Eagle Creek to Punch Bowl Falls Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Eagle Creek Trailhead
- End point: Punch Bowl Falls
- Hike Type: Out and back
- Distance: 3.8 miles (round trip)
- Elevation gain: 500 feet
- High point: 505 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: Year round
- Backpackable: No
- Family Friendly: Yes, for older kids
- Crowded: Yes
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**Falling Hazard**
Be careful with dogs or small children on the Eagle Creek Trail. There is a steep cliff to one side of the trail. Dogs must be on a leash at all times.
Hike Description
Eagle Creek is the quintessential hike in the Columbia River Gorge, boasting dozens of spectacular waterfalls, tall basalt cliffs, and the lush temperate rain forests that so characterize the Pacific Northwest. The 2017 Eagle Creek Fire has scarred the landscape, however, although the trail, reopened in 2021 after much painstaking labor by the PCTA (Pacific Crest Trail Association), is fully intact. That lush forest canopy has completely burned off in places, and an understory of sun-loving shrubbery has grown up along much of the lower section of the trail. The blackened snags and scorched trunks of conifers stand out on the steep hillsides above the Eagle Creek gorge.
What makes Eagle Creek even more popular is the number of ways one can enjoy it! There are options that can take three hours to three days depending on how far you go! In fact, one could literally hike to Mexico starting from the Eagle Creek Trailhead, as it eventually intersects with the Pacific Crest Trail some 13 miles in. In fact, many PCT thru-hikers will choose to divert their usual course over the Benson Plateau to take in the splendid beauty of the Eagle Creek gorge.
Maybe as impressive as the trail itself is the story of how it was built. It was begun in 1915 as part of the work on the Historic Columbia River Highway. In some sections, workers used dynamite to blast the trail into the side of the cliffs. The Forest Service's first full-service campground was established where the fish hatchery now is, and soon thousands of people could enjoy areas that were impossible to traverse otherwise. The original trail has remained nearly unchanged to this day.
The Eagle Creek to Punch Bowl Falls hike is one of the shorter options for taking in the beauty of the Columbia River Gorge and perhaps is the most popular, taking in three of the 10 major waterfalls to be seen along the creek and its tributaries.
Starting at the trailhead, pass a gauging station and then follow the wide well-groomed trail above the creek for a stretch. The steep slopes above you are composed of conglomerates from the Eagle Creek Formation, sedimentary deposits laid down by the ancient Columbia River millions of years before the Columbia River Basalt Flows. In fact, you'll soon pass a large fossil tree stump
Before you've gone a half-mile you'll find yourself high above the creek, which has now opened up to a glorious valley. Many months the fog hangs low in the canyon, blocking your view of the snow-encrusted cliff-sides towering around you. In places the trail is narrow and the drop-off is quite steep. Cable lines were built into the walls in sections to provide some stability.
As the trail steadily gains elevation, it begins to divert away from the creek. You'll notice the quiet as you ascend away from the rushing water and deeper into the lush old-growth forests of douglas fir, cedar and hemlock. Dewy ferns, moss-covered rocks, and sometimes poison oak blanket the forest floor. You will be surprised at the beauty and quiet of these sections, which at times are like scenes from a fairy tale.
Along the rest of the hike, you'll cross various side-creeks—some by rock steps, many by footbridges. Be sure to look upstream as you pass by—especially in the wetter months—as you will be treated to waterfalls and more lush greenery.
After you've walked about a mile and a half, watch for an obvious spur trail off to your right. The path drops down to an overlook with a view of the magnificent 100-foot Metlako Falls, which seemingly shoots straight out of a cliffside into a large pool below. NOTICE: The spur trail to the Metlako Falls Overlook is closed as of January 2017. The Overlook has collapsed into the gorge and there is no safe spot to view the falls.
Walk back up the spur trail to the main drag and continue southward, winding high away from the gorge with the creek well out of view. In just over a half-mile you'll be at an obvious, signed junction and resting spot near your destination, Punch Bowl Falls.
You can choose to take a spur trail down and to your right, or continue forward about 1/4 mile to the Punch Bowl Falls Overlook. The spur trail takes you down about 300 feet in a 1/4 mile. At the bottom of the steep hill, the improved trail ends at Lower Punch Bowl Falls. Hikers can work their way up the wide open, rocky shoreline to a view of Punch Bowl Falls about a hundred yards from the falls. In the summer months, this can be a crowded area, but given the right weekday in the off-season, this is a enchanted, quaint setting as you gaze upstream admiring the gushes of water blasting their way out the chasm.
Should you choose to continue on, the overlook gives you a great vantage point of the falls from above. You'll look straight down to the rushing waters and magnificent deep, pool below. You may recognize this viewpoint from photos and postcards. Please stay inside the guardrails. Every year, there is some story about someone falling from this spot and injuring themselves.
From this point you can turn around and head back the way you came. Should you still have energy and want to continue on, there is a lot more to see, including Loowit Falls, High Bridge and Tunnel Falls.
See these other hikes that give you longer alternatives:
Maps
- See clickable image to the right
- Maps: Hike Finder
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Eagle Creek Punch Bowl Falls
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Eagle Creek Punch Bowl Falls
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- I Heart Oregon (& Washington) by Lisa D. Holmes
- Afoot & Afield: Portland/Vancouver by Douglas Lorain
- 100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington by William L. Sullivan
- Trips & Trails: Oregon by William L. Sullivan
- Take a Hike: Portland by Barbara I. Bond
- Hiking Oregon’s Geology by Ellen Morris Bishop
- PDX Hiking 365 by Matt Reeder
- Curious Gorge by Scott Cook
- Pokin’ Round the Gorge by Scott Cook
- Day Hiking: Columbia River Gorge by Craig Romano
- Day Hikes in the Columbia Gorge by Don J. Scarmuzzi
- 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Portland by Paul Gerald
- Best Hikes Near Portland, Oregon by Fred Barstad
- Day Hike! Columbia Gorge by Seabury Blair, Jr.
- Oregon: The Creaky Knees Guide by Seabury Blair, Jr.
- Portland Hikes by Art Bernstein & Andrew Jackman
- Columbia Gorge Getaways by Laura O. Foster
- Hiking the Columbia River Gorge by Russ Schneider; revised by Jim Yuskavich
- Best Short Hikes in Northwest Oregon by Rhonda & George Ostertag
- Oregon Hiking by Sean Patrick Hill
- Pacific Northwest Hiking by Scott Leonard & Sean Patrick Hill
- Hiking Waterfalls in Oregon by Adam Sawyer
- Best Outdoor Adventures Near Portland, Oregon by Adam Sawyer
- Hiking Oregon by Lizann Dunegan
- Hike America: Oregon by Lizann Dunegan
- 50 Hikes in Oregon by David L. Anderson
- Oregon’s Wilderness Areas by George Wuerthner
- 100 Oregon Hiking Trails by Don & Roberta Lowe
- Short Trips & Trails: The Columbia Gorge by Oral Bullard & Don Lowe
- 70 Virtual Hikes of the Columbia River Gorge by Northwest Hiker
- Oregon’s Best Wildflower Hikes: Northwest Region by George Wuerthner
- Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge: Camping & Hiking by Tom Steinstra & Sean Patrick Hill
- Best Dog Hikes: Oregon by Adam Sawyer
- Canine Oregon by Lizann Dunegan
- Fire, Faults, and Floods: A Road & Trail Guide Exploring the Origins of the Columbia River Basin by Marge & Ted Mueller
- Waterfall Lover’s Guide: Pacific Northwest by Gregory A. Plumb
- Waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest by David L. Anderson
More Links
- Information, history and photos of Eagle Creek at Splintercat.org
- Punch Bowl Falls from Waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest
- NWHiker.com Hike #55
- Eagle Creek - OregonWildflowers.org