After a dry spell, April showers returned as we prepared for a planned outing to the Columbia River Gorge. On the plus side the plan was to visit several waterfalls which would only benefit from the additional precipitation, and it might keep a few folks home meaning less crowds. On the minus side was the potential for limited views during our planned loop to Devil’s Rest, and possible difficulty keeping the camera lens dry. The pros won out and we got our typical early start to try and make sure there would be a parking spot when we got to our third stop at the Wahkeena Falls Trailhead.
Our plan for the day was to begin by stopping at the two shorter hikes first then end with a longer lollipop loop hike from the Wahkeena Falls Trailhead up to and around Devil’s Rest. Note that all loops visiting Devil’s Rest rely in part on a network of user-created trails. This network of trails, sometimes known as “Foxglovia”, was largely the result of the hard work of “Red Shorts” who sadly passed away unexpectedly earlier this month. Thanks to his work the trails we used on this day were in good shape and well signed for the most part. It will now be left up to others to carry on his work if the trails are to remain passable. As always it is important to attempt to get updated trail conditions before heading out.
We started with the shortest hike of the day by parking at a small pullout along historic Highway 30 across from a sign for Sheppard’s Dell.
The trailhead at 6:15am.
A short path on the far side of the highway leads to a viewpoint at Young Creek and of the 1914 highway bridge.
The Bishops Cap along Highway 30.
The stone railed trail can be seen along the cliff above the lower falls.
The upper falls can be seen through the trees with the lower falls more visible.
End of the trail.
The bridge from the trail.
From Sheppard’s Dell we drove east on Highway 30 (less than a mile) to the Bridal Veil State Scenic Viewpoint.
Informational signboard at the trailhead.
This park hosts two short trails, the Bridal Viel Falls Trail and the Overlook Loop Trail. We started with trail to the falls which began as a paved path next to the restrooms.
After a short distance the trail turns to gravel as it begins to descend to Bridal Veil Creek.
Bridal Veil Creek
The trail crosses the creek on a wide footbridge then turns right and climbs slightly to a viewing platform across from the falls.
The 120′ two-tiered Bridal Veil Falls.
After admiring the waterfall we returned the way we’d come and set off on the Overlook Loop Trail. The half mile interpretive loop passes several viewpoints across the Columbia River to Washington.
There was a lot of camas blooming along the trail.
Cape Horn (post) across from one of the viewpoints.
Sand Island to the west.
The Overlook Loop arriving back at the trailhead parking area.
The short 1.1-mile hike here was still a mile longer than that at Sheppard’s Dell which meant it only a little after 7am as we headed for our final stop of the day. There are actually several starting points for loop hikes involving Devil’s Rest with the most popular seemingly being the Angel’s Rest and Wahkeena Falls Trailheads. Multnomah Falls and Palmer Mill Road are two others that allow for loops under 10-miles. While the Angel’s Rest Trailhead was closer to Bridal Veil it is a slightly longer loop with more elevation gain than starting from Wahkeena Falls Trailhead. Starting at Wahkeena Falls also means getting to see that waterfall and Fairy Falls prior to the start of the loop.
There were a few parking spots available at the Angel’s Rest Trailhead and even fewer cars at Wahkeena Falls when we arrived at 7:15am. We’d been to Wahkeena Falls before. Heather, Dominique and I on an out-and-back from the aforementioned Angel’s Rest Trailhead in 2013(post) and just myself in 2022 after hiking to Larch Mountain from Multnomah Falls (post). Before starting the 1.4-mile climb to the start of the loop we stopped at the Wahkeena Falls viewpoint.
While the Wahkeena Trail passes just below the falls the upper portion of the falls is only visible from a distance.
The trail begins as pavement as it switchbacks uphill before turning to rock/dirt and arriving at a footbridge below the lower portion of Wahkeena Falls at the 0.2-mile mark.
Beyond the falls the trail climbs to a spur trail to the Lemmons Viewpoint then continues along Wahkeena Creek (crossing it twice) to Fairy Falls at the 1.1-mile mark.
The Wahkeena Trail switchbacking up to the Lemmon Viewpoint junction.
Sitka mist-maidens
Woodland-star
The Forest Service includes maps at junctions involving official USFS trails. Note that the map does not extend to Devil’s Rest or include the Foxglovia area.
Our first paintbrush sighting for the year was at the Lemmons Viewpoint.
Archer Mountain in the foreground with Hamilton Mountain (post) and Beacon Rock (post) further to the east.
The first crossing of Wahkeena Creek.
Second footbridge.
Since my visit in October 2022 the trail has experienced a couple of slides, likely a lingering result of the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire. As of 2/18/24 the Forest Service advises caution if attempting to navigate the slides and in fact does not recommend attempting it. They had not officially closed the trail, but also do not have an eta on repairs.
This was the first sketchy new obstacle. The large tree is cutting across a switchback rerouting the trail steeply uphill. While there were some footholds the steepness combined with muddy conditions required caution.
Wahkeena Creek
Fairy Falls with Wahkeena Creek through the trees on the right.
Fairy Falls
Trillium
Bleeding heart
The worst of the slides was a short distance beyond Fairy Falls.
The worst slide took out a section of trail just before a switchback.
Looking down the washout.
The switchback in 2022.
Not pictured, but just above the missing section of trail was another large, downed tree. It was possible to pass under but to do so we both needed to get on our hands and knees.
Neither of us were looking forward to going down either of these washed-out sections but that was a problem for later. The rest of the Wahkeena Trail was in good shape and we followed it past its junction with the Vista Point Trail to a junction with the Angel’s Rest Trail and the start of the loop.
Coming up on the lower end of the Vista Point Trail.
The Angel’s Rest Trail junction.
We went left at this junction sticking to the Wahkeena Trail as it climbed to a junction with the upper end of the Vista Point Trail.
Signs at the junction with upper end of the Vista Point Trail.
Beyond this junction the Wahkeena Trail descended slightly to a junction with the Devil’s Rest Trail.
We veered uphill to the right on the Devil’s Rest Trail.
The Devil’s Rest Trail (Trail 420C) is an official USFS trail that ends at the rocky outcrop atop Devil’s Rest after 1.6 miles. The trail climbs approximately 800′ but is fairly gradual initially using switchbacks to keep the climb reasonable.
Coltsfoot along the trail.
Bleeding heart
Violets lining the trail.
After switchingback along Shady Creek the trail arrives at the rim of the Wahkeena Bowl where the climb becomes even more gradual.
Traveling along the rim of the Wahkeena Bowl.
A small pocket of forest that escaped the Eagle Creek Fire.
Devil’s Rest looking a little foggy from below.
There were a lot of trillium along the rim.
We passed a trail crew that was just hiking in to start work. Not sure how they got up there, but it was nice to see them out and we thanked them for their efforts.
The trail passed two rocky viewpoints before making a final climb to Devil’s Rest.
The first viewpoint was slightly off the trail.
We could at least make out the Columbia River below.
We were going in and out of fog ever few minutes.
Archer Mountain making an appearance.
A trail led to the second outcrop which had a rock sticking up.
Company at the viewpoint.
Something for the trail crew to work on.
Nearing Devil’s Rest.
The Devil’s Rest Trail veered right at a fork and ended at a rock outcrop.
Even without the foggy conditions there wouldn’t have been much of a view from Devil’s Rest, the FS mentions that in their description, but it still makes for a nice destination.
Earlier I mentioned that there were several potential places to start a hike to Devil’s Rest, but there are also several options for returning. The obvious being simply returning via the USFS Trail. To make a loop out of the hike there are a number of options. The steepest and most difficult would be finding the Primrose Path which reportedly heads directly downhill from Devil’s Rest. We didn’t see that trail, but we also weren’t planning on using it. We hiked back along the Devil’s Rest Trail to the junction below and turned right following a pointer for Angel’s Rest.
From there things got a little confusing for us. While we had our GPS and maps showing loops from both Oregon Hikers and NW Hiker none of them showed all of the current trails, but we didn’t realize that initially. This trail is part of the upper Foxglove Way Trail. 
A short distance from the the first Angel’s Rest point we came to a fork in the trail with another Angel’s Rest pointer. This one saying to go take the left hand fork.
By going left we were now on a newer (22-23) route. This new trail is referred to as either the She Devil Trail or Red Shorts Cut Trail.
The pointer says “To She Devil Trail” with Red Shorts Cut at the bottom but AllTrails and some more recent Oregon Hikers maps label this section the She Devil Trail.
Regardless of which is the official name it wasn’t on the maps we had but it took us a bit to realize we weren’t where we thought we were. As it turns out Red Shorts built this trail as a more gradual, albeit longer, option. This explained the Angel’s Rest pointer since this was his intended route. The trail itself was in great shape and easy to follow.
The first clue that we might not know where we were came when we passed a stake marking a less worn trail that simply said “Multnomah Basin Road” with a pointer.
Post hike research revealed this was the Lil’ Devil Trail which connects to yet more trails. We correctly ignored this spur and continued on She Devil.
It wasn’t long before we passed another trail and pointer, this time on our right.
This turned out to be the She Devil – Devil’s Fork Trail junction. Taking the Devil’s Fork Trail would have saved us a fair amount of distance as it descends to the Foxglove Trail in 0.2 miles then continues another 0.4 to the Lily’s Lane Trail. Because we didn’t have all the existing trails on our maps we mistook this for a different trail altogether. Instead of turning right we stuck to the She Devil Trail.
We now had enough of a GPS track that we could compare it to the route shown on the Oregon Hikers/NW Hiker maps and see that something seemed off. Our track had headed too far to the SSW compared to the maps so when we came to the next split in the trail we veered right on a flagged trail.
The pointer on the left is for Smith Road. We didn’t see any signs for the right-hand fork.
Despite not seeing a sign for the flagged trail we knew we didn’t want to continue heading SSW. This turned out to be the Red Shorts Cut Trail which slowly curved around to head NNW and meet up with the Foxglove Trail.
Mushrooms
Approximately 0.4-miles along the Red Shorts Cut Trail we arrived at the Foxglove Trail where we were initially confused once again. We could continue in a NNW direction or turn right (ENE). We correctly, although not confidently, turned right onto the Foxglove Trail.
After a third of a mile we arrived at a 4-way junction.
This was the Devil’s Fork Trail crossing the Foxglove Trail. In other words, had we taken the Foxglove Trail way back when we veered left on the She Devil Trail it would have led us here. Likewise had we taken the Devil’s Fork Trail when we stayed left on the She Devil Trail it would have brought us here. Regardless of which trail brought us to this 4-way junction following the pointer for the Wahkeena Trail was the direction we wanted to go.
We turned left onto the Devil’s Fork Trail which briefly followed an old road bed.
We passed the signed Devil’s Cut-off Trail a tenth of a mile from the 4-way junction. This is the trail we mistook the upper portion of the Devil’s Fork Trail for. The cut-off leads over to the Primrose Path.
The Devil’s Cut-off Trail on the right.
Signage on the Devil’s Cut-off Trail.
Sticking to the Devil’s Fork Trail brought us to the Lily’s Lane Trail in another third of a mile.
This was honestly the most debris/blowdown we encountered on the user-maintained trails.
Pointers at the junction with the Lily’s Lane Trail.
Devil’s Fork Trail signs at the junction.
We turned right on Lily’s Lane for 0.2-miles to its end at the Angel’s Rest Trail.
Columbian larkspur getting ready to bloom.
Sign at the Lily’s Lane/Angel’s Rest Trail junction.
We turned right on the Angel’s Rest Trail and followed it for 1.5-miles back to the Wahkeena Trail.
Mist Creek Footbridge.
The first of two logs that required crawling under.
There was a short section filled with Scouler’s corydalis.
The Primrose Path joining from the right.
Primrose Path warning.
Does anyone know the story of this columbine at the Primrose junction? It has to be non-native.
Wahkeena Creek from the Angel’s Rest Trail.
Valerian
Nice display of Oregon grape near Wahkeena Springs.
Arriving at Wahkeena Springs.
Wahkeena Springs
The Wahkeena Trail junction is a very short distance from Wahkeena Springs.
We turned left onto the Wahkeena Trail and began our decent. It was busier than it had been that morning, but it still wasn’t crowded. The less-than-ideal weather seemed to have worked in our favor. Aside from a couple of brief light showers we’d stayed dry and couldn’t have hoped for better given the forecast. We carefully navigated the tricky slides and made our way back down to Wahkeena Falls.
Both female and male versions of western meadowrue. Today was by far the most meadowrue we’d ever seen on a hike.
Female
Male
Fairy Falls
Starting down the switchbacks.
Gold stars
Wahkeena Falls.
The version of the loop that we did came to 9.4-miles with 2350′ of elevation gain.
This turned out to be a great day in the Gorge with the first two waterfalls being more than worth the quick stops and the Devil’s Rest hike added a good amount of adventure. I was saddened to learn of Red Shorts passing when I got home and started researching what we’d done wrong. I was glad to have taken the route that we wound up with though as it was a testament to his hard work and effort.
Flickr: Sheppard’s Dell, Bridal Veil Falls, and Devil’s Rest
Camas
Solomonseal
Fawn lilies
Thimbleberry
Giant purple wakerobin
The trail signs were very helpful in keeping us on track.
Anna’s hummingbird
Viewpoint overlooking Kingfisher Marsh.
The trail crossed Jackson Slough on a footbridge.
Pintail Pond Loop
American goldfinch
Red-winged blackbird
Sparrow
Purple martins
American robin
There is a lot of lupine in the preserve but only a few had started blooming.
Pintail Pond
Northern shoveler drake and a gadwall
Green-winged teal
Geese
Killdeer
More camas
The Ash Trail.
Orange-crowned warbler
Jackson Bottom Wetlands
Can’t emphasize enough how helpful the map/pointer combinations are.
Noisy crow
Mourning dove
Our assumption was that that is Coyote Hill in the distance.
Western buttercups
Some houses on the wetlands border.
Golden-crowned sparrow
End of the trail.
Savannah sparrow
Spotted towhee
Passing Pintail Pond.
Wapato Marsh
White-crowned sparrow
American robin
American coot
Ring-necked ducks
Wapato Marsh
Cormorants
Raised viewing platform with many tree swallow photobombs.
This couple was having quite the discussion.
The Bobcat Marsh Trail on the left.
Water treatment pipes at the other end of the Bobcat Marsh Trail.
NW Pond
The trail passed between the NW Pond on the left and Oak Island Marsh on the right.
NW Pond had a variety of waterfowl. This is a northern shoveler drake, ring-necked duck pair, four lesser scaups, and an American coot.
Pied-billed grebe in NW Pond
Lesser scaups
Goose and mallards
Yellow-rumped warbler
The northern trailhead.
Viewing platform at the trailhead.
Cinnamon teal on Meadow Mouse Marsh
Mt. Hood beyond Wapato Marsh
Back on the Kingfisher Marsh Loop.
The Kingfisher Marsh Loop turned left here.
Mason bee house
Sign for the rhododendron garden.
The Woodland Pond
Heading for the Rock Creek Trail.
Rock Creek from the Rock Creek Trail.
The maps for the park were a little tougher to follow as most of the trails weren’t named and there were a lot of interconnected short segments.
The junction ahead is where the Rock Creek Trail beings/end according to the Rock Creek Trail maps. Maps of Rood Bridge Park simply refer to this as part of the “Main Trail Loop”, if they label it at all.
Mallards
Footbridge at the start of the Lollipop Loop.
There was a fair amount of Oregon grape as well.
Violets and trillium
Western meadowrue
Fawn lilies
Sparrow
Footbridge over Rock Creek.
Left is the dirt path we’d taken earlier, straight is the Rock Creek Trail, and right led to the Rhododendron Garden.
Jackson Bottom on the left and Rood Bridge to the right.
The brown strip in the grass near the center of the photo is the trail.
The trail entering the woods.
Pointer for Lower Archer Falls.
Bridges over Gable Creek.
Big Doug Bridge (Jan 23) over Archer Creek.
Archer Creek
After crossing the creek the trail did a short climb gaining approximately 150′ of elevation.
Trillium along the trail.
One of several of these style bridges on the way to the falls.
The “sketchy” bridge. It felt pretty solid underfoot, but the rail seemed ornamental only.
The final footbridge before the falls.
Steps leading up from Lower Archer Falls.
Trillium
Scouler’s corydalis
Bleeding heart
Salmonberry
Fairy bell
Fringecup
The start of the loop.
The trail loops around a former apple orchard.
Apple blossoms
A spur trail leading down to the Columbia River.
Devil’s Rest and Multnomah Falls (
Multnomah Falls
Yellow-rumped warbler.
The quarry later in the morning.
Pullout at the actual trailhead.
The Wind Mountain Trail at the trailhead.
Slender toothwort
Trillium
Red flowering currant
Close up of red flowering currant
Pioneer violet
Fairy slipper
Blue-eyed Mary
The spur trail down to the outcrop.
Serviceberry
Augspurger Mountain (
Dog Mountain (
Largeleaf sandwort
Talus slope on Wind Mountain.
Slender toothwort along the trail.
One of the signs near the summit.
Interpretive sign with a map of the areas open to hikers.
Trillium
View west down the Columbia River. Hamilton Mountain (
Mt. Defiance (
Vision quest pits on Wind Mountain.
Mt. Adams beyond Augspurger Mountain.
Mt. Adams
Looking across the Columbia River.
The first split where we went right.
To continue on the counterclockwise loop we should have turned right at the junction ahead.
We turned right at the junction now doing the loop clockwise.
Coming up on one of the picnic tables along the loop.
The Columbia River from the picnic table.
Horsetail Falls (
Chipping sparrow
White-crowned sparrow
Bleeding heart and fringecup
The cedar grove
Completing the first loop.
Spider on perriwinkle
Kiosk at Doetsch Ranch.
Beacon Rock (
Beacon Rock and Hamilton Mountain.
Coming up on the other parking area.
Woodward Creek
Fairy bells, vine maple, and fringecup
Columbian larkspur
Trillium and voilets
Checker (chocolate) lilies
Bleeding heart
This was just one part of the best display of chocolate lilies we’d ever seen.
There were a couple of lilies with this coloration which was new to us.
Riddle Lake
Dropping down to the River to Rock Trailhead.
Looking back up the River to Rock Trail.
Passing back by the large patch of chocolate lilies.
Our first butterfly of 2024, an echo azure.
Completing the loop.
St. Cloud and Lower Archer Falls
Wind Mountain
Sams-Walker
Doetsch Ranch
A footbridge along the paved path crosses Frazier Creek.
Kiosk at the start of the Bob Frenkel Boardwalk.
The start of the loop. We went counterclockwise.
Northern flicker
We listened to this sparrow sing for a bit. It was putting on quite the performance.
One of a couple viewing platforms off the main boardwalk.
Blackbird
Robin in the morning sunlight.
Sparrow
Hummingbird
Easter rabbit?
Kiosk at the trailhead.
Interpretive sign along the path.
Buttercups and a bog saxifrage
The start of the boardwalk.
Three California scrub-jays
One of the scrub-jays up close.
We walked a short distance from the end of the boardwalk to visit Mary’s River.
Swollen Mary’s River. It did appear that it might be possible to make this a loop in the dry season by following a grassy track, but it was too wet and muddy to even attempt that today.
Mary’s Peak (
Black-capped chickadee
Anna’s hummingbird
Kiosk just on the other side of Oak Creek from the trailhead parking lot.
Bald Hill from the trail.
Mary’s Peak
The barn across the gravel road.
Our fist camas sighting of the year. The only one in bloom that we’d see all day.
We’d turned left here on our 2016 Bald Hill hike.
Crossing the farmhouse road to join the gravel road.
The first of many fawn lilies we’d see.
Giant white wakerobin
Toothwort
More fawn lilies
Bleeding heart
Trail pointer at Wynoochee Drive.
I count six in this photo.
While most of the jays wouldn’t sit still in the open long enough for a decent photo this one at least cooperated.
Sign for the Fitton Green Natural Area at the intersection with Panorama Drive.
The road turned to gravel shortly before arriving at the trailhead.
Gate at the trailhead.
Mary’s Peak still sporting a decent amount of snow.
Looking SE towards Corvallis
Looking West towards the Coast Range.
Common lomatium
The Mulkey Ridge Trail below to the left arriving at the Allen Throop Loop.
Strawberry
Redstem storksbill
Wild iris
More fawn lilies
Candy flower
Purple deadnettle
Pacific hound’s tongue
Colorful turkey tails
The trail splits briefly along a ridge marking what used to be the end of trail from the Oak Creek Trailhead.
Dark-eyed junco
There were a pair of acorn woodpeckers in this area that we stopped to watch.
This tree was full of holes that the woodpeckers use to store their acorns in.
One of several benches along the trail.
Oregon grape
Trillium
The Mulkey Ridge Trail descending to Mulkey Creek. (Note the footbridge in the lower right-hand corner.)
Footbridge over Mulkey Creek.
Toothwort
Western buttercups along the trail on our way back.
Sunrise from the trailhead.
Clear cut at the trailhead.
This was the view through the forest from Maple Creek Road around the 80-yard mark.
We could hear the Tualatin River in the valley below and I managed to get far enough down the hill to get a glimpse of the water. I had descended from a pullout with a fire ring about 50-75′ looking for the old roadbed, but I still couldn’t make out where it actually was and had been slipping a lot on wet wood.
Map and information at the trailhead.
Starling
Lenticular clouds over Mt. Hood in the distance.
Our first wildflower of the year is Indian plum in 2024.
Egret
Path at Fernhill Wetlands.
Gazebo overlooking Cattail Marsh.
Great blue heron on a post above Cattail Marsh.
American coot
Another great blue heron.
Red-winged blackbird
Hawk flying over Eagles Perch Marsh.
Ring-necked ducks
Buffleheads
This one might be a hooded merganser?
Fernhill Lake
This is where the trail turned east (for obvious reasons).
Barney wetlands
Double-crested cormorant on a post in Barney Wetlands.
Double-crested cormorant
Drying off in the sun.
Nurtia at a bench near Dabblers Marsh
Nutria
Dabblers Marsh
Green-winged teal
Great blue heron
Pie-billed grebe
Robin
The start of the loop at the edge of the farmland. We stayed left opting to hike the loop clockwise.
Anna’s hummingbrid
A gaggle of geese in the field.
American kestrels manning their posts.
Purple dead-nettle
More geese coming in for a landing.
Near the end of the loop the trail left the field along Dabblers Marsh.
Spotted towhee
Rabbit
Geese on Fernhill Lake
Mallard drake
Mallard female
Water Gardens
Northern shovelers, a mallard, and a coot.
Oregon grape beginning to bloom.
Northern shoveler
Green-winged teal pair
Path along the Research Wetlands.
Egret near the parking lot at Fernhill Marsh
Looking back at the Research Wetlands from the near the trailhead.
We were a little confused by the sign on the left here stating the trail was closed. The website and signboard had said nothing about a closure and the gate at the far end of the bridge was open and others were already out on the levee. We assume they just hadn’t taken the sign down after the seasonal closure period.
Pointers on the levee.
Nutria (sigh). We had hopped it was a beaver but alas the whiskers give it away.
Geese, several species of ducks, and some shore birds.
A great blue heron along Wapato Creek.
Great blue heron
Wapato Lake
Beaver lodge
Northern shovelers and an American wigeon
Of course we forgot to bring binoculars making it even harder to make out which types of ducks were out there.
Ring-necked ducks with an American coot in the background.
Ring-necked duck and northern shovelers
Reflections in Wapato Lake
There is virtually no shade along the lake which wasn’t an issue today but could be in the heat of Summer. There are however three benches along the levee allowing for a place to sit and watch the birds.
Lesser scaups
Ducks flying over the lake.
Old bridge over Wapato Creek. The gravel surface ended at this bridge.
The coyote running off through the brush.
Tundra swans
Tundra swans
We decided to turn around at this bridge even though the levee continued. It appeared that the water was further away from the levee going forward and we hadn’t planned on going much more than 3-miles today.
Northern pintails and some green-winged teals.
American wigeons and a pair of green-winged teals.
There were a couple of times that blue sky seemed imminent.
Buffleheads
Iowa Hill (
More buffleheads
Immature bald eagle
Sparrow
Horned grebe
Canvasbacks, another first for us.
Great blue heron on the osprey nest.
Ther heron on the nest.
Mallards
Red-winged blackbird
Bald eagle
Nutria
Gaston from the refuge.
Green-winged teals
Northern pintails
Mostly American wigeons and green-winged teals
On the paved path back to the parking lot.
Some of the damage from the ice storm at the trailhead.
Sign for the Connector Trail at the trailhead.
Cannon Trail
Firelane 9 across from the trailhead.
Firelane 10
Unsurprisingly the recent weather had most of the stream beds flowing which we hadn’t witnessed on our other visits.
Heading up to the junction.
The Linnton Trail heads down a ridge to the 
We passed the Keyser Trail which rejoins Firelane 10 just a quarter mile ahead. We stuck to Firelane 10 which climbed very steeply in that quarter mile leading us to believe the Keyser Trail may have been a little more gradual as the map showed it bowing away from Firelane 10 before rejoining.
The first of only three trees that were still down over the trails we hiked. In the distance is a Wildwood Trail sign at the junction.
The trail repeatedly bows into the hillside to cross creek beds.
We passed three pointers for Newton Road and then crossed Newton Road along this section of the Wildwood Trail. We would be using Newton Road to make another small loop on our way back.
The Wildwood Trail crossing Newton Road.
Not all of the junctions have maps, but most of the major ones do to help keep hikers and runners on track (or to give them more ideas).
Climbing up to the BPA Road crossing.
The BPA Road heading uphill with the Wildwood Trail we’d just come up to the right.
Firelane 12 on the left.
The middle of three plaques commemorating the 1999 acquisition of 73-acres that was in danger of being developed.
Once again varied thrush 1 – Deryl 0. If I was keeping score, it would probably be something like 179-10.
Firelane 15 on the left ahead.
The small creek along Firelane 15.
Blue sky and powerlines above Firelane 15.
Wildwood Trail crossing Firelane 15.
The fanciest bridge we crossed all day.
Why is the trail way down there when the road is up above on the far hillside?
Woolly bear
Climbing to Newberry Road just to say we made it to the end of the Wildwood Trail.
Newberry Road Trailhead.
Another sub-par bird photo, but it took us quite a while just to spot this woodpecker who was way up in the treetops (and mostly in the shade).
Crossing Firelane 15.
Another blurry bird. This one a wren, one of many we heard but the only one we were able to spot.
Uprooted trees along the Wildwood Trail.
Newton Road to the right of the Wildwood Trail.
Mile marker along Newton Road.
Douglas squirrel
One of several small habitat restoration study areas along Newton Road.
The Newton Road Trailhead in the distance.
One of only two benches we saw all day.
Cars parked along Germantown Road in the distance.
Just before the bridge over Shot Pouch Creek is a spur trail for water which is reportedly scarce along the entire 60-mile route.
A swollen Shot Pouch Creek.
Following the trail/road up to the 4-way.
This was one of a handful of similar structures in the area. So far we haven’t found any information on their history.
Nearing “The 4-way”. Just ahead is where the Subaru bottomed out slightly.
The 4-way
Trail marker with the kiosk and part of the gate in the distance.
Cloudy and wet morning as expected.
The rocks on the first stretch were not a pleasant surface to walk on but it wasn’t too long before we left the rocks behind.
Small cascade along a side creek.
The first of the newts we spotted. They blend well with the leaves so we tried to really keep our eyes open to avoid accidently stepping on any. Over the course of the hike we saw several dozen and who knows how many we didn’t see.
C2C Trail marker along the left-hand (downhill) fork.
This was the only significant blowdown we encountered on the hike and the tree here was a fairly easy duck under.
The Sugar Bowl Creek Trail segment leaving the old road. This was the only portion that was true singletrack along the Sugar Bowl segment. Here the trail passes through a portion of the Siuslaw National Forest.
The Sugar Bowl Creek Trail switchbacked downhill to the East before turning back to the SW in the Sugar Bowl.
The trail eventually rejoined the old roadbed.
Actual blue sky.
Arriving at Mary’s Peak Road.
Signage along Mary’s Peak Road for the C2C.
This particular newt was not about to move out of Heather’s way.
A side creek flowing toward Sugar Bowl Creek.
Sugar Bowl Creek was never visible from the C2C but it was out there somewhere.
The Harlan Road Gate and kiosk.
Coral fungus
Unnamed creek
Back on the rocky roadbed below the 4-way.
Back at the gate and kiosk.
The playground behind and to the right of the signboard at the Visitors Center.
The red trail continuing on the far end of the playground.
Mt. St. Helens from the playground.
On the red trail.
The Mount Tabor stairs extend from the park border up to the summit.
Summit restrooms
The restrooms were reopened in 2017 after being renovated.
Mount Tabor summit
Mt. Hood from the summit.
Downtown Portland
Mallards
We forked right at this junction sticking to the green pointers.
Arriving at The Crater.
Coming around The Crater near the Visitors Center.
Mount Talbert from the path.
Mount Scott Creek
The Park Loop Trail junction just uphill.
Note that the map at the Park Loop/Sunnyside Road Trail junction mis-identifies the location with the “You Are Here” star located at the Park Loop/Summit Ridge junction.
Arriving at the West Ridge Trail junction.
Rejoining the Park Loop Trail.
Mt. Adams was visible through the web of small branches.
A snowy Mt. Adams.
Back at the Sunnyside Road Trail.
The benches throughout the park contained various nature sculptures, this one is “Moss Group”.
On the Boomer Trail.
The Boomer Trail turned left at the bottom of these stone steps.
Another Metro trail map and pointers.
The Boomer Trail, named for Mountain Beavers which are sometimes called boomers, crossed the entrance road before climbing back up to the parking area.
This was an impressive root system.
A less obstructed view of Mt. Adams. (Mt. St. Helens was also briefly visible from this section of trail.)
Slightly clearer shot of Mt. Adams.
Back at the trailhead.
Mt. St. Helens from the service road. Mt. Hood was also visible to the right through some fences around the ball fields.
The large area to the right didn’t offer much of a view of the falls, but the view from the bridge was great.
The highway from the parking lot.
The D River from the highway bridge. The river flows between Devil’s Lake and the Pacific Ocean and at high tide has a length of approximately 40 yards.
Hostetler Park.
Several interpretive signs were located along the boardwalk.
One of the interpretive signs.
Nearing the campground.
Orange cones, and a cat, at the far end of the path.
Program area in the campground.
View North from the beach.
Cascade Head (
Seagulls at the mouth of the D River.
There were of course plenty of seagulls present.
There weren’t very many ocean rocks along this stretch of beach.
Surf scooters
Loon, probably a common loon.
Baldy Creek
The inn on the left with the rocks extending into the Pacific.
Cormorants and seagulls
This was a big tree that we were able to walk under.
Salishan Spit across the Siletz.
Asters on the beach.
Pelicans on the left and seals on the right at the end of Salishan Spit.
Pelicans and seagull
Seals and a seagull
Drying off
Pelican mouths are a sight to behold (righthand side).
Cascade Head and God’s Thumb both in the sunlight now.
The Story Circle
Trail Challenge sign #8.
The trail ends at SE 3rd St (no parking available).
While there are more trails to choose from here the total milage is just about 1.25 miles. We opted to loop around the outside with detours to the Salt Marsh Overlook and Pond’s Edge.
To the left is the very short spur to the Salt Marsh Overlook which was too overgrown to really see anything.
Interpretive sign at the overlook.
A noisy little hummer near the overlook.
There was pretty good signage at the main trail junctions.
Boardwalks helped cross the wet areas.
Pond’s Edge spur trail.
At the edge of the pond.
We hadn’t expected to see any blooming rhododendrons.
Arriving at the signboards at the start of the loop.
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