The Ornament Trail 2025

I love annual traditions.  When the holiday season rolls around, I start looking for a break in the weather so I can plan a trip to the Christmas Ornament trail.

A magical place deep in the forest....

Back in 2014 my friends and I discovered a magical path deep in the woods of the Columbia River Gorge - an enchanting place where colorful Christmas ornaments dangled from tree branches.  It was so much fun to discover this bit of holiday cheer that I decided to make hiking to the Ornament trail a yearly tradition.  However in the fall of 2017 a wildfire swept through the Columbia River Gorge, and this trail was smack dab in the middle of it's path.  This fire area, and the Ornament trail, was closed to hikers for many years, before finally reopening in 2023.  Last December I finally got the chance to return (see post here) and was happy to see that the trail had been restored to its original colorful glory.

Young and Kelly at Multnomah Falls

December 2025 rolled around and it was time for a revisit.  Eyeing the weather forecast, I spied a dry day in the first week of the month.  My hiking friends Young and Kelly were up for a trek and I suggested we check out the Ornament trail.  Young was with me when I'd first discovered the trail, so she knew all about it.  But Kelly had never been there.  As a matter of fact, Kelly didn't know a thing about this magical place.  Well, she was about to find out!

Posing on the Benson Bridge

Early one dry but chilly morning my friends and I gathered at the base of Multnomah Falls, an iconic 620 feet (189 meters) waterfall in the Columbia River Gorge.  After a few photos from the lower viewing platform, we trudged up the steep, paved path that took visitors to the cascade's very top.  

Hiking up the Larch Mtn trail

After a mile of climbing the paved path transitioned into dirt trail.  My friends and I passed the top of Multnomah Falls and continued up the Larch Mountain trail.  This spectacular footpath followed Multnomah Creek as it flowed downhill through the 2017 wildfire area.

Hiking past Wiesendanger Falls

Having hiked this portion of the trail many times before I knew it passed by three more lovely waterfalls.  The first, Dutchman Falls, didn't have much of a drop.  But the second, Wisendanger Falls, was an impressive 50-foot cascade that splashed over a basalt cliff.  The third, Ecola Falls, was also quite tall, but difficult to see from the trail.

Photo op!

Despite being dominated by bare, blackened tree trunks, the trail was surprisingly beautiful.  Bright green moss lined the creekbed and adjacent rocks, and ferns covered the hillsides.  Charming Multnomah Creek wound through the greenery.

Hiking through the burn area

Crossing over the creek on a footbridge, our trail began to rise higher above Multnomah Creek.  Soon my friends and I were walking on a tall shelf suspended above the waterway's canyon.

Crossing Winter Creek

The trail had one crossing of a tributary named Winter Creek.  The previous year, it had been running so full that everyone in my hiking party got wet feet trying to make it across.  Thanks to lower water levels, we found today's crossing to be much easier.

Through the narrow canyon area

Past Winter Creek, the trail dived back downhill until it was again at creek level.  My friends and I came to a junction where our trail split into two paths.  The normal trail continued, following Multnomah Creek through a narrow gorge, while a high water route led hikers uphill around the water.  During times of heavy rainfall, it wasn't recommended (or safe) to hike the lower route.  (After foolishly following this trail and falling into the water during last year's hike, I wholeheartedly recommend using the high water trail when the creek is overflowing!)

So much green!

Thankfully, today the creek was behaving itself, so Young, Kelly, and I opted to follow the low route.  We hiked past a tall, rocky cliff, our trail a narrow path next to the water.  Past the canyon, the surrounding terrain opened up into a lovely, green forest.  After passing by so many blackened trees, it was especially nice to see untouched woods again.

We found the Ornament trail again!

Our trail then emerged onto a dirt road.  From past trips to the Ornament trail, I knew we now needed to follow this road.  So uphill my friends and I trekked.  

Kelly admires an ornament

I remembered that this last leg always took longer than expected.  Even with this knowledge, as my friends and I hiked onward, I began to question my memory.  Had we gone too far?  Surely we should've passed the trail by now?  

These two were pretty!

I'm happy to say my friends and I didn't miss the trail.  After a bit more hiking, I finally spotted a small side path through some tall bushes.  A tiny ornament dangled near it's intersection with the road.  We had arrived!

A thin Santa

The Ornament trail was as wonderful as I'd remembered from last year.  Young, Kelly, and I wandered down the faint track through the woods, marveling at all the pretty decorations we found.

So many hanging from this branch!

I noticed there seemed to be quite a bit more baubles than I'd remembered from last year.  Some ornaments looked shiny new, like they'd recently been placed in the woods.  Others, more weather-worn, appeared that they'd been hanging here for many years.  Although most ornaments dangled from trees and bushes, there were quite a few that had been placed in nooks of nearby tree stumps or recessed areas of fallen logs.  There were all kinds of themes - from angels, Santas, glass balls, bells, nutcrackers, even an Elmo!

A gingerbread ornament

Kelly was absolutely thrilled by the ornament trail.  It's always fun to take people here for their very first visit.  Everyone loves the idea of discovering a little bit of Christmas deep in the mossy woods of the Gorge.

Some without strings were set on a mossy stump

After wandering the Ornament trail for it's full length, oohing and aahing (and sometimes laughing) at the assortment of decorations, my friends and I found seats on a nearby log and enjoyed our lunches.

Lunch time!

Then with our tummies now satisfied, it was time for the final task.  My friends and I needed to hang a few baubles of our own.  I'd stashed some ornaments in my backpack for just this purpose.

After lunch, we hung a few ornaments

This was the best part of all!  Young, Kelly, and I smiled and laughed as we searched for just the right spot to hang our holiday trinkets.

 

Kelly reaching a high branch

"Let's put some here"

After all our ornaments were securely fastened to tree branches, Young, Kelly, and I stepped back and admired our work.

The girls admiring their work

Goal accomplished, it was time to head back to the trailhead.  But we did one final slow walk along the length of the Ornament trail, taking in all the holiday glitter, and spotting our favorite decorations.

A trove of ornaments in a tree trunk

Here's some of our top picks:

Elmo says hi!

Who doesn't love Elmo?

A nutcracker collection

There were a group of nutcrackers nestled in a rotting tree stump.

Admiring our work

One arched, mossy branch had a large number of dangling baubles attached.

One last look at the baubles

Here's a close-up.

Heading back through the ornaments

Mooning Santa is still there!

I was happy to see the mooning Santa from last year was still hanging from it's perch.

More of the trail

So many shiny decorations!  Just walking through the trail was enough to put me in a cheerful, holiday spirit.

A few more shiny things

I try to keep my blog family-friendly.  But the little elf below made us laugh so hard, I just had to share.  Where in the world do people get ornaments like that?

This little elf was our favorite!

All good things must come to an end, and so did our visit to the Ornament trail.  My friends and I retraced our steps back down the old road, and then followed the Larch Mountain trail back along Multnomah Creek.  A bit of fog crept into the forest, and I really liked the atmosphere it created, especially for photographs.

Our return trip along Multnomah Creek

My friends and I agreed it had been a fun hike to a unique place high in the forests of the Columbia River Gorge.  A perfect way to begin the holiday season!

Smile, ladies!

I'd heard that the Ornament trail was created by the local Trails Club who maintain a lodge nearby.  In the beginning, the trail's location was kept a secret, and the only way one learned of it's location was to be taken there by someone in the know.  The first time I found this trail, I gleaned clues from other people's online hiking reports.  My research gave me a general idea of where to go, and then I did the legwork, wandering around the trails until stumbling upon it.  Discovery was part of the fun of visiting this place.  That's why I'm not giving away the exact location here in my blog.  

Group selfie

I'd hoped to make a return trip sometime before Christmas, but the weather in mid-December was nothing but rain, and lots of it.  As a matter of fact, the Gorge was so inundated with precipitation, it created scores of landslides.  Sadly, the Larch Mountain trail was one of the casualties.  Access to the Ornament trail is currently blocked by a large slide.  So until the trail gets fixed I'll have to put my plans on hold.  Good thing my friends and I got up there when we did!

I hope this holiday-themed hike recap has put everyone in a Christmas spirit.  Merry Christmas to all of my readers!!

Return to the Ornament Trail

Back in early 2014 I discovered a special trail deep in the woods above the Columbia River Gorge.  It was a place where colorful Christmas ornaments dangled from mossy tree branches.  People kept the exact location a local secret, so after a bit of sleuthing and an exploratory trek, my friends and I were able to discover this wonderful holiday-themed path.  (You can read my first blog post about the Ornament Trail here.)

A bit of Christmas deep in the forest

I visited again in December of 2015 (see blog post here.)  Although I had grand plans to hike this trail every December, life got in the way and I didn't return the next year.  Then in September of 2017 a huge wildfire swept through the Columbia River Gorge.  Sadly, the Ornament Trail was in the fire's path.  The nearby Trails Club lodge had been damaged and two of their dormitory buildings totally destroyed, so I didn't hold out hope that the Ornament trail had survived.

Upper Multnomah Falls

Fast forward to December of 2023.  After a long recovery, most of the Gorge trails affected by the wildfire were finally open.  One of the local hiking Facebook pages reported that the Ornament Trail had been resurrected, and people were again making visits.  A friend and I decided to hike up there, but were stopped by a large landslide across the trail.  (Winter rains are not kind to the steep Gorge trails, especially in old burn areas.)  Foiled again!

Uphill through the burn zone

I forgot all about the Ornament Trail until next December rolled around.  Recent trip reports started showing up again on my Facebook feed, and I realized the trail had been repaired.  But record rainfall kept me at home most of the month.  Finally sunny weather was forecast for the last day of the year.  I rallied my friend Catherine, and she in turn invited her husband Larry.  My hubby wasn't doing anything that day, so I asked him if he wanted to tag along.

The gang

So our merry band of four departed from the Multnomah Falls parking lot, making the steep one-mile climb to the waterfall's very top via a switchbacky paved path.  Although the falls were running full from all the recent rainy weather, I didn't stop to take many photos.  A major tourist attraction, there's always a lot of people gawking, and I wasn't in the mood to dodge onlookers.  Besides, we were on a mission.

Wet crossing of Winter Creek

Beyond Multnomah Falls, we continued upward on the Larch Mountain Trail.  The first mile is very familiar to me, as it's part of the Multnomah-Wahkeena loop that I hike several times a year.  Beyond the Wahkeena Trail junction, my group continued over a wooden bridge spanning Multnomah Creek.  Black-trunked trees gave a stark reminder of the 2017 wildfire's devastation.  We passed through several slide areas where the trail had been repaired, and one place that looked like it was ready to give way.  (We crossed over that area very quickly!)

Narrow shelf above Multnomah Creek

The recent heavy rains had not only swollen Multnomah Creek, but also many side creeks that emptied into it.  One of those trickles turned torrent was a normally small seep called Winter Creek.  Today it was gushing over our trail.  My boots are waterproof, so I just splashed through.  However, none of my companions had the same level of waterproofing on their footwear.  After numerous rock-hopping attempts, and Larry's unsuccessful traverse of a very slippery log, my companions all sucked it up and waded through the torrent - all receiving wet feet for their troubles.

We found the trail again!

Beyond Winter Creek, the trail continued through a deep canyon, perched on a narrow shelf adjacent to Multnomah Creek.  In times of high water, another path detoured hikers uphill along the very top of the canyon's lip.  Arriving at the junction, my companions and I debated which direction to go.  Was the water too high to attempt the creekside trail?   Should we take the high route or roll the dice and continue along Multnomah Creek?

Lots more ornaments this time

In the end, the group consensus was to continue along the creek.  We reasoned if the water got too high, we could always backtrack.  So ahead we all forged.  At first, the water wasn't a problem.  Then we reached an area where the trail was inundated.  Catherine and Larry employed rock hopping to make it through.  I started to do the same, and then slipped on a wet boulder.  Down I went into the water, smashing my left knee on a rock.  

Surprises everywhere!

After uttering a few choice curse words, I tried to extract myself from the creek channel.  Luckily, my hubby was right behind to help pick me back up.  My left arm was soaked, and my knee throbbed.  But I was able to walk, so after making sure nothing was broken, we hurried on to catch up to Catherine and Larry.

Small bulbs hanging from a branch

After the wet walk along Multnomah Creek, our trail intersected with a road.  I remembered from past visits that we now needed to follow the road uphill to find the Ornament Trail.  Although its location had once been a big secret, I had managed to find an online map of the trails in this area which now included the Ornament Trail.  So I knew approximately how much further up the road we had to travel.

So many to see!

The map and my gps guided my friends and I to the exact spot.  Although the area had been partially cleared from the fire, spindly bushes had sprung up in the years since.  And the ornaments were back with a vengeance! 

A camper ornament!

Colorful balls hung from branches.  Whimsical ornaments dangled from trees.  Some looked a bit weather-worn, while others appeared to be quite new.  There were little surprises everywhere.

Catherine checking out a branch

We all spent time taking in the many unique and colorful ornaments.  There were many favorites - a tiny camper, a colorful angel, a nutcracker - even a mooning Santa!  I, of course, documented it all with my camera.

Ornaments in this mossy tree stump

Although it appeared the trail's beginning might have been affected by the wildfire, the rest of the forest surrounding it seemed intact.  I even spotted a couple of faded ornaments that I could've sworn were hanging around during my last visit.

Lots of ornaments deck this large tree

After exploring the trail thoroughly, we all pulled up a log in the middle and enjoyed some lunch.

Red ornament and green moss

The edge of the burn

Then, with sunlight streaming through the trees, my friends and I made one final trek through the Ornament trail before heading back downhill.

Heading back in afternoon sunlight

Rare photo of my hubby and I

I'm glad the Ornament Trail has been restored.  It's such a magical place!  Hiking up here puts one in the best of holiday spirits.

The end!

Barring any further natural disasters, I made a promise to myself that a trek to the Ornament trail will become my new December tradition.  See you next year!