Best Short Hikes in Washington’s South Cascades & Olympics by E.M.33 Hiking Trails: Southern Washington Cascades by Don & Roberta Lowe.Hiking Washington’s Mount Adams Country by Fred Barstad.Day Hike! Columbia Gorge by Seabury Blair, Jr.100 Hikes: Northwest Oregon by William L.Day Hiking: South Cascades by Dan A Nelson & Alan L.60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Portland by Paul Gerald.Hiking Waterfalls in Washington by Roddy Scheer with Adam Sawyer.Falls Creek Trail and nearby points 11-11-20.Search Trip Reports for Falls Creek Falls.Access road (FR 3062) gated from December 1st to March 31st.Adventure Maps: 44 Trails Area plus the best of the G.P.N.F.National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map: Mount St.Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Gifford Pinchot National Forest Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Mt. If you're up for a longer outing, see the Falls Creek Falls Loop Hike. The very top of the uppermost section of the falls, a 110-foot veil waterfall, is only just visible from this vantage point. Above this drop, the pretty middle section splashes in multiple streams down a rock face and cascades below. The lowest tier of the falls plunges 90 feet into a dark amphitheater. The trail drops and then rises to a bouldery overlook of the falls. Look for tree casts in the lava outcroppings above. You’ll hike under a dripping cliff and turn a corner to get your first sighting of Falls Creek Falls. The Falls Creek Falls Trail crosses a steel bridge over a gully of mossy boulders and then runs along a steep talus slope held together by vegetation. Pass the junction with the short connector trail that leads up to the Falls Creek Trail. Cross a rocky draw and keep rising as the trail moves away from the creek. The stream is still in view as the trail hugs a steep slope among large Douglas-firs with a number of Pacific yew trees in the understory. About 0.4 miles from the trailhead, cross the narrow gorge on a suspension bridge and continue along the north bank of the creek. In the fall, you may notice yellowing larch trees among the evergreens: the larch is our only conifer that is deciduous. The trail proceeds above the narrow gorge carved by the creek. Soon you’ll be hiking along pretty Falls Creek, overhung with deciduous big-leaf maples and alders, as it drops among mossy boulders. The lower elevation forest here is composed of Douglas-fir, hemlock, and western red-cedar with a carpet of Oregon grape, salal, and red huckleberry. After 75 yards, you’ll come to a junction, marked for a “horse camp,” where you need to keep right. Note that the access road, FR 3062, is gated at its junction with the Wind River Road from December 1st to March 31st to offer undisturbed habitat for local wildlife, including elk.Ī wide trail leads into the forest to the left of the restrooms. (For a longer hike with a glimpse of the upper tier, see the Falls Creek Falls Loop Hike.) Part of the pleasure, however, is in the journey, and the hike up along Falls Creek, which at one point is squeezed into a narrow gorge, is reward in and of itself. The lower two of the 335-foot waterfall's three substantial drops are easily visible via the Falls Creek Falls Trail #152A. As one of the most scenic waterfall destinations in the Pacific Northwest, Falls Creek Falls is understandably a popular destination.
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