Tag: cummins creek wilderness

Cook’s Ridge/Cummins Creek Loop – 07/20/2026

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 23, 2026
No Comments on Cook’s Ridge/Cummins Creek Loop – 07/20/2026

Having canceled plans for trip to the North Cascades National Park due to my ongoing back/hip/leg issues Heather decided not to use up a week of vacation. That left me on my own as I continue to try and work back to a place where a week of fairly intense hiking is possible. My plan for the week off was to get out 5 times over the 10 days. Hike one was to Canyon Creek Meadows on Saturday when Heather was able to join (post).

Hike two was going to be Black Crater in the Three Sisters Wilderness which we had visited in 2016 on a cloudy day and gotten no view from the summit (post). Unfortunately, when I got up a 3:15am and double checked the forecast it had gone from sunny to areas of smoke due to wildfires. The forecast was similar to the north in the Mt. Hood area and to the south, around Diamond Peak, there was a chance of rain showers. I then checked the Oregon Coast which was free of precipitation and smoke. I decided to head to the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area and hike some of the trails in that area.

We’d visited the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area in 2010, 2013 and 2018. For this visit my plan was to hike a loop incorporating some of the trails that we hadn’t been on during any of the previous visits.

I began at the Cape Perpetua Visitor Center at 6am.

Not surprisingly I was the first car in the lot.

I made my way to the RV Parking area where the Cook’s Ridge Trail begins next to a signboard with a map.

My plan was to take the Cook’s Ridge Trail up to the Cummins Creek Trail and then follow that trail down to the Oregon Coast Trail and follow that trail back to the Visitor Center. I was also hoping to detour down into the Cummins Creek Wilderness to see Cummins Creek near the Cummins Creek Trailhead.

The Cook’s Ridge/Discovery Loop Trail climbed steadily up an old logging track for 0.4-miles to the start the 0.6-mile loop.

I stayed left at the junction and after another 0.3-mile climb passed the upper loop junction.

Ghost pipe (Monotropa uniflora L.) There was a lot of this plant along the trails during this hike.

View from the Discovery Loop.

Ghost pipe on both sides of the trail.

There was something fairly large rustling around in the brush, but I never saw anything.

Signs at the upper junction. I stayed left on the Cook’s Ridge Trail heading for the Cummins Creek Trail. It was 2.8 miles to that trail which consisted primarily of gradual climbing although there were a couple of downhills to drop into saddles.

None of the coastal huckleberries were ripe yet.

Starflower

Douglas squirrel

More ghost pipe.

Little prince’s pine

At the 2.4-mile mark I passed the junction with the Gwynn Creek Trail.

Up until now the hike had been entirely new to me. In February 2013 we had descended to this junction from the Cook’s Ridge/Cummins Creek Trail junction and taken the Gwynn Creek Trail back down to return to the Cummins Creek Trailhead. Incidentally that was the first hike we covered in this blog. I continued uphill another 1.1-miles to the Cummins Creek Trail junction.

Red elderberry

Fringecup

An aven and self-heal

Coastal brookfoam

Bleeding heart

Coming up on the Cummins Creek Trail junction.

I made a sharp right onto the Cummins Creek Trail and continued to climb briefly before the trail began a long gradual descent.

Yarrow

Elegant brodeia

Ocean spray

Snail

After a half mile on the Cummins Creek Trail I passed a 0.1-mile spur trail to a viewpoint.

We visited the viewpoint in 2013 and given how cloudy it was I decided to save those 0.2-miles for my detour to Cummins Creek. A tenth of a mile beyond the viewpoint spur I came to another junction.

To the left was the old Cummins Creek Trail and to the right the newer Cummins Creek Loop Trail (as shown on the trailhead map). In 2013 we’d come up the newer trail so today I turned left and headed down the older trail.

Thimbleberries, I did manage to find one ripe one and a few ripe red huckleberries.

The upper portion of the trail was a little overgrown, but it was clear of obstacles.

View out to the Pacific Ocean.

White triteleia

Crab spider on a daisy.

Tiger lily

After a steep half mile descent I arrived at an old roadbed with a trail sign.

I turned right and followed the old roadbed 1.4-miles to a junction with the Cummins Creek Loop Trail.

Creeping buttercup

Coastal manroot

The road sits on the edge of the Cummins Creek Wilderness.

Moth

The Cummins Creek Loop Trail joining from the ridge on the right.

Given how steep the descent was to the roadbed I was glad that we had not tried to take this trail up in 2013. From the junction I continued to follow the old roadbed for 1.2-miles where I turned left onto a clear but unsigned trail leading downhill into the Cummins Creek Wilderness.

This rabbit hopped out onto the trail and posed for a moment.

I was surprised to find some blooming fairy lanterns.

I turned down the trail which had decent tread to begin with.

After climbing over and through a couple of downed trees I arrived at a flat basin.

The trail got overgrown fairly quickly and I lost it in a swale of skunk cabbage, ferns and grass.

There were some faint, possibly game, trails heading toward the creek so I picked one and made my way toward the sound of water. I popped out of the brush next to a bunch of logs and a couple of small rock islands.

Mushrooms

Where I popped out of the brush.

I climbed over these logs to reach the rocks.

Cummins Creek

California figwort along Cummins Creek.

After a short break I recrossed the logs and found a little clearer game trail back to the main trail and returned up to the Cummins Creek Trail. I followed the Cummins Creek Trail 0.2 more miles to the Cummins Creek Trailhead then walked the road an additional 0.2-miles to a small pullout with a signboard marking the Oregon Coast Trail.

It was 1.3-miles back to the Visitor Center. This section provided several views of the Pacific.

I had one of these ripe salal berries and it was the best salal I think I’ve ever had. If you’re familiar with the berry you know that the skin can be a little thick and hairy, but they have a sweet flavor.

Gwynn Creek

I passed the junction with the Gwynn Creek Trail 0.3-miles from the road. Since we had come down the Gwynn Creek Trail in 2013 I was once again on a section of trail I hadn’t hiked before.

Cape Perpetua from the trail. You can barely make out the stone shelter atop the cape if you zoom in.

Highway 101

My loop came to 9.6-miles with approximately 1600′ of elevation gain.

Over half the loop was new-to-me trail. I passed a total of five people, three were between the Cummins Creek Loop/Cummins Creek Trail junction and where I detoured down to Cummins Creek, and the other two were on the paved trail up to the Visitor Center. While we don’t often hike on the coast in July since that is prime time for higher elevation hikes this proved to be a great alternative. Based on the forecast for the rest of the week I may be looking for another coastal hike or two. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Cook’s Ridge/Cummins Creek Loop

Tags Cape Perpetua Scenic Area, Cape Perpetua Visitor Center, Cook's Ridge Trail, Cummins Creek, Cummins Creek Trail, cummins creek wilderness, Discovery Loop, Gwynn Creek, Gwynn Creek Trail, hiking, Oregon, Oregon Coast, Pacific Coast

Hiking

Progress Report – Oregon Wilderness Areas (Completed)

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date February 1, 2022
8 Comments on Progress Report – Oregon Wilderness Areas (Completed)

Several years back we set several hiking goals, one of which being to hike in all of Oregon’s federally designated wilderness areas. At that time there were 47 such areas in the State with two of those being off-limits to visitors (Three Arch Rocks & Oregon Islands are also National Wildlife Refuges that provide nesting habitat for sea birds as well as serving as pupping sites for marine mammals. To prevent disturbances public entry to any of the rocks/islands is prohibited and waters within 500 feet of the refuge are closed to all watercraft from May 1 through September 15.) In 2019 Congress added the Devils Staircase Wilderness to the list giving us a total of 46 designated wilderness areas to visit in order to complete this goal. Staring in 2019 we began posting annual updates on our progress (2020 & 2021) and we are excited to report that, unless any new wilderness areas are established in the future, this will be our last update. We managed to make it to the final four wilderness areas on our list, the North Fork Umatilla, Devils Staircase, Black Canyon, and Monument Rock, in 2021. We have to give credit to Bruce (Van Marmot) over at Boots on the Trail for not only getting to all 46 first but also providing inspiration and a lot of helpful information.

A little over 2.5 million acres are designated as wilderness throughout the State and range in size from 15 acres (Three Arch Rocks) to 355,548 acres (Eagle Cap). Oregon shares a wilderness with three of its bordering states. The Wenaha-Tuccanon is shared with Washington, Hells Canyon with Idaho, and Red Buttes with California. The areas are managed by three different federal agencies. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) manages the Oregon Islands and Three Arch Rocks areas while the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages nine and the Forest Service manages forty-one. If you do the math those numbers add up to fifty-two. The reason for that is four of the areas, the Devils Staircase, Lower White River, Hells Canyon, and Wild Rogue are managed jointly by the Forest Service and BLM. Seven of the areas have no official trails, the two off-limit areas, and the Devils Staircase, Rock Creek, Lower White River, Bridge Creek, and Spring Basin wildernesses. Although irregularly shaped (except for the exactly 6 square mile Mountain Lakes Wilderness) the majority of the areas are a single unit. In addition to the Oregon Islands and Three Arch Rocks the Mount Hood (4), Mark O. Hatfield (2), Badger Creek (2),Salmon-Huckleberry (3), Clackamas (5), Soda Mountain (2), North Fork John Day (4), and Steens Mountain (2) consist of multiple separate areas.

We visited our first Oregon Wilderness in 2009 when we visited Henline Falls in the Opal Creek Wilderness. Since then we have spent parts of 215 days in these special places. For sixteen of the areas it was only a single day while we’ve spent part of 30 days in the Three Sisters Wilderness. Below are some of our best memories from each of the wilderness areas. We hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed visiting them.

Badger Creek: 28,915 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-6

Black Canyon: 13.088 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Boulder Creek: 19,911 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Bridge Creek: 5,337 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Bull of the Woods: 36,869 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-6

Clackamas: 9.465 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Copper-Salmon: 13,724 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Cummins Creek: 9,026 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Devils Staircase: 30,787 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Diamond Peak: 52,477 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-7

Drift Creek: 5,792 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Eagle Cap: 355,548 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-5

Gearhart Mountain: 22,587 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Grassy Knob: 17,176 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Hells Canyon: 131,337 acres in OR (217,613 in ID) Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Kalmiopsis: 179,550 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Lower White River: 2,871 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Mark O. Hatfield: 65,420 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-12

Menagerie: 4,952 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Middle Santiam: 8,845 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Mill Creek: 17,173 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Monument Rock: 20,210 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Mountain Lakes: 23,036 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Mount Hood: 64,742 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-22

Mount Jefferson: 108,909 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-27

Mount Thielsen: 55,151 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-5

Mount Washington: 54,410 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-7

North Fork John Day: 120,694 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-8

North Fork Umatilla: 20,225 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-3

Opal Creek: 20,774 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-6

Oregon Badlands: 28,182 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Oregon Islands: 925 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-0

Red Buttes: 3,777 acres in OR (20,133 in CA) Days Spent in Wilderness-2 in OR, (4 in CA)

This photo is from CA but it actually shows the namesake Red Buttes

Roaring River: 36,548 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Rock Creek: 7,273 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Closest thing to a “wilderness sign” we saw for this one.

Rogue-Umpqua: 35,749 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-6

Salmon-Huckleberry: 62,061 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-11

Sky Lakes: 113,687 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-3

Soda Mountain: 24,707 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Spring Basin: 6,404 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Steens Mountain: 170,202 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-5

Strawberry Mountain: 69,350 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-5

Table Rock: 5,784 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-3

Three Arch Rocks: 15 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-0

Three Sisters: 283,619 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-30

Waldo Lake: 36,868 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-6

Wenaha-Tuccanon: 65,266 acres in OR (176,737 in WA) Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Wild Rogue: 35,221 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Tags Badger Creek Wilderness, Black Canyon Wilderness, Boulder Creek Wilderness, Bridge Creek Wilderness, Bull of the Woods Wilderness, Clackamas Wilderness, Copper-Salmon Wilderness, cummins creek wilderness, Devil's Staircase Wilderness, Diamond Peak Wilderness, Drift Creek Wilderness, eagle cap wilderness, Gearhart Mountain Wilderness, Grassy Knob Wilderness, Hells Canyon Wilderness, hiking, kalmiopsis wilderness, Lower White River Wilderness, Mark O Hatfield Wilderness, Menagerie Wilderness, Middle Santiam Wilderness, Mill Creek Wilderness, Monument Rock Wilderness, Mount Hood Wilderness, Mount Jefferson Wilderness, Mount Thielsen Wilderness, Mount Washington Wilderness, mountain lakes wilderness, North Fork John Day Wilderness, North Fork Umatilla Wilderness, opal creek wilderness, Oregon, oregon badlands wilderness, Oregon wilderness areas, Red Buttes Wilderness, roaring river wilderenss, Rock Creek Wilderness, Rogue-Umpqua Wilderness, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, sky lakes wilderness, soda mountain wilderness, Spring Basin Wilderness, Steens Mountain Wilderness, Strawberry Mountain Wilderness, table rock wilderness, Three Sisters Wilderness, waldo lake wilderness, Wenaha-Tuccanon Wilderness, Wild Rogue Wilderness, Wilderness Area

Hiking Uncategorized

Progress Report – Oregon Wilderness Areas

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date February 1, 2019
5 Comments on Progress Report – Oregon Wilderness Areas

In our last post we wrote about our ambitious (possibly overly so) goal of completing 500 “featured” hikes in William L. Sullivan’s guidebooks. The topic of this post is another one of our goals, visiting all 45 of Oregon’s accessible designated wilderness areas (Three Arch Rocks and Oregon Islands are off limits to all visitors). This goal should be quite a bit easier to accomplish given the much smaller number of needed hikes and the fact that the wilderness areas aren’t changing every few years. (There is legislation pending that would create the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness in the coast range between Reedsport and Eugene.)

The inspiration for this goal came from a fellow hiker and blogger over at Boots on the Trail. This smaller goal fit well into our 500 featured hikes goal too as thirty nine of the wilderness areas are destinations of at least one of the featured hikes. The remaining six: Copper-Salmon, Lower White River, Rock Creek, Cummins Creek, Bridge Creek, and Grassy Knob were still included in the books but as additional hikes in the back. Between the hike descriptions in the guidebooks and Boots on the Trail’s trip reports we’ve had plenty of information to work with.

This was an appealing goal too. Wilderness areas are dear to our hearts and home to many of our favorite places. These areas are the least affected by humans and we feel best reflect God’s work as Creator. To me they are akin to a museum showcasing His finest artistry. Just as we would in a museum we admire and enjoy the wilderness but we do our best not to affect it meaning adhering whenever possible to Leave No Trace principles.

We have made pretty good progress on this goal so far and as of 12/31/18 we had visited 38 of the 45 accessible areas (and seen the other two from the beach). We’re currently on track to have visited them all by the end of 2020.

Below is a chronological list of the wilderness areas we’ve been to (or seen) as well as any subsequent year(s) we’ve visited with some links to selected trip reports.

Opal Creek – 2009, 10, 11, 12, 14, 18

Battle Ax Creek – 2014

Mt. Jefferson – 2010, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18

Mt. Jefferson from Russell Lake – 2016

Drift Creek – 2010

Mt. Washington – 2011, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17

Mt. Washington from the Pacific Crest Trail – 2015

Three Sisters – 2011, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

The Three Sisters – 2014

Three Arch Rocks – 2011, 18

Three Arch Rocks from Cape Meares – 2018

Mark O. Hatfield – 2012, 14, 15, 16

Triple Falls – 2012

Mt. Hood – 2012, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

Mt. Hood – 2015

Oregon Islands – 2012, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

Bandon Islands – 2018

Mill Creek – 2012

Twin Pillars – 2011

Mt. Thielsen – 2012, 14

Howlock Mountain and Mt. Thielsen – 2014

Table Rock – 2012, 15

Table Rock – 2015

Salmon-Huckleberry – 2013, 14, 15, 17, 18

Frustration Falls – 2018

Diamond Peak – 2013, 14, 18

Trapper Creek – 2014

Waldo Lake – 2013, 15, 18

View from Fuji Mountain – 2013

Roaring River – 2013

Serene Lake – 2013

Badger Creek – 2014

Badger Creek Wilderness – 2014

Middle Santiam – 2014

Donaca Lake – 2014

Bull of the Woods – 2014, 15, 18

Emerald Pool – 2018

Soda Mountain – 2015, 17

View from Boccard Point – 2015

Red Buttes – 2015

Oregon Badlands – 2016

Oregon Badlands Wilderness – 2016

Kalmiopsis – 2016

Vulcan Lake – 2016

Menagerie – 2016

Rooster Rock – 2016

Eagle Cap – 2016

Glacier Lake – 2016

Mountain Lakes – 2016

View from Aspen Butte – 2016

Sky Lakes – 2016

Mt. McLoughlin from Freye Lake – 2016

Lower White River – 2016

White River – 2016

Rock Creek – 2017

Spring Basin – 2017

Hedgehog Cactus – 2017

Bridge Creek – 2017

Bridge Creek Wilderness – 2017

Wild-Rogue – 2017

Hanging Rock – 2017

Grassy Knob – 2017

View from Grassy Knob – 2017

Clackamas – 2017

Big Bottom – 2017

North Fork John Day – 2017, 18

Baldy Lake – 2017

Cummins Creek – 2017

Cummins Ridge Trail – 2017

Rogue-Umpqua Divide – 2018

Hummingbird Meadows – 2018

Steens Mountain – 2018

View along the Pine Creek Trail – 2018

Strawberry Mountain – 2018

Slide Lake – 2018

Copper-Salmon – 2018

Barklow Mountain Trail – 2018

The remaining areas and year of our planned visit looks like this:

2019 – Hells Canyon, North Fork Umatilla, Wenaha-Tucannon
2020 – Boulder Creek, Black Canyon, Monument Rock, Gearhart Mountain

If the Devil’s Staircase is added in the meantime we will do our best to work that in (it is currently on our list of hikes but not until 2023. For more information on Oregon’s wilderness areas visit Wilderness.net here.

Happy Trails!

Tags Badger Creek Wilderness, Bridge Creek Wilderness, Bull of the Woods Wilderness, Clackamas Wilderness, Copper-Salmon Wilderness, cummins creek wilderness, Diamond Peak Wilderness, Drift Creek Wilderness, eagle cap wilderness, Grassy Knob Wilderness, hiking, kalmiopsis wilderness, Lower White River Wilderness, Mark O Hatfield Wilderness, Menagerie Wilderness, Middle Santiam Wilderness, Mill Creek Wilderness, mountain lakes wilderness, Mt. Hood Wilderness, Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Mt. Thielsen wilderness, Mt. Washington Wilderness, North Fork John Day Wilderness, opal creek wilderness, Oregon, oregon badlands wilderness, Oregon Islands Wilderness, Red Buttes Wilderness, Roaring River Wilderness, Rock Creek Wilderness, Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, sky lakes wilderness, soda mountain wilderness, Spring Basin Wilderness, Steens Mountain Wilderness, Strawberry Mountain Wilderness, table rock wilderness, Three Arch Rocks Wilderness, Three Sisters Wilderness, waldo lake wilderness, Wild Rogue Wilderness, Wilderness Areas