Columbia River Gorge Waterfalls Part 2

The Eagle Creek Trail. Here is the information on the Eagle Creek Hike if you want to do it. The Eagle Creek Trail includes Metlako Falls, Sorenson Falls, Punchbowl Falls, Loowit Falls, Skoonichuk Falls, Tunnel Falls, Grand Union Falls, Twister Falls, and if you add on an additional quarter of a mile to your hike you can see Seven Mile Falls. There are cable-railed cliff faces on this trail and if you suffer from Vertigo I would not recommend doing this hike. This is not a family friendly hike and I would also recommend keeping your dogs at home. Yes this is a crowded trail for a fourteen mile hike and you will see many backpackers using this trail because it is part of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). I did this hike in the fall because I was in the area to do the Hood River Fruit Loop Trail that I will do a post on at a later time.

Unfortunately, with the crowds, the Eagle Creek Trailhead has seen a great number of break-ins to cars. Thieves are known to frequent this area and work quickly. They tend to go for the obvious (valuables left in cars) but also for identity information left in glove compartments. It is an attractive area for thieves because of it's proximity to the interstate on-ramp. In addition, hikers have even reported losing backpacks left at the trailhead momentarily while fetching their vehicle. Many hikers have taken to bringing all their valuables with them, leaving the doors to their car unlocked and the glove compartments open.

There are signs posted that recommend you park at the lower parking area that you first pass by when you drive in from the freeway, next to the fish hatchery (where there are people 24/7, and a window looks out onto the parking area) and during the summer there is a camp host. Parking here will add about a half mile to your hike but it is the safer place to park.

Metlako Falls is the lowest major falls along the Eagle Creek, serving as a stunning initiation into the area. At 82 feet, it represents one of the taller waterfalls along the Eagle Creek Trail (although the Forest Service seems to think the falls are much higher than 82 feet). The falls are named after a Native American goddess of salmon.

Hikers used to be able to view Metlako Falls from a downstream clifftop, accessed by a spur trail, the Metlako Falls Trail. Overhanging maples were regularly pruned to offer a sterling photo opportunity from a cable-railed overlook. However, in December 2016, the section of the rim with the overlook collapsed into the gorge below, and the best sighting of the entire waterfall is from the approach on the main trail right after you spot Sorenson Falls.

The old spur trail to the obliterated overlook has disappeared since the Eagle Creek Fire. You can see the top of the falls from the Eagle Creek Trail before you reach Sorenson Creek. Bushwhacking to the edge of the abyss is not recommended as the lip is undercut in places and may collapse at any time. Cross Sorenson Creek, with its round concrete steps.

At the junction with the Lower Punch Bowl Trail, you can descend three-hundred-feet down into the gorge to a spot just upstream of Lower Punch Bowl Falls; however, the view of Punch Bowl Falls from the end of this spur trail no longer exists due to a 2018 landslide that blocked the creek, stay on the Eagle Creek Trail, and cross a massive crib wall constructed by the PCTA at a spot where the trail slid away. Soon, you'll come to the Punch Bowl Falls overlook, where you can view Punch Bowl Falls spouting into its circular amphitheater and magnificent deep pool below. You may recognize this viewpoint from photos and postcards. Please stay inside the guardrails. Every year, there is a story about someone falling from this spot and injuring themselves.

If you keep going beyond Punchbowl Falls you will start working your way toward High Bridge.  The trail will begin to rise up again from the creek and soon you will be elevated nearly one-hundred-fifty-feet up on the edge of the cliffs navigating a very narrow trail.  Feel free to use the hand rail cables bolted into the edge of the cliff and keep an eye out for oncoming traffic.  This is where the trail can get tricky if you brought a dog or children.  Soon, you will come to High Bridge, a bridge that crosses a narrow chasm of the creek and looks down nearly two-hundred-feet to the water.  This is a great spot for photos and can be challenging for those who are afraid of heights.

Keep moving up the trail and Loowit Falls is visible from a section of the trail blasted into the side of a cliff shortly before arriving at High Bridge. Multiple views of Loowit Falls are afforded from the trail as it traverses a catwalk blasted into the side of the cliff, including a stunning view looking one-hundred-feet straight down on the calm stream as it exits the High Bridge gorge with the falls in the background. Like other sections of the trail which have been blasted into the side of cliffs, there is little protection here save for a cable hand rail bolted to the uphill side of the trail, so use appropriate caution and keep kids on a short leash.

Skoonichuk Falls is the fourth major waterfall along Eagle Creek one encounters when hiking upstream along the Eagle Creek Trail. The falls are flanked on the east by a lofty cliff which towers up above the base of the falls and provides ample shade from the sun during the first half of the day. Located near the top of the falls is one of the numerous camp (Blue Grouse Camp) areas along the Eagle Creek Trail, as well as easy access to views looking right down the center of the falls (use caution on the slick rocks around the falls).

Continue up the trail to Tunnel Falls. This falls is the traditional turnaround spot for many on the Eagle Creek Trail, and it is indeed a splendid climax. While this scene is impressive enough, the most bewildering aspect of the falls in the passageway behind them. Trail builders from the early 1900s blasted a tunnel behind the falls and then across the sheer rock face on their far side, making this area the slickest and perhaps most precarious section of trail in the Columbia River Gorge. Looking downstream from the falls, you can see where the two forks of Eagle Creek converge, meeting at Grand Union Falls.

Please avoid the temptation to descend to the creek via the large slide on the near side, as so many have done before. Putting aside the obvious danger, the area is eroding before its time destroying the flora and fauna in the area.

Visitors to this area may choose to continue less than a half-mile ahead to the two-tiered, Twister Falls (some guidebooks call it "Crossover Falls"). It is well worth the minimal additional effort if time affords. It is difficult to see the full span of Twister Falls, but more impressive is the trail to it. Many have referred to this stretch as the "Vertigo Mile" because of the walls of the gorge that surround you.

Twister Falls is aptly named as the waterfall twist and turns violently down the sheer cliff it plunges off of. The trail to Twister Falls is somewhat death defying as it rests on the edge of a massive cliff and at some points gets as narrow as a foot wide.

Sevenmile Falls is the uppermost of the seven major waterfalls along Oregon's Eagle Creek Trail. Coincidentally it happens to occur near the seven mile mark of the Eagle Creek trail as well as being the seventh waterfall along Eagle Creek. Since most hikers on the Eagle Creek Trail turn around after either Tunnel or Twister Falls, few actually see this waterfall despite being just a quarter mile further up. Brush along the edge of the trail and encroaching around the top of the falls unfortunately obstruct just enough of the falls that there are no one-nundred percent clear views from the trail.

Now the fun part, and it's time to turn around and head back the same trail you came in on. If you made it to Seven Mile Falls you have a seven mile hike back to your vehicle.

Tips for doing this hike.

I would leave the kids and dogs at home on this hike. It is very slippery and narrow in places and having to watch your kids or a dog may make things unsafe for you.

Beating the Crowds: Before you even think about going to the Eagle Creek Trail, know that you'll have to contend with crowds. Even back in 1919, when the trail was built, it had about 150,000 visitors a year. Today, it's many more, mainly limited by the lack of parking (more on that in a sec). The best time to visit without a crowd is to arrive at sunrise. In the late afternoon, parking tends to open up as well. And obviously, weekdays are better than weekends, although the lots do fill up on weekdays too. So if you show up at 9 am on a Saturday, don't expect to do the hike.

Farther down from the trailhead, there is a parking area along the road, with space for about 10 cars. The last option for parking is at Eagle Creek Day Use Area, by the salmon hatchery, right at the turn off for Eagle Creek Loop road. That lot has about 30 parking spaces. This lot also has bathrooms (in fact, the bathroom is named "Big John").

Park along the side of the road at your own risk, illegally parked cars are towed.

You need a parking pass here. You can self-pay at the trail board, use a Northwest Forest Pass, or simply display a (worth every penny) National Parks pass.

Another option is to stay at the historic Eagle Creek Campground, which is by the hatchery. If you stay at the campground you can park your car there while you hike. As you would expect in the Pacific Northwest, it can get very wet here. There are stream crossings, water runoffs, and mud. It's a safe bet to wear shoes that you're comfortable getting wet in. The trail surfaces, which are sometimes raw rock blasted out of the cliff, can be slippery.

If you use trekking poles, I'd recommend just using one. On the various cables sections you will be able to hold the cable with one hand, and a trekking pole with another. The trail is very gentle in terms of slope so you really don't need the poles.

In the winter, the trail can be snowy and icy, in which case I don't recommend doing it (and the Forest Service may also close it if that's the case). There are sheer cliff walls that you do not want to slip off of and if you do it will take a long time for a resue team to get in and be able to help you. And the upper part of the Eagle Creek Trail, past the seven-and-a-half-mile camp toward Wahtum Lake, is generally snow-covered and often impassable during the winter.

GPS can be inaccurate when you are hiking along the cliff faces. Luckily the trail is easy to follow without any tricky navigation.

There are a lot of side creeks feeding into Eagle Creek. It's usually easy to access water to refill your bottles. Just make sure you use a water filter before you drink anything from here.