JULY 2014
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| METLAKO FALLS |
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| LOWER PUNCH BOWL FALLS |
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| LOOWIT FALLS |
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| EAGLE CREEK FROM HIGH BRIDGE |
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| SKOONICHUCK FALLS |
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| NEAR THE BEGINNING OF THE EAGLE CREEK TRAIL |
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| TUNNEL FALLS |
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| TUNNEL LEADING BEHIND TUNNEL FALLS |
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| TUNNEL FALLS |
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| TWISTER FALLS |
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| EAGLE CREEK ABOVE TWISTER FALLS |
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| WY'EAST FALLS |
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| PUNCHBOWL FALLS |
Eagle Creek, in my opinion, is the premier hiking trail in the Columbia River Gorge. The 13-mile roundtrip trail takes you through a thick, green forest along a creek with multiple picturesque waterfalls. However, it may not be quite as pretty now as it was when I hiked it. A large wildfire struck the area in the summer of 2017, and the trail is expected to be closed until spring or summer of 2018. Hopefully the large amount of rainfall this area receives will help it to recover quickly.
Eagle Creek is a very popular trail, so expect big crowds if you go on a weekend in the spring, summer or fall. As I had recently started a new job in the summer of 2014, I was low on vacation days and ended up visiting on the Fourth of July weekend. Since I was visiting from Boise, I used my one-hour Mountain Standard Time advantage to wake up early and beat everyone to the trailhead. I started hiking just as it became light and had the entire area to myself for the first five miles or so until some back-packers started waking up along the sides of the trail. However, on my way back down I ran into the back of a long train of people about two or three miles from the trailhead which I was unable to pass.
The first waterfall you will come to on the hike is Metlako Falls via a short side trail. This may have been my favorite one. Unfortunately, I read that the trail to Metlako Falls was closed in January of 2017 due to the trail eroding away. Hopefully an alternate route can be made to the falls in the future. Next you will pass a side trail leading to Lower Punch Bowl Falls, and then some side trails leading to Punch Bowl Falls. After Punch Bowl Falls you will pass Loowit Falls and come to High Bridge, which gives you a great view of a narrows section of Eagle Creek from high above.
The next falls you will bass will be Skoonichuck Falls and Wy'East Falls. Wy'east Falls is hidden a little ways off the main trail so be alert. I missed it on my way up, but was glad to find it on my way back down. After about six miles of hiking, you will come to the grand finale, Tunnel Falls. It is a very large falls with a tunnel carved into the mountain letting you walk right behind it. I decided to walk a half-mile past Tunnel Falls to view Twister Falls before returning to the trailhead.
