Difference between revisions of "Herman Creek Hike"
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
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* [[Whisky Creek Crossing|Whisky Creek]] - 11.6 miles round-trip | * [[Whisky Creek Crossing|Whisky Creek]] - 11.6 miles round-trip | ||
* [[Cedar Swamp Camp]] - 15.0 miles round-trip | * [[Cedar Swamp Camp]] - 15.0 miles round-trip | ||
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The trail drops from the trailhead, but then switchbacks up twice before traversing. There are two more switchbacks in shady big-leaf maple, hemlock, Douglas-fir woods. Reach the powerline corridor and cross it, heading up to the right to reenter the woods. Here, you'll begin to see the effects of the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire, with the understory burned away but slowly recovering and the conifer canopy mostly intact. The path winds through an area of large, moss-covered boulders, and then passes an old forest track leading off the left (This track drops down to Herman Creek Road). Pass around the nose of a ridge, switchback twice, and traverse up to the junction with the [[Herman Creek-Herman Bridge Trail Junction|Herman Bridge Trail #406E]], 0.6 miles from the trailhead. Keep up on the main trail to switchback and then reach a bend in an old forest road. Stay right and head up the road, which levels in Douglas-fir, hemlock, and maple forest. You'll arrive at a five-way junction after 1.3 miles where the Herman Creek Trail reaches [[Herman Camp]] (The actual campsite is up the first trail to the right if you turn left here.). | The trail drops from the trailhead, but then switchbacks up twice before traversing. There are two more switchbacks in shady big-leaf maple, hemlock, Douglas-fir woods. Reach the powerline corridor and cross it, heading up to the right to reenter the woods. Here, you'll begin to see the effects of the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire, with the understory burned away but slowly recovering and the conifer canopy mostly intact. The path winds through an area of large, moss-covered boulders, and then passes an old forest track leading off the left (This track drops down to Herman Creek Road). Pass around the nose of a ridge, switchback twice, and traverse up to the junction with the [[Herman Creek-Herman Bridge Trail Junction|Herman Bridge Trail #406E]], 0.6 miles from the trailhead. Keep up on the main trail to switchback and then reach a bend in an old forest road. Stay right and head up the road, which levels in Douglas-fir, hemlock, and maple forest. You'll arrive at a five-way junction after 1.3 miles where the Herman Creek Trail reaches [[Herman Camp]] (The actual campsite is up the first trail to the right if you turn left here.). | ||
Revision as of 17:09, 19 October 2018
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- Start point: Herman Creek Trailhead
- End point: East Fork of Herman Creek
- Trail Log: Trail Log
- Hike Type: In and out
- Distance: 15.4 miles
- Elevation gain: 2970 feet
- High point: 2,925 feet
- Difficulty: Difficult
- Seasons: All year
- Family friendly: Yes, for a shorter distance
- Backpackable: Yes
- Crowded: On summer weekends
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Contents |
Hike Description
Herman Creek is one of those lengthy but low-level Gorge hikes that allows for a day-long outing, or perhaps an overnight backpack, even during the dark, wet winter months. It's an excellent rainy day hike, as there are few chances for broad views anyway, when even the seasonal waterfalls on the many stream crossings provide a picturesque respite. You won't see much of Herman Creek itself, but a worthy goal for a day hike hike is the point where the trail reaches the East Fork of Herman Creek near Cedar Swamp Camp. Large old-growth Douglas-firs and western red-cedars, especially in the upper reaches, are another feature of this hike, and the trail offers an impressive variety of wildflower blooms in the spring and summer. The area was severely impacted by the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire, and for the first five and a half miles, until just before Whisky Creek, you'll be experiencing the aftermath of the blaze. There were only a few small areas of crown fire along the trail, but most of the ground cover was burned and is now regenerating from its roots. The creek is named after James H. Herman, an early settler near Cascade Locks.
There are several destinations along the Herman Creek Trail where you can turn around if you don't want to hike all the way to the East Fork of Herman Creek:
- Nick Eaton Falls - 4.2 miles round-trip
- Casey Creek Camp - 8.0 miles round-trip
- Herman Creek Forks - 8.6 miles round-trip (veteran bushwhackers only)
- Slide Creek Falls - 10.0 miles round-trip
- Whisky Creek - 11.6 miles round-trip
- Cedar Swamp Camp - 15.0 miles round-trip
The trail drops from the trailhead, but then switchbacks up twice before traversing. There are two more switchbacks in shady big-leaf maple, hemlock, Douglas-fir woods. Reach the powerline corridor and cross it, heading up to the right to reenter the woods. Here, you'll begin to see the effects of the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire, with the understory burned away but slowly recovering and the conifer canopy mostly intact. The path winds through an area of large, moss-covered boulders, and then passes an old forest track leading off the left (This track drops down to Herman Creek Road). Pass around the nose of a ridge, switchback twice, and traverse up to the junction with the Herman Bridge Trail #406E, 0.6 miles from the trailhead. Keep up on the main trail to switchback and then reach a bend in an old forest road. Stay right and head up the road, which levels in Douglas-fir, hemlock, and maple forest. You'll arrive at a five-way junction after 1.3 miles where the Herman Creek Trail reaches Herman Camp (The actual campsite is up the first trail to the right if you turn left here.).
Keep right here to stay on the old road bed. You're now entering the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness as per the new boundaries drawn up in 2009. Three hundred yards from Herman Camp, pass the Herman Creek-Nick Eaton Trail Junction (See the Nick Eaton Ridge Loop Hike.). the road bed dips into a bowl that experienced crown fire, but notice that numerous species of understory plants are staking their claim on the ravaged slopes; these include bracken, Solomon plume, fireweed, trailing blackberry, fairy bells, phacelia, sword fern, candy flower, miner's lettuce, snowberry, pathfinder, poison oak, thimbleberry, and spiraea. As the trail drops, you'll be able to hear Herman Creek rushing below, and you can see down to the ramparts of the narrow defile through which it funnels at this stage of its course. The path narrows after the old road bed ends, and you'll cross several trickling seeps before passing below some massive basalt battlements. Head into a lush gully where, 2.1 miles from the trailhead, you get to admire tall Nick Eaton Falls splashing down a mossy vertical face. The waterfall is a sight even in late summer and is the most substantial falls along the trail.
The trail begins to rise again, and there are views across Herman Creek to the forested slopes on the east side of the Benson Plateau. You can see only patches of crown fire here, and most of the evergreen canopy has been preserved. On a high steep meadow, you pass through a copse of charred oak trees that are all coming back from their bases. Rosy plectritis, blue-eyed Mary, and larkspur bloom here in the spring. Descend to cross maple-shaded Camp Creek three miles from the trailhead, and then pass below a scree slope which was entirely scoured of its beautiful moss and licorice fern blanket during the Eagle Creek Fire. From here, the trail drops to cross a trickling creek where a seasonal waterfall splashes down a mossy face.
Head up under un unburned oak meadow, and continue a rising traverse to cross a bracken-carpeted bench shaded by scorched Douglas-firs. Come to the Herman Creek-Casey Creek Way Trail Junction. Just past the junction, on your right, is Casey Creek Camp. An unmaintained spur trail drops down from here about 300 feet and 0.3 miles to the Herman Creek Forks, where there's another campsite. Note, however, that the spur trail, once the beginning of the now lost West Fork Herman Creek Trail, has all but disappeared under debris from the Eagle Creek Fire.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Herman Creek Trail #406 (USFS)
- Green Trails Maps: Bonneville Dam, OR #429
- Green Trails Maps: Columbia River Gorge - West #428S
- Geo-Graphics: Trails of the Columbia Gorge
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service/Bureau of Land Management: Columbia River Gorge
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Hood River Ranger District
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Mt. Hood National Forest
- National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map: Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Northwest Forest Pass required
- Restrooms, information kiosk, picnic table at trailhead
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Indian Point Loop
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Indian Point Loop
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- PDX Hiking 365 by Matt Reeder
- Day Hikes in the Columbia Gorge by Don J. Scarmuzzi
- Take a Hike: Portland by Barbara I. Bond
- Afoot & Afield: Portland/Vancouver by Douglas Lorain
- Hiking the Columbia River Gorge by Russ Schneider; revised by Jim Yuskavich
- Curious Gorge by Scott Cook
- 100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington by William L Sullivan
- Day Hiking: Columbia River Gorge by Craig Romano
- 70 Virtual Hikes of the Columbia River Gorge by Northwest Hiker
- Columbia Gorge Hikes: 42 Scenic Hikes by Don & Roberta Lowe
- 35 Hiking Trails: Columbia River Gorge by Don & Roberta Lowe
- 70 Hiking Trails: Northern Oregon Cascades by Don & Roberta Lowe
- Oregon Hiking by Sean Patrick Hill
More Links
- Herman Creek Trail #406 (USFS)
- Gorton Creek Trail #408 (USFS)
- Nick Eaton Trail #447 (USFS)
- Indian Point Hike (Northwest Hiker)
- Big Hills and Big Rewards in the Columbia Gorge: Hiking the Nick Eaton Way to Indian Point (Paul Gerald)
- Indian Point Loop (Friends of the Columbia Gorge)
- Indian Point Hike via Herman Creek Trailhead (Outdoor Project)
- Herman Creek to Indian Point (Jenny Bruso)
- "Indian Point: Climb high for a birds-eye view of the Gorge" (Hood River News)
- "Indian Point (Columbia River Gorge) is No. 7 on list of Oregon's best landscapes" (Oregon Live)
- "Doing one Columbia River Gorge hike? Make it Indian Point" (Oregon Live)
Contributors
- User:retiredjerry (creator)