2011 Edition
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Falls Creek Falls
Getting there: From Portland, take Washington SR 14 East. About 5 miles east of
Stevenson, at a sign labeled for Carson, turn left onto highway 30 (Wind River Road).
Follow 30 north 15 miles. Just past the fish hathery, the road forks to the right.
At 0.8 miles past this fork, turn right onto road 3062, which is labeled Falls Creek.
Follow the gravel road FR 3062 for two and a half miles to the end. Take no turns!
Push play and be patient... the video takes a few seconds to load and start running
Above - Falls Creek Falls!
Below - at the very top of the falls. VERY magical (and a long drop!)
This was a very nice hike. The traditional falls hike is five miles in and out. We
stretched it out to an 11 mile loop. Besides seeing the falls at the touristy viewpoint,
we went the extra mile (literally) and hiked to the very top of the falls.
It was an overcast but warmish day... light showers, mist and very humid. Actually,
a pretty good day to be in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest with someone you like...
That's the very top of the falls behind us. Too close to the edge and it's an
express ride to the bottom. This scene is MUCH more impressive in real life than it
is in pictures.
Meanwhile, back at the trailhead. If you see this kiosk, you are in the right
place for starting the Falls Creek Trail 152. This is the upper falls trailhead.
You will almost immediately come upon this bridge which you do not want to cross.
Stay on this side of the creek for the express trail to the falls. If you want to do
the loop, as we did, you'll be coming back that way. For information's sake, that
trail becomes rd 65 and will eventually take you close to the top of the falls. There's
also a spur to the right about 2 1/2 miles from here that connects back to trail 152.
These trails are well worn and mostly well marked so you'd have to work at it to get
lost. Keep the creek in sight (or at least within earshot).
In a short ways, you'll come upon another bridge. You do want to cross this one.
And yet another bridge that you also want to cross.
And in a mere 2.2 miles you'll come up on Falls Creek Falls... a pretty impressive
waterfall even by Columbia Gorge standards.
Neither of us have a lens wide enough to capture this massive waterfall in one frame.
When I get my new Nikon I want to come back here and see how much better the pictures
look compared to my Sony DSC-H2 (and Julie's Nikon point-and-shoot).
After you take lots of pictures of the waterfall, you can continue up (if you're
an at least somewhat experienced hiker) to the next tier of this waterfall. Take the
steep trail to the left... it's not very long and not terribly difficult..
You'll come up to a nice viewing area for more pictures.
It's a very short (but VERY dangerous) scramble to the top of the falls.
Here's a shot of the Falls Creek Falls headwaters several miles further upstream.
However you get there, RD 65 is very close to the top of the falls. This would be
your return loop. There are a lot of viewpoints, camp sites and so on as you head
back towards the trailhead. A GPS would definitely be helpful out here!
Almost back to the trailhead. A very good cardio workout!
So I finally broke down and spent waaaaay more than I can afford on a Nikon D7000
camera. Pretty much top of the line in the DX realm. It will take me a month to learn
how to use just the basic features but I'm looking forward to much better waterfalls
and snowy mountain pictures with this DSLR. Here's my very first picture, taken in
full auto, using a good quality Nikon 35mm prime lens.
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