Eagle Creek Thanksgiving Overnight
Trail Name: Eagle Creek Trail
Enter/Exit: Eagle Creek Trail Head
Trip type: Out and Back
Difficulty: Hard due to distance and steep drop offs
Distance: 14 Miles
Elevation: 2165
Guide: https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/oregon/tunnel-falls-via-eagle-creek-trail-440?mobileMap=false&ref=sidebar-static-map
Review: Eagle Creek is one of the most popular hiking and backpacking destinations in the Portland Oregon area. Because of that I have only hiked a few miles in once. For some reason I was always offput by the crowded trailhead and the narrow trail. However, when plans changed last minute for my Thanksgiving of 2023 I asked my wife if she would drop me off on a cold Thanksgiving morning and pick me up sometime Friday or Saturday. She agreed and I packed my bag and we made the short trip into the Columbia River Gorge. Despite it being a holiday, the trailhead was busy likely due to the crystal clear weather.
The hike follows along Eagle Creek and is a popular PCT alternate up to its connection with the PCT at Whatum Lake approximately 14 miles from the trailhead.
The trail was slick from all of the mist and narrow. There are numerous sections with cable attached to the walls to give a little more assurance that you will not slip and fall into the creek below.
The elevation gains are seemingly gentle for a Gorge trail but you do gain a few hundred vertical feet per mile hiked. Despite obvious fire damage from the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire, the views are beautiful and the forest seemed lush and teeming with life. 2 miles in is the popular Punchbowl Falls which is a busy swimming hole in the warmer months. From Punchbowl you can hike down to the creek level and get a bottom up view of the falls or you can continue along the trail which will take you to the popular Tunnel Falls at mile 6. The trail around Tunnel Falls is very narrow and a bit slick. Thankfully the cables are there to lend a hand. The trail takes you into a dark tunnel that was blasted behind the falls and makes for an incredible reveal when you exit the tunnel. For the next half mile or so the trail is narrow and often slick due to the constant mist from the numerous falls. Around mile 6.5 was a wonderful campsite on the west side of the trail that had room for a handful of tents and very easy water access. Sadly, it was obvious that it was a popular site due to the numerous toilet paper flowers present.
I quickly set up camp and got some water boiling to make dinner and a much needed Trail Toddy. I layered up as the sun was almost completely set by 5pm and the temp began to drop. Shortly after dinner I climbed into my tent in all of my layers and slept until 9pm when I woke up sweaty. Turns out the 25* rating for the Zenbivy Bed I was testing was warmer than I expected and all of my layers were too much. I took off my rain gear and insulated jacket and stayed nice and warm the rest of the night. Around 4am I woke up rested but felt it was too cold and dark to get up as I did not want to hike out with my headlamp on the now frozen and dark trail.
Around 7am the sun was up enough to get breakfast taken care of and camp broken down. Although the overnight temps only got down to 31 degrees, the trail was very slick and icy. I was grateful to get past Tunnel Falls within the first mile of the hike. The next few miles saw a handful of Black Friday hikers and even a pair of backpackers making a push to Whatum Lake. After passing the High Bridge I began to stop constantly to let the uphill hikers pass by due to the very narrow trail. The amount of day hikers and backpackers I saw truly surprised me due to the cold temps. Thankfully the sun got high enough to melt almost all of the ice from the trail and the final 2 miles from Punchbowl Falls to the trailhead passed by rather easily. A quick text to my wife and I was back in a warm car headed home to enjoy a warm Epsom salt bath and some pizza.
Due to the slick trails and steep cliffs I would not hike past tunnel falls during the winter again. Hopefully I will be able to return sometime in the warmer months to finish the final 7 miles from where I camped up to Whatum lake where it connects with the PCT. Both Punchbowl Falls and Tunnel Falls are great day hikes so long as you can handle the 4 or 12 miles round trip. Please remember to leave no trace and stay on trails. Cheers!
Rating: Bag it!
Rating Guide:
-Gram it: Check out the pictures on Instagram because this one is not worth seeing in person.
-Hike it: It’s short and sweet. Might as well knock it out in a day.
-Bag it: Pack a bag and spend the night.
-Bring a friend: Easy enough to bring a friend. Maybe this is where you can introduce someone to backpacking.
-Come Back: I will keep doing this trip it is so good!
