Eagle Creek Times Two

Eagle Creek is the premiere hiking trail in the Columbia River Gorge.  Following this beautiful creek, the footpath hugs steep cliffs, passing several magnificent waterfalls.  The destination for most serious hikers is Tunnel Falls, located about 6 1/2 miles from the trailhead, a tall waterfall where the trail is routed behind its churning cascade in a short tunnel.

If you've followed my blog for any length of time, you know this wonderful trail was decimated in a 2017 wildfire.  After a three-year closure, it was reopened, and although the many blackened tree trunks were a sobering sight, I was happy to see that the area had weathered the disaster better than expected.  I'd hiked all the way to Tunnel Falls in June of 2017, mere months before the disastrous blaze.  Although Eagle Creek trail has now been reopened for several years, I'd only ventured about 4 miles from the trailhead, and had yet to make it to Tunnel Falls post-fire.

Eagle Creek in early November

Eagle Creek trail is gorgeous in any season, but my personal favorite time to visit is early November, when changing leaves decorate the forest with brilliant autumn colors.  Seeing a favorable weather forecast for the first Friday of November, (2025) I rallied a group of friends to tackle this trail.  I had my heart set on finally checking out Tunnel Falls, and suggested we make that our goal.

Lots of running water everywhere!

Under cloudy skies, I met up with friends Young, John, and Joel at the trailhead.  As we were packing up, John realized he'd forgotten his rain jacket.  The forecast only called for a few "showers" throughout the day, so we all reasoned he'd be fine.  Poles in hand, and packs on our backs, our merry band of hikers left the parking lot bound for Tunnel Falls.

Fabulous yellow leaf color

The fall leaf show started almost immediately.   Orange and yellow leaves dotted the forest surrounding Eagle Creek.  Overcast skies made the brilliant colors pop. 

More stunning leaves

Although the trail started out at creek level, it didn't take long for that to change.  As my friends and I traveled away from the trailhead, our path began to climb, and the canyon walls grew closer together.  Soon we reached an area where our path traversed directly beneath tall rock faces.  The trail here was a narrow shelf that had been blasted into the cliffs.

Tall cascade

The previous week had been quite rainy.  This large amount of precip had translated into waterfalls everywhere, gushing and dripping from the steep canyon walls.  Our trail led straight under several of these seasonal cascades, soaking my friends and I as we passed through.  Although I carried a cover for my backpack I didn't think to put it on.  After trekking underneath several of these misty curtains, my arms, shoulders, and backpack became quite wet.

Cliffside trail

Oh well, no matter - I was sure my jacket and backpack would dry out as I walked.  Besides, the scenery was so spectacular, how could I not be in a great mood?

Young is in her happy place!

My friends and I continued down the trail, marveling at the beautiful golden leaves adding color to the forest's blackened tree trunks.  In some places, the trail was perched high above Eagle Creek, giving us bird's eye views to the water far below.  The steep, moss-covered canyon rising up from the creek was quite dramatic.

 

More seasonal waterfalls

About two miles down the trail my friends and I began to feel raindrops.  Because the forecast didn't call for any serious rain, at first we dismissed the precip as a quick shower.  But when the drops became bigger and more frequent, we all stopped to don raingear and pack covers.  Since John had forgotten his rain jacket, he quickly created a makeshift body cover by cutting holes into a garbage bag.

Lots of gold color

Now protected against the rain, onward we trekked.  My friends and I passed by lovely Punchbowl Falls.  This short waterfall discharged into a large, round plunge pool that resembled a punch bowl (hence, it's namesake.)  The cascade was absolutely roaring with a high volume of water, creating whitecaps below.  The plunge pool was a lovely shade of green, which looked nice framed by nearby gold and yellow bushes.

Punchbowl Falls was absolutely roaring!

Beyond Punchbowl Falls, the rain continued to intensify and pretty soon it was pouring.  After a little over three miles from the trailhead, John finally turned around to the rest of us and declared: "I'm not having fun anymore.  It's time to turn around and get lunch at a brewpub."  

Eagle Creek from above

It was a unanimous group consensus.  Everyone was wet and miserable and a hot meal was sounding really good.  So we all did an about-face and headed back to the trailhead as fast as our legs could carry us.

A soggy crew!

The rain never let up the entire return trip.  Upon reaching our vehicles, I discovered my backpack and camera bag were soaked all the way through and my trusty rain jacket was beginning to wet out.  My friends and I all agreed that the weatherman had really missed the mark on today's forecast.  Well, either that or John was to blame because he'd forgotten his rain jacket!

Same trail, two weeks later - no more leaves

Two weeks later, the weatherman predicted a sunny day.  After failing to reach Tunnel Falls with my friends I wanted a redo.  So I asked my hubby to join me for another try at the Eagle Creek trail.

Sunburst on the trail

This hike was so different!  For one, the sky was pure sunshine - no rain clouds to be found anywhere.  And two, all the pretty golden leaves were long gone.  Their dead brown husks now littered the forest floor.

Loowit Falls

The nice weather more than made up for lack of leaf color.  And with the foliage now gone, it really drew my attention to the brilliant green moss lining much of the rocky cliff faces.

The trail, high above Eagle Creek

On a mission, hubby and I marched quickly through the first three miles of trail.  Having captured a large amount of this area two weeks ago, I kept my photography to a minimum.

Eagle Creek gushing through a narrow chasm

But at about 4 miles, we came to another tall waterfall, called Loowit Falls, which called to my camera.  Then the trail led to a high bridge spanning a deep, narrow canyon.  This was one of my favorite parts of the Eagle Creek trail, so hubby and I lingered a bit, taking in all the natural beauty.

Still a few golden bushes

We then headed through an especially picturesque section of the creek, lined by a few golden bushes that hadn't yet dropped their leaves.

The colors of the creek

The farther hubby and I hiked from the trailhead, the fewer people we saw on the trail.  About 5 miles in, we began to encounter a couple individuals heading back.  One lady commented she came to a difficult creek crossing that intimidated her so much she turned around.  Hearing this got me worried I'd again come up short of my goal.  But when we reached the "scary" crossing it turned out to be just a bit of rock-hopping - no problem whatsoever for hubby and I.  (Obviously everyone has a different perception of what they consider scary.)

A bit of whitewater

The final mile to Tunnel Falls seemed to take forever.  My memory was a bit fuzzy as to exactly which bend it was around.  I kept scouting the trail ahead for it, but my search always seemed to come up empty.  You can imagine my happiness and relief when its long, white cascade finally came into view.

Hubby walking through Tunnel Falls

Tunnel falls drops an impressive 170 feet from atop a tall, basalt cliff to the creek below.  It wins my award for coolest waterfall because the trail builders carved a short tunnel behind its watery cascade.  It's not everyday you get the chance to walk behind a waterfall!

The other side of the tunnel

Of course it was an exciting moment to walk through the passage behind Tunnel Falls once again.  I'd waited eight long years to do this!

I took a video of my short trip through the tunnel, but unfortunately it didn't turn out.  So instead, enjoy the above video recorded from one side of Tunnel Falls.

The trail on the opposite side of the tunnel

The trail on the tunnel's opposite side was a narrow shelf perched high above the creek.  You had to watch your step, as the downhill side dropped off nearly vertical and it was a long way down.

Eagle Creek trail placed precariously above the creek

My target waterfall now reached, there was but one more goal to make this hike complete.  A mere quarter mile past Tunnel Falls was another equally impressive waterfall - Twister Falls.

The "vertigo mile" en route to Twister Falls

But hiking to Twister Falls was not for the faint of heart.  The trail to reach this cascade was a narrow bench carved into a nearly vertical rock face.  Anyone traversing this path needed to watch their footing carefully.  There was a steep, exposed 200 foot vertical drop below.  Nicknamed by hikers the "Vertigo Mile" it was definitely a no-fall zone!

Twister Falls

But despite the harrowing trek, I found this portion of the trail to be the most beautiful of all.  The rocky cliff faces were lined with bright green moss and the columnar basalt rock formations were quite stunning.  After gingerly inching across this dizzying footpath, our reward was reaching the impressive Twister Falls.  Two water streams gushed down a cliff, crossing together at mid-point and continuing their drop into the creek below.  At 148 feet in height, I thought this cascade was just as spectacular as Tunnel Falls. 

Hubby and I lingered atop Twister Falls for several minutes, taking in the beautiful scenery.  We'd worked so hard to get here I didn't want to leave.  But it was early afternoon and we had a lot of miles to cover to get back to the trailhead.  Not wanting to walk out in the dark, we reluctantly decided it was time to turn around and begin our return trip.

Another heart-pounding portion of the trail

The hike out was long, but uneventful.  Since I'd taken so many photos hiking in, my camera stayed in its bag and I put my nose the grindstone, concentrating on covering miles.  Hubby and I did so well on our return trek, we actually reached the parking lot well before sundown, with over an hour to spare!  Total distance traveled came to 13.9 miles and 1500 feet of elevation gain.  We certainly earned our post-hike beers!

A grand day!

I'm so glad I made the effort to return to Eagle Creek and make the hike to Tunnel Falls.  It was wonderful to see this unique waterfall once again after so many years.  Sadly not long after these two trips, the Eagle Creek trail became a casualty of a series of mid-December atmospheric river storms.  Torrents of water caused massive landslides and high winds toppled dozens of trees.  The damage was so severe, the Forest Service said it may take months before this trail is reopened.  So until I have the chance to hike here again, I'll just have to content myself with photographs from two memorable November visits.