Diamond Creek Falls – wanderingyuncks

For the third time during the week the forecast for a planned hike in the Cascades showed clear skies when I went to bed but then it showed areas of patchy smoke when I rechecked in the morning. The first two times I pivoted to a hike on the Oregon Coast but on Thursday I decided to risk the “areas of smoke” before 11am forecast for Salt Creek Falls and Vivian Lake. The smokey conditions are the result of numerous lightning caused wildfires. Over 2000 strikes were recorded in Oregon on 7/15/26 and another reported 8357 ground strikes occurred on 7/22/26. The staggering number of strikes combined with extremely dry conditions led to some large fast-growing fires in Central and Eastern, Oregon. At least two of my high school classmates have had to evacuate due to the Akawa Butte Fire north of Sisters.

The area around the Diamond Peak Area had thus far avoided any large fires and the handful of small starts had all been quickly contained which is why I had looked at revisiting our 2013 hike from Salt Creek Falls to Vivian Lake (post). I arrived at the Salt Creek Falls Day Use Area just before 6am and was happy to find that there was no smell of smoke in the air.

I started by heading for Salt Creek Falls where there is ongoing construction at the main overlook. (A sign noted that the area is closed when construction is happening and other access routes need to be used, but there was no construction happening yet today.)

Beyond the construction there is a viewpoint of the falls and the start of the Salt Creek Falls Trail.

While we’d been to this waterfall twice before we had never gone down the trail.

The trail descends steeply losing approximately 200′ of elevation to a railed viewpoint of the 286′ waterfall.

Salt Creek Falls is an impressive waterfall, and the basalt cliffs add to the visual appeal.

I trudged back up from the lower viewpoint and followed the paved path along the cliff to the top of the falls.

From the top of the falls I stayed right at junctions and crossed Salt Creek on a footbridge where a sign announced the Diamond Creek Falls Trail.

Salt Creek

On the far side of Salt Creek, and after crossing another small footbridge, the trail split.

The split is the start of the Diamond Creek Falls Loop.

The trail to the right provides the shortest distance to Diamond Creek Falls and also offers access to Too Much Bear Lake so that is the direction I headed.

Warning sign at the start of the loop.

After a brief climb I came to the first cliff edge viewpoint.

I then detoured down a use trail to visit Too Much Bear Lake.

The first use trail didn’t provide much a view of the lake.

One of two great blue herons that I did see from the first use trail.

Back up on the trail along the basalt cliffs.

I detoured again down to Too Much Bear Lake on a better use trail that did bring me to the edge of the lake.

After my second foray down to the lake, I continued on the loop.

There were several short spurs that led to viewpoints on the right.

This spur led to an obstructed view of Lower Diamond Creek Falls, which according to the NW Waterfall Survey, has a height of 180′ over 4 drops.

Lower Diamond Creek Falls from the viewpoint.

Zoomed in on the waterfall.

Continuing on the loop the trail passes near the top of Lower Diamond Creek Falls.

The trail continues a gradual climb to a junction 1.3-miles from the start of the loop. The trail to the right is signed “Lower Diamond Creek Falls” however this is an error, and the spur trail actually descends to Diamond Creek Falls.

I turned down the spur trail and descended to a footbridge over Diamond Creek.

Musk monkeyflower

Shortly after crossing the bridge the trail brings you to 134′ Diamond Creek Falls, in my opinion one of Oregon’s prettiest.

The setting adds to the beauty.

In 2013 we had visited on July 4th and were hounded by mosquitos, but today the waterfall was mosquito free, so I was able to enjoy the waterfall and explore as I liked.

Yellow willowherb

I’m assuming this is an arnica of somesort.

After spending some time at the waterfall I returned back up to the loop and continued on to an overlook of the waterfall.

Sickletop lousewort near the overlook.

Just beyond the overlook the trail split again at an unsigned junction. The loop continued to the left while the Vivian Lake Trail headed uphill to the right.

I headed right and began the 2.2-mile climb to Vivian Lake. For the first 0.3-miles the trail crossed some swales, Diamond Creek using a road bridge, and climbed to a railroad crossing.

Prince’s pine

Bugbane

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Columbine

Approaching the road.

Fireweed

Diamond Creek

The trail continuing on the other side of the bridge.

Gnome plant was prevalent in the forest.

More swales

The railroad tracks.

No trains today but the tracks are in use.

On the far side of the tracks there are two trails, an obvious old roadbed and a narrower trail to the roadbeds right. They will both get you to the same place, but the narrower trail is the official Vivian Lake Trail (it’s also shorter) and the one I took.

A quarter mile beyond the railroad tracks the trail comes to a wilderness registration box at the edge of the Diamond Peak Wilderness.

While I was filling out the self-issued permit I felt a bite near my right elbow and looked down to see three mosquitos there. There was another on my left arm and none of them had reservations so I dispatched of them and quickly continued on. After 75 yards I realized I no longer had hiking poles so I had to turn around and go back to the kiosk to retrieve them. After gathering my poles I again headed toward Vivian Lake.

Twinflower

Lupine

Sugar sticks

Mushrooms

Hedgenettle

One-sided wintergreen

The trail climbed steeply at times passing a very obscured view of Middle Fall Creek Falls.

You can hear the waterfall much better than you can see it.

There is a much better view of Fall Creek Falls 1.3-miles from the Diamond Creek Falls Loop.

Spur to the viewpoint above Fall Creek Falls.

Fall Creek Falls

Beyond Fall Creek Falls the trail leveled a bit as it traveled above Fall Creek before steepening again prior to reaching a signed junction near Vivian Lake.

Rosy spirea

Clasping arnica

Approaching the signed junction. The trail to the right leads to the lake while the Vivian Lake Trail continues to the left to Notch Lake and eventually the Vivian Lake Trailhead (post).

I followed the trail to Vivian Lake and made my way to some campsites where I took a break on the lakeshore.

There were a few mosquitos in this area, but they were absent from the lakeshore.

Frog in the grass.

My break spot.

My only company at the lake were a few ducks who kept their distance.

Aside from an occasional faint smell of smoke and some haze depending on the direction I was looking the fires weren’t an issue.

Just as I was about to leave the clouds began to break up and I decided to make my way around the lake a bit to try and get a view of the top of Mt. Yoran.

Mt. Yoran

After getting my view of Mt. Yoran I made my way back to the Vivian Lake Trail, stopping often to admire the scene at the lake.

Once I was back to the Vivian Lake Trail I headed downhill toward the Diamond Creek Falls Loop.

On my way down I spotted something coming up the trail below me.

It wasn’t another hiker, but rather a young buck who stopped and stared at me through the trees.

We stared at one another for a while then I told him I was heading that way. Proving deer are smarter than cows he turned around and took a couple of steps down the trail, then left the trail and bounded away from me uphill through the brush. Cows would have taken a few steps down the trail, stopped, looked back at me and then taken a few more steps down the trail. This would have repeated for a half mile or more and resulted in the trail being carpet bombed with cow pies, but I digress.

Back to the hike when I finally reached the Diamond Creek Falls Loop I turned right and completed the loop.

False hellebore

Snacks included blueberries, huckleberries, and a ripe salmonberry.

The Diamond Creek Falls Loop.

Rhododendron lined the trail. The loop is a great hike for rhododendron earlier in the year but that is also typically mosquito time.

Mount David Douglas from the trail.

The trail crossed two roadbeds.

Completing the loop.

I recrossed Salt Creek then turned right looping around the picnic area to return to the trailhead parking lot next to a Diamond Creek Falls Trail sign.

I somehow managed to turn my GPS off after marking the trailhead and didn’t catch it until I was at Too Much Bear Lake so I had to fill in the first part of the track manually. Based on the additional information I did get, this hike was between 9.5 and 10 miles with 1900′ of elevation gain.

Even though it was a Thursday I was surprised that I only passed one other person on the trails, and that was shortly before I completed the Diamond Creek Falls Loop. There were a few cars at the trailhead and people headed to Salt Creek Falls but I’d had the trails almost entirely to myself. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Salt Creek Falls to Vivian Lake

It’s July and that means mosquito season in the Cascades. We had our first real run in with the pests on our 4th of July hike at Salt Creek Falls. Through June I had seen only one mosquito which managed to get me on top of Salmon Butte. For the next month or so we will be faced with a dilemma, brave the hoards of bloodsuckers in order to see some of the best wildflower displays of the year, or play it safe and wait them out missing the best of the flowers.

We chose to brave the danger (annoyance at the very least) for this waterfall hike. At 286′ Salt Creek Falls is Oregon’s second tallest and is conviniently close to Hwy 58 making it easy to make a quick stop. We tend to avoid quick and easy but trails leading past Salt Creek Falls head up into the Diamond Peak Wilderness passing a couple of lakes and two additional waterfalls giving us a good excuse for a visit.

We were the first car in the parking lot and apparently the mosquitoes were waiting because I had one land on me almost immediately after I got out of the car. Luckily we had come prepared. We were all wearing long pants/sleeves and sported less than fashionable bug net hats. After a good dousing in DEET (a necessary evil) we headed down the short path to the Salt Creek Falls viewpoint.

After viewing the falls we headed for the Vivian Lake which was 4 3/4mi away and our turnaround point. Shortly after crossing Salt Creek the trail split making a loop to Diamond Creek Falls possible. We headed right and soon came to Too Much Bear Lake. Despite the name we saw no sign of bears but the pretty lake was lined with blooming rhododendrons and reflecting the surrounding trees.

As we continued toward Diamond Creek Falls several signs announced viewpoints. Perhaps we had been spoiled by the views on our last few hikes, but the view from these viewpoints was a bit of a let down. Diamond Creek Falls on the other hand was lovely. A short side path led down into a narrow canyon and across Diamond Creek on a footbridge. Not long after the crossing Diamond Creek Falls came into view through the trees. It was an impressively sized 100′ cascade that fanned out over the rocks as it fell into a cozy grotto.

We returned to the main trail and continued past an upper viewpoint of Diamond Creek Falls to a second fork in the trail. The left fork would take us back to the parking area while the right continued on toward the wilderness and Vivian Lake. Before we made it to the wilderness we crossed Diamond Creek on a road bridge and passed over the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks. When we reached the sign board announcing the start of the Diamond Peak Wilderness we found that there were no self-serve entry permits left in the box, but there were plenty of mosquitoes buzzing around. The forest was full of white flowers, bunchberry, anemone, and queens-cup with an occasional beargrass thrown in. Many of the rhododendron were in bloom as well. The trail followed Fall Creek up to a viewpoint of Fall Creek Falls, a smaller 40′ cascade lined at the top with pink rhododendron blooms. The viewpoint proved a good place for a brief rest as it was an exposed rocky outcrop and almost devoid of mosquitoes.

Another mile of climbing brought us to Vivian Lake but before we would reach the lake shore we had to cross a “meadow”. The meadow was still quite damp from recent snow melt but we did our best to stay on the driest part of the trail. Shooting star and heather blooms dotted the green meadow while frogs hopped toward the water where they joined tadpoles that had not yet emerged. Unfortunately it was also a perfect spot for mosquitoes and a large number of them swarmed the air just waiting for us to stop so we quickly made our way across to drier ground and followed the trail to the shore of Vivian Lake. We worked our way around the shore until we got a good view of the top of Mt. Yoran which reflected in the water. This would have been a wonderful spot for lunch if we hadn’t been on the menu. We stayed long enough to snap a couple pictures then headed back to the viewpoint above Fall Creek Falls where we had a better chance of a mosquito free lunch.

We made great time on the way back to the car as we tried to stave off the skeeters but we did stop when we spotted a golden mantled squirrel and later a cascade frog. We saw only one other hiker on the trail but the parking area was full of people and cars when we got back. Heather got the worst of the bites but still only about a half dozen, Dominique had a couple and I miraculously escaped with only one. Hopefully our next few hikes will have less mosquito activity, but we’ll be ready for the little buggers if need be. Happy Trails

Facebook photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10201511921867112.1073741840.1448521051&type=1
Flickr photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/sets/72157634489510254/