A mostly sunny, near 60-degree forecast, looked too good to pass up so we decided to head out and attempt a pair of short hikes in the Oregon Coast Ranges Tillamook State Forest. Our first stop was along Maple Creek Road for a hike to Ki-a-Kuts Falls.
Sunrise from the trailhead.
Clear cut at the trailhead.
The old alignment of the road was said to be located approximately 80 yards from the trailhead, but it appears that between time, storms, and logging operations the old road has become far less obvious.
This was the view through the forest from Maple Creek Road around the 80-yard mark.
We hiked further up Maple Creek Road and checked for a way down to the old alignment, but in the end decided that the slick conditions combined with the amount of blowdown on the hillsides would have made for a much more challenging hike than we were looking to tackle.
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.
After climbing back up to Heather I called an audible and we turned to Plan B. The second hike we’d originally planned on was a 1.5-mile out and back further into the forest to visit Stairstep Falls, a rapid more than a fall, that requires fording the 25 yard wide Middle Fork North Fork Trask River. We decided against attempting that hike because it would effectively end our hiking day by leaving the only pair of hiking shoes I’d brought soaked. That was fine when it was going to be the final hike of our day, but we wanted to get a little more than 2.5-miles in. (We’d done close to 1 looking for the way to Ki-a-Kuts Falls.)
I’d known going in that there was a chance that we’d need to turn to Plan B because the most recent trip reports I could find for Ki-a-Kuts Falls was from 2014. That Plan B had been Fernhill Wetlands. Located in Forest Grove, OR the trailhead was just 26-miles from where we were. We drove back to Yamhill and then headed North on Highway 47 to the Fernhill Wetlands Trailhead.
Map and information at the trailhead.
There are several loops possible at the wetlands and we hoped to maximize these, so we headed south along Fernhill Marsh.
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.
We stayed straight at a junction with a path between Fernhill Marsh and Cattail Marsh.
Gazebo overlooking Cattail Marsh.
Great blue heron on a post above Cattail Marsh.
American coot
At the next junction we turned left between Cattail and Eagles Perch Marshes.
Another great blue heron.
Red-winged blackbird
Hawk flying over Eagles Perch Marsh.
Fittingly at the far end of the marsh were a pair of bald eagles.
We turned right and walked along Eagles Perch Marsh for a tenth of a mile to a gate along SW Geiger Rd.
Ring-necked ducks
Buffleheads
This one might be a hooded merganser?
After turning around we headed north passing Cattail Marsh and arriving at Fernhill Lake.
Fernhill Lake
The trail bent eastward along the lake to a gazebo overlooking Barney Wetlands. From the gazebo we watched a flock of tundra swans. This was our second outing in a row (Wapato Lake) seeing tundra swans after not ever having seen them on a hike prior.
This is where the trail turned east (for obvious reasons).
Barney wetlands
There were also quite a few ruddy ducks here which we don’t often see.
After a good long break watching the swans we continued around Fernhill Lake to Dabblers Marsh.
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
We turned west between Fernhill Lake and Dabblers Marsh and came to a nice view of the lake and the start of the Dabblers Marsh Loop Trail.
We turned onto the woodchip path along Dabblers Marsh and followed pointers to a loop around some farmland.
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
After completing the loop and returning to Fernhill Lake we did a loop through the Water Gardens.
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 managed to get 3.7-miles in at the wetlands and saw a lot of birds and other animals. While there were quite a few more folks here than we’d seen on our previous hike at nearby Wapato Lake Wildlife Refuge, it never felt too busy. Plan B had earned an A+ in our books. Happy Trails!
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.
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