Gnat Creek Trail

It's a new year, time for some new trails!  Early in January I decided to jump right into my 2022 hiking challenge and tackle a "new to me" trail in the northern Oregon Coast Range.  I'd read about the Gnat Creek Trail some time ago and bookmarked it as a possible future hike.  Heavy rains during the past week had flooded the coast, brought high avalanche danger to the mountains, and produced landslides in the Gorge.  The Coast Range appeared to be the only safe place to hike that weekend.  So I invited my friend Catherine and her daughter to join me for an exploration of the Gnat Creek Trail.

The beauty began almost immediately

It was an extremely cold and frosty morning.   Driving highway 30 to the trailhead I had to slow down several times, not only for ice on the roadway, but also due to a huge fog bank enveloping everything, that severely reduced visibility.  After an hour and a half of fighting fog and ice on that winding highway, we finally arrived at the trailhead.

Dense, dark forest

The parking area was just a wide spot in the road.  Most of the vehicles parked here were large trucks belonging to fisherman.  We only noticed one other car where the occupants were grabbing backpacks instead of fishing rods.  Starting up the trail, my friends and I immediately put our best limbo moves to use navigating a bunch of blow-down trees. 

Last leaf

The first part of the Gnat Creek Trail wound through a wonderful mossy forest with some huge fir trees.  Catherine and I oohed and aahed over the long trains of moss dripping from the branches.  Although all that dense vegetation made the forest very dark, a tiny shaft of sunlight managed to make it through and lit up a small sliver of the moss beautifully.

Can you spot the fisherman?

We hadn't traveled far when we met up with our first group of fishermen.  Four young guys, all carrying long poles, were scouting for the best route down to Gnat Creek, which was well below the trail at that point.  Catherine couldn't help but notice one of the men was also carrying a six-pack of beer.  (Gotta stay hydrated I guess!) 

Ferns a-plenty

A few more fisherman passed us on the trail and educated us on what they were up to.  My friends and I learned that Gnat Creek is a popular place for steelhead fishing.  As we sauntered further along the trail began to descend to water level, and we spotted a few men (no women today) standing on the gravel bank, poles at the ready.

Sunlight trying to shine through the forest

The first part of the Gnat Creek trail was spectacular!  This forest was stunning, with it's tall mossy trees, green ferns, and occasional sunbursts shining through.

Catherine admiring the creek

Our trail finally dropped enough elevation to put us close to creek level.  The previous week's heavy rainfall had Gnat Creek running full and fast.  The current was moving so rapidly Catherine and I wondered aloud how any fish could linger long enough to get caught in a fisherman's line.

Gnat Creek was especially beautiful here

Adjacent to the creek bank here the trees were absolutely coated in moss.  Trunks, branches, everything!  The long mossy branches kind of looked like spooky arms, waiting to grab an unsuspecting hiker.

Moss was plentiful here!

The trail rambled through the woods for a little over a mile before emerging onto the side of Highway 30.  Continuing the trail required my friends and I to scramble across this busy highway.  We waited several minutes for a large gap in traffic before quickly darting to the other side.

Walking through the green tunnel

Now safely on the opposite side of the road, my companions and I made our way through a short segment of trail before emerging onto the grounds of the Gnat Creek Fish Hatchery.  The first thing we noticed was a huge woodpile adjacent to the caretaker's house.  It was so impressive I almost took a picture of it - but then I realized maybe I shouldn't be taking photos of someone's home.

Enjoying a peaceful moment along the creek

There were many large concrete tanks full of young fish (salmon we guessed).  The three of us stood at the railings and watched huge schools of fingerlings zip about.  Once those fish saw our shadows though, they immediately swam en masse to the other side of the pool. 

Gnat Creek Fish Hatchery

Just before arriving at the fish hatchery, my companions and I were getting hungry and discussing where we'd stop for lunch.  As luck would have it, the hatchery had a covered area with several picnic tables.  Perfect!  Instead of sitting on the forest floor or balancing on a tree stump, we enjoyed a nice break with dry seats and a proper table.

More views of Gnat Creek

Our trail made a loop around the fish hatchery, so we had our choice of which route to take.  Since both paths converged at the Upper Gnat Creek Trail, we randomly chose the left branch.  It was a good pick - this route followed Gnat Creek through more huge, mossy, grand forests.  There were even small signs for a nature trail (although we didn't read many of them).

Creek overlook in mossy, old-growth forest

Under a canopy of giant old-growth trees we came upon a nice overlook of Gnat Creek.  A good place for photo ops!

Gnat Creek was absolutely roaring!

Bursting with rainfall from last week's storms, Gnat Creek was absolutely roaring!

Long, mossy tree limbs

The last part of the "left hand" trail branch wandered through more mossy goodness.  My camera was kept busy here!

Trailhead to Upper Gnat Creek

But finally we reunited with the right hand trail branch and entered the Upper portion of Gnat Creek Trail.  This point was announced by a funky trail sign that looked straight out of the 70's.

What do I spy that behind the trees?

As we passed by the beginning of the Upper Gnat Creek Trail, my friends and I spied something up on the hillside, behind a bunch of trees.  What was that?

Sasquatch dropped by to say "hi"

Well, what do we have here?  It was Sasquatch himself, dropping by to say hi!  My friends and I had a big chuckle over the large wooden cutout.  It seemed the trail makers had a sense of humor!

Follow the sunburst

Beyond the Sasquatch encounter we rambled through more mossy, ferny woods, up and down hills and through small drainages, always Gnat Creek rushing down below.

Premature trail's end thanks to a washout

The total length of this trail was supposed to be four miles, for a total of eight miles out and back.  However, one group of hikers we met on their return trip warned us that the trail was washed out about a half mile short of it's terminus.  Sure enough, as the trail approached Gnat Creek, we saw a bunch of downed trees and a huge crater where the tread used to be.  It looked impassible, and none of us wanted to risk crossing to find out, so my friends and I decided this would be our day's turn-around point.

Negotiating a patch of blow-down

Back we went, retracing our steps through the forest, saying "hello" to Sasquatch once again.  Through the fish hatchery grounds, and dashing across highway 30 for a second time.  The lower part of the trail after the roadway crossing had lots of blown down trees to navigate, which now that we were tired from hiking all day, seemed like much more of a chore to traverse.  But we successfully wiggled around all the downed trees and tromped back through the thick forest.

Old mossy tree stump

In the final mile, a bright afternoon sun illuminated the forest.  This light was so nice I couldn't resist just a few more photos breaks to capture it's beauty.

Lovely afternoon light on the forest

Despite its premature ending, I was mighty impressed with the Gnat Creek Trail.  I absolutely loved the dense, mossy coastal forests here.  There were lots of interesting things to see - the fish hatchery, the nature trail, Sasquatch, and of course Gnat Creek itself.  I can't wait for a return trip once the washout is fixed so I can experience the full length of this trail.  I definitely will be back.

Another great day in the woods!