, and [[Nesmith Point]]. On the Washington side, you can see Quiver Point across the steep bowl to the west and down to Franz Lake. [[Bonneville Dam]] stretches across the Columbia River upstream from [[Beacon Rock]], and [[Hamilton Mountain]] protrudes across the wide, forested bowl of Indian Mary, Duncan, and Woodard Creeks.
+
Then turn right and work your way out along the narrow, rocky promontory of [[Arrow Point]], which was also denuded by the fire. This is a far-reaching, if exposed, viewpoint with a serious downclimb (or traverse along the west side( if you want to reach the end. You don’t have to do this, however, to get views across the Columbia River to [[Horsetail Falls]], [[Oneonta Gorge]], Yeon Mountain, and [[Nesmith Point]]. On the Washington side, you can see Quiver Point across the steep bowl to the west, and down to Franz Lake. [[Bonneville Dam]] stretches across the Columbia River upstream from [[Beacon Rock]], and [[Hamilton Mountain]] protrudes across the wide, forested bowl of Indian Mary, Duncan, and Woodard Creeks.
  
−
To cap off your trip, you can attempt the short trip to the summit of [[Archer Mountain]]. After leaving [[Arrow Point]], scramble straight up the ridge ahead of you. Little trace remains of the user trail that once threaded the burned trees on this slope. Pass over a prominence, and descend to a saddle. The next prominence is the true summit of [[Archer Mountain]]. There are no good views from here, and the summit is carpeted with a thick colony of phacelia. Rather than descend the way you came, continue down the north side of the summit past a huge Douglas-fir that got blackened for most of its length but still seems to be alive. You’ll reach the northern boundary of the burn and can then peel off down to your left to reach the bench below. Head south near the base of the ridge, sometimes following elk trails, to pick up the trail you came in on. Make a right and follow the path all the way down the mountain and across the creek to return to your vehicle.
+
At this point, you can return the way you came.  Or, to cap off your trip, you can attempt the short bushwhack to the summit of [[Archer Mountain]]. The summit doesn't have any views, but this detour does make the hike into a partial loop (and adds about 1/3 of a mile and 150' of elevation gain):
 +
 
 +
: ''After leaving [[Arrow Point]], scramble straight up the ridge ahead of you. Not much remains of the user trail that once threaded through the trees on this slope, but it's a ridge so it's easy to follow. Pass over a prominence, and descend to a shallow saddle. The next prominence is the true summit of [[Archer Mountain]]. The rather flat summit is carpeted with phacelia and other plants that have thrived since the larger trees were killed by the fire. Rather than descend the way you came, continue down the northwest side of the summit and look for a faint trail that may be marked by orange flagging tape.  This path heads roughly northwest along a rounded ridge for about 300 yards, then winds its way downhill to the west and ends on a logging road.  Turn left on this road; it appears to dead-end, but another less obvious track heads downhill to the right (southwest). Follow this for about 1/4 of a mile until you reach the main trail again. Turn right to return 1.5 miles to the trailhead.''
  
  
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* Trails can be indistinct: experienced hikers only
 
* Trails can be indistinct: experienced hikers only
  
−
{{TripReports|Cape Horn}}
+
{{TripReports|Archer Mountain}}
−
* [https://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=27906 Archer Mountain 11-24-18]
+
* [https://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28811 Archer Mountain loop on the last day of freedom (3/22/20)]
−
* [https://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26673 Archer Mountain, scorched and mostly off-limits]
+
* [https://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27906 Archer Mountain 11-24-18]
−
* [https://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26661 Archer Mountain Hike – 2018-05-20]
+
* [https://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26673 Archer Mountain, scorched and mostly off-limits - 2018-05-23]
−
* [https://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26260 Winter solstice hike, Archer Mountain]
+
* [https://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26661 Archer Mountain Hike - 2018-05-20]
−
* [https://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24324 Archer Mountain]
+
* [https://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26260 Winter solstice hike 2017, Archer Mountain]
−
* [https://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17284 Archer Mountain]
+
* [https://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24324 Archer Mountain 2016]
−
 
+
* [https://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17284 Archer Mountain 2013]
−
{{RelatedDiscussions|Cape Horn}}
+
−
* [https://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4341 Archer Falls/Archer Mountain]
+
  
 
=== Guidebooks that cover this hike ===
 
=== Guidebooks that cover this hike ===
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=== Contributors ===
 
=== Contributors ===
 
* [[User:bobcat|bobcat]] (creator)
 
* [[User:bobcat|bobcat]] (creator)
 +
* [[User:adamschneider|Adam Schneider]] (updater)

Revision as of 06:44, 2 April 2020

This page is marked as a Lost Hike. The "trail" may be dangerous and hard to follow and is not recommended for beginning hikers without an experienced leader. Carry detailed maps of the whole area and/or a GPS unit and compass.
View to Beacon Rock and Bonneville Dam from Arrow Point, Archer Mountain (bobcat)
Rock wall and steps, High Valley (bobcat)
Larch Mountain from the yellowjacket fir, Archer Mountain (bobcat)
View to Archer Falls from Scott Point (bobcat)
The route described from High Valley to Archer Mountain (not a GPS track) (bobcat) Courtesy: Caltopo/USFS
  • Start point: High Valley TrailheadRoad.JPG
  • End point: Arrow Point
  • Hike Type: In and out
  • Distance: 4.5 miles, plus optional detours
  • Elevation gain: 2,000 feet
  • High point: 2,020 feet
  • Difficulty: Moderate
  • Seasons: Spring through fall
  • Family Friendly: No
  • Backpackable: No
  • Crowded: No
Falling
Nettles
Poison-Oak

Contents

Background

Archer Mountain is the westernmost of a quartet of similarly formed basalt prominences on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge, the others being Hamilton Mountain, Table Mountain, and Greenleaf Peak. All are the result of layers of Columbia River Basalts backflowing up creek valleys. Softer strata between them are now highly eroded into expansive bowls or deep creek valleys.

The mountain was named after Finch R. Archer, an Englishman who was granted title to 178 acres at the foot of the mountain in 1901. Archer homesteaded on the west side of Archer Creek. He had been special agent to the Quinault Indian Reservation and was later appointed as Warden of the infamous McNeil Island Penitentiary in Puget Sound. Archer Mountain was dragged out of obscurity when embers from the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire jumped the river and created the only part of that burn on the Washington side. The rough trail system suffered as a result, but has become more simplified and a little easier to follow.

This area is divided between two jurisdictional bodies: Gifford Pinchot National Forest and the Washington Department of Natural Resources’ Columbia Falls Natural Area Preserve. The preserve, which covers the upper cliffs and reaches of High Valley, as well as Archer Falls, is off limits to the public (although none of the "Trail Closed" signs remain); it protects two threatened plants, four sensitive plant species, and the rare Larch Mountain salamander. However, Archer Mountain’s summit, the cliffs facing the Columbia River, and the lower entrance to High Valley are all part of the National Forest, and a network of user trails will take you to these destinations from the south.

Hike Description

Walk up the road bed (formerly Forest Road 1853), and pass around a gate above a forest of secondary-growth Douglas-fir. After walking through the west side of an open field, you'll approach a thicket where the track splits below a thin poplar that gleams bright yellow in the fall. Bear right here, and in about a tenth of a mile you'll see a small sign for the Archer Mountain Trail heading downhill to the right. (Note that these are all user trails, with no official signage.)

From 1971 until the 1990s, there was a hippie commune in this area, called High Valley (pun intended?). If you'd like to visit the former site of the commune, follow the instructions in the paragraph below to take a 1.2-mile detour in the form of a figure-eight loop:

Instead of going down the Archer Trail, keep straight/left on the old roadbed. Pass through a thicket of encroaching blackberries, and then enter a woodland of big-leaf maples and large Douglas-firs with snowberry bushes overhanging the track. Leave the forest to hike up through a grassy field studded with bracken ferns, getting a view up to the cliffs of St. Cloud Point, also known as Indian Head. Reach another track, and make a right. Drop down into Douglas-fir woods with an understory of thimbleberry, Oregon grape, and sword ferns. The road curves to the left, and becomes a footpath under a vine maple bower. Return to the bracken field, and keep right (southwest) on the grassy track. After re-entering the woods, you’ll arrive at a stone wall where a homestead once stood. There’s an old electrical box hidden in the shrubbery near this site. Follow the road as it descends past a blackberry thicket which conceals the foundations and electrical boxes of the commune. A thick stone wall, now very much concealed by brush, runs along the bottom of the slope to your right. Pass under some old apple trees and you'll soon reach the main track again. The turnoff for the Archer Mountain Trail is 500 feet to your left (north).

The latest incarnation of the Archer Trail, with its handmade sign, was constructed in 2019. It descends gently through mixed forest for about 300 yards, then switchbacks down to a bridge made of logs tied together, including a "handrail." After crossing Archer Creek, the trail climbs steadily for another half a mile until it runs parallel to a small seasonal stream on the right. An old eastbound logging road is visible on the other side of the gully, but you'll continue uphill to the north.

Now you’re rising sharply on a tread of loose scree under a canopy of alders. Make numerous short switchbacks, and pass under a mossy basalt outcropping. Switchback at a small waterfall, and make seven more switchbacks up before crossing a steep hanging meadow rimmed by oak trees. Arrive at a viewpoint where you can look across to Larch Mountain and Multnomah Falls on the Oregon side of the Gorge. After eight more switchbacks, you'll arrive at a mossy point colonized by a single tough Douglas-fir. (The tree has also at times hosted a yellowjacket nest, so be careful about approaching too closely.) Views from here extend across the river to Larch Mountain but also downstream to Phoca Rock and the cliffs of Cape Horn. You can also see east to Quiver Point, which used to be accessible via a rough and narrow user path, but that route was totally scorched by the 2017 fire.

The trail traverses up from here – this was also the western edge of the fire. Switchback above a clump of clifftop manzanitas, and cross an open slope to get views down to the fields of High Valley as well as to St. Cloud Point and the valley’s western cliffs. At an unmarked but obvious trail junction, make a left to descend a narrow mossy ridge to Scott Point. From here, there’s a great view up Hidden Valley to 218-foot tall Archer Falls (a.k.a. Columbia Falls), which spouts off sheer cliffs in spectacular fashion during the wet season but runs totally dry in the summer. As a nice bookend, to the south you can see Multnomah Falls on the Oregon side of the river.

Return to the junction, and continue up under maples and alders to an old logging road. Swing right here to pass through thimbleberry thickets and reach another logging road coming in from the left. (If you choose to visit the summit of Archer, this is where you'll re-join the main trail.) Head straight and climb steeply up the slope, then work your way over a broad crest through thimbleberry and snowberry thickets which will be lush and overgrown in the spring; at times, some flagging might guide you. Begin a descent under moss-draped Douglas-firs. Swing right at a brush pile, and drop through a dense Douglas-fir wood to re-enter the burned area. When you reach the southern face of Archer Mountain, keep left to cross an extremely steep and unstable slope denuded of vegetation by the 2017 fire. (It may actually be safer to make this traverse higher up on the slope.)

Then turn right and work your way out along the narrow, rocky promontory of Arrow Point, which was also denuded by the fire. This is a far-reaching, if exposed, viewpoint with a serious downclimb (or traverse along the west side( if you want to reach the end. You don’t have to do this, however, to get views across the Columbia River to Horsetail Falls, Oneonta Gorge, Yeon Mountain, and Nesmith Point. On the Washington side, you can see Quiver Point across the steep bowl to the west, and down to Franz Lake. Bonneville Dam stretches across the Columbia River upstream from Beacon Rock, and Hamilton Mountain protrudes across the wide, forested bowl of Indian Mary, Duncan, and Woodard Creeks.

At this point, you can return the way you came. Or, to cap off your trip, you can attempt the short bushwhack to the summit of Archer Mountain. The summit doesn't have any views, but this detour does make the hike into a partial loop (and adds about 1/3 of a mile and 150' of elevation gain):

After leaving Arrow Point, scramble straight up the ridge ahead of you. Not much remains of the user trail that once threaded through the trees on this slope, but it's a ridge so it's easy to follow. Pass over a prominence, and descend to a shallow saddle. The next prominence is the true summit of Archer Mountain. The rather flat summit is carpeted with phacelia and other plants that have thrived since the larger trees were killed by the fire. Rather than descend the way you came, continue down the northwest side of the summit and look for a faint trail that may be marked by orange flagging tape. This path heads roughly northwest along a rounded ridge for about 300 yards, then winds its way downhill to the west and ends on a logging road. Turn left on this road; it appears to dead-end, but another less obvious track heads downhill to the right (southwest). Follow this for about 1/4 of a mile until you reach the main trail again. Turn right to return 1.5 miles to the trailhead.


Maps

Regulations or Restrictions, etc.

  • Stay out of the Columbia Falls Natural Area Preserve
  • Trails can be indistinct: experienced hikers only

Trip Reports

Guidebooks that cover this hike

  • none for this route

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.

Hiking is a potentially risky activity, and the entire risk for users of this field guide is assumed by the user, and in no event shall Trailkeepers of Oregon be liable for any injury or damages suffered as a result of relying on content in this field guide. All content posted on the field guide becomes the property of Trailkeepers of Oregon, and may not be used without permission.