Revision as of 00:11, 1 July 2020

Along the Eagle Creek Trail (bobcat)

Flaky fungus (Stropharia sp.), Eagle Creek Trail (bobcat)

Eagle Creek quietly flowing, Eagle Creek Trail (bobcat)

Mossy tributary, Eagle Creek Trail (bobcat)

Golden chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius), Eagle Creek Trail (bobcat)

The route of the Eagle Creek Trail #501 (not a GPS track) (bobcat) Courtesy: National Geographic Topo

• Start point: Harvey Road Trailhead
• End Point: Eagle Creek Ford
• Hike Type: Out and Back
• Distance: 15.4 miles round-trip to the Eagle Creek Ford
• Distance: 6.8 miles round-trip to the Eagle Creek Riverside Camp
• Elevation gain: 1835 feet
• High Point: 2,405 feet
• Difficulty: Moderate
• Seasons: Mid-spring into winter
• Family Friendly: Yes (for a shorter in and out)
• Backpackable: Yes
• Crowded: No

Description

The “other” Eagle Creek does not have the splashy waterfalls and sheer gorge walls of the iconic hike of the same name in the Columbia Gorge although there are a couple of falls in the area that can be reached by a good bushwhack. Rather, this trail rambles along the course of a main tributary of the Clackamas River in mossy Cascade foothills old growth with big trees that survived a series of burns in the second decade of the 20th century. In fact, the creek valley was much more open at that time, and the trail was originally constructed to allow cattle access for grazing, with permits dating back to 1901. Nowadays, forest blooms carpet the duff in spring and summer, and in fall you can take advantage of the fruiting of edible fungi. Several campsites along the trail beckon for a quiet night out and the farther you hike in, the less likely you are to see traces of other humans. This is a great hike in the off-season when there is no snow below 2,500 feet the main difficulty being finding the trailhead on an access road frequently used by logging trucks. Since this is an in and out hike, you can turn back whenever you want; the old Eagle Creek Riverside Camp is a good destination for a shorter outing.

Take the middle road down from the trailhead area. You will be hiking over a mile down an old road before you pick up the trail proper. This road has been recently graded and water-barred for about 650 yards. At a landing area, pick up the old road bed leading down to the left. The track is overhung with regenerating Douglas-fir, western hemlock, red alder, and big-leaf maple (The area was logged in the 1970s). Pass the entry onto national forest lands and then the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness sign. Continue to descend the road bed under alders and pass the Eagle Creek-Douglas Trail Junction. Through a break in the trees get a glimpse of clearcuts on the hillsides above Eagle Creek. Cross a brook and notice that the trees are increasing in size and you can hear Eagle Creek rushing below. The track bends left and soon you leave the road bed and begin to hike along a gently undulating duff trail which parallels Eagle Creek although the latter is still out of sight.

Now there are larger trees to admire: western hemlocks, western red-cedar, and especially some large fire-scarred Douglas-firs that survived several burns about 100 years ago. The forest carpet is classic west Cascades foothills: moss, sword fern, deer fern, Oregon grape, oxalis, and salmonberry. Pass through a salmonberry clearing a get a glimpse of the creek below. Rise a little and notice more large Douglas-firs. A side trail leads down to the creek and then a short spur leads up to the left to a leveled spot that once may have supported a fireman’s shed at the time of the burns. Cross a stream, walk along a short, rotting boardwalk, and cross another tumbling creek. After crossing another creek, notice another spur to a campsite on the right. Make a traverse in a green bottomland. A trail leads right down to the creek and the Eagle Creek Riverside Camp. This quiet spot, about 3 ½ miles from the trailhead, is a good turnaround point for those making a shorter excursion.

Continuing on the main trail, cross a large stream and then traverse about 100 feet above Eagle Creek. Hike along a sheer slope, then step across more streams and pass through salmonberry thickets in mossy woods. The trail reaches a bottomland at creek level among drooping hemlocks, cedars, and salmonberry thickets. From here, head up and cross a large creek, hike a mossy bench, and make a level traverse about 50 feet above Eagle Creek. After crossing a little gully, hike through an oxalis carpet in a lush bottomland. The trail rises and you make another traverse high above the creek, getting a view upstream. After crossing another tributary, find yourself right above Eagle Creek and drop into a salmonberry bottomland with groves of cedar and Douglas-fir. A faint trail leads to a campsite closer to the creek. Rise to cross a tumbling brook and then drop into an open salmonberry flat shaded by a few gnarly old alders. The trail veers right to a ford of Eagle Creek. This is also the Eagle Creek-Eagle Creek Cutoff Trail Junction. Across the creek, the Eagle Creek Cutoff Trail #504 heads steeply up the slope of Githens Mountain to a junction with the Old Baldy Trail.

Maps

• Maps: Hike Finder
• Green Trails Maps: Cherryville, OR #460
• Adventure Maps: Mt. Hood Area
• 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
• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Mt. Hood National Forest North
• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Mt. Hood National Forest
• National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map: Mount Hood

Trip Reports

• Search Trip Reports for Eagle Creek Hike

• Eagle Creek (Salmon Huckleberry Edition)
• The "other" Eagle Creek 6/30
• Eagle Creek Trail #501 3/13
• The Other Eagle Creek, 10-Jan-2014
• Eagle Creek (Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness)
• The Other Eagle Creek
• Eagle Creek (the other one!) 11/12
• Eagle Creek to McIntyre Ridge via Pablo's Way 06/27/10
• The "Other" Eagle Creek (#501) June 12-13, 2010
• Eagle Creek (Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness) 05/10/09
• Chak Chak Falls & Tipsu Falls along the "other" Eagle Creek
• Eagle Creek to Wildcat Mtn loop Aug 5, 2007

Related Discussions / Q&A

• Search Trail Q&A for Eagle Creek Hike
• The other Eagle Creek Trail
• TKO Project - The "Other" Eagle Creek (Oct. 11, 2008)

Guidebooks that cover this hike

• Off the Beaten Trail by Matt Reeder
• Afoot and Afield: Portland/Vancouver by Douglas Lorain
• Oregon's Wilderness Areas by George Wuerthner
• 100 Oregon Hiking Trails by Don & Roberta Lowe
• A Walking Guide to Oregon's Ancient Forests by Wendell Wood

More Links

• Eagle Creek Trail #501 (USFS)
• Eagle Creek Trailhead (USFS)
• “Discover the other Eagle Creek Trail in the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness” (Examiner.com)
• Eagle Creek with Don and Murphy - February 2012 (Green Cascadia)

Page Contributors

• bobcat (creator)