Bridal Veil Falls Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Bridal Veil Trailhead
- End Point: Bridal Veil Falls
- Trail Log: Trail Log
- Hike Type: In and out plus loop
- Distance: 1.4 miles
- Elevation gain: 205 feet
- High point: 230 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: Yes
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Hike Description
This excursion begins from a trailhead right off the Columbia River Highway. It takes you to a majestic waterfall and then to overlooks up and down the Columbia River Gorge. It is a favorite of tourists and families on summer weekends, but is relatively quiet at other times. The two trails here begin east of the parking area near the restrooms. One trail descends to Bridal Veil Creek and then rises to a viewpoint of two-tiered Bridal Veil Falls. You also have the option here to descend the creek and explore a little of the Bridal Veil Lumbering Company's mill site. The second trail is a paved loop that passes along the rim of basalt ramparts overlooking the Columbia River.
Make a right at the junction east of the parking lot, and hike through a wood of tall Douglas-firs. Drop down a gravel trail lined by a now deteriorating rock wall that has slipped away in places. Make two switchbacks, passing licorice fern-draped slopes to look down on Bridal Veil Creek. A set of concrete steps leads down to creek level (In winter, you can see rusting pipes from the old mill operation in the undergrowth). Cross a shallowly arched footbridge, and go right at the junction. Ascend along the maple-shaded creek to reach steps leading up to a viewing platform. Bridal Veil Falls plunges under the Old Columbia River Gorge Highway and through a mossy basalt defile in two tiers, a drop of about 120 feet altogether. The creek ran near-dry for decades because the lumber mill below diverted the water. Now the mill is a memory, and Bridal Veil Falls has returned. A massive basalt boulder, detached long ago from somewhere above, lies in the creek below, testament to the dynamic nature of this landscape.
When you return to the footbridge, keep on the east side of the creek, which is buttressed by a wall that once contained a mill race. A dike separates the creek from a man-made former pond. Pass around a gate above the pond, noting a decaying wood structure in the depression. This may have supported a log conveyor that led to the old sawmill or mill yard. You'll come to a blackberry-infested area of old foundations and paved expanses, now sometimes a dumping ground for those not inclined to pay for regular garbage service. Circle around to your left, passing into the blackberries, and come to the last remaining structure from the mill days, a corrugated iron shed now decorated with graffiti. According to a former resident of the company town, this was a covered cistern that contained water for fire emergencies. A paper mill was constructed here in the 1880s. Later, a sawmill was built on the same site. In the early 20th century, the Bridal Veil Falls Lumbering Company established a base here for its logging operations on Larch Mountain. Higher up, in fact 1,500 feet higher, was their Palmer Mill operation. The sawmill there rough cut the lumber, and then sent it down the slope in a flume that ended at the resaw building east of the creek. At least one million board feet of timber was moved in this way. The operation shut down in 1937, and thereafter the buildings were taken over by the Bridal Veil Lumber & Box Company, which manufactured wooden boxes for Kraft Cheese. The Box Company closed in 1960, and the town site was gradually abandoned. In 1991, the Trust for Public Lands purchased the acreage, but for years a petition to declare the area a historic site was pursued. After the petition was denied, the three remaining mill buildings - the resaw building, maintenance shop, and warehouse - were demolished in 2001. The town's church was torn down in 2011. The last building remaining on the property is the Bridal Veil Post Office, near the freeway exit and said to be the second smallest post office in the United States.
Return to the junction near the restrooms, and go right for the short loop. The paved trail heads out from under the conifer canopy into a small field of camas, which blooms in mid-April. At the first viewpoint and picnic table, lilacs will be blooming in spring. The freeway and rail tracks are just below, while you can see east to Archer Mountain, Hamilton Mountain, and Beacon Rock. Across the river are the cliffs at Cape Horn, which stream with narrow waterfalls in the wet season. Phoca Rock, named by Lewis and Clark for the seals they saw in the vicinity, is offshore from Cape Horn. Then the trail loops west under oaks, cottonwoods, and maples to other fenced clifftop viewpoints over the river and past more camas meadows. Poison oak lines the trail in places. Pass a deep cleft in the cliff through which a small creek tumbles. A spur heads out to the last viewpoint, which looks west up the railroad tracks to the remaining Pillars of Hercules, Sand Island, and Crown Point. Return to the parking area through leafy woods. On your right, across a gully, you'll see a patch of forest scarred by the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire, the closest that conflagration got to these trails.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Day-use only: 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
- Restrooms, picnic tables, interpretive signs
- Dogs on leash
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Bridal Veil Falls
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Bridal Veil Falls
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Take a Walk: Portland by Brian Barker
- Afoot & Afield: Portland/Vancouver by Douglas Lorain
- Hiking the Columbia River Gorge by Russ Schneider
More Links
Contributors
- Stevefromdodge (creator)