Eagle Creek-Lower Punchbowl Junction
From Portland Hikers Field Guide
- Hikes including this location:
- Eagle Creek to Punchbowl Falls Hike (TH | <-- --> | LOG)
- Eagle Creek to High Bridge Hike (TH | <-- --> | LOG)
- Eagle Creek to Tunnel Falls Hike (TH | <-- --> | LOG)
- Eagle Creek to Wahtum Lake Hike (TH | <-- --> | LOG)
- Eagle-Benson Loop Hike (TH | <-- --> | LOG)
- Tanner-Eagle Traverse Hike (TH | <-- --> | LOG)
- Latitude: 45.62355
- Longitude: -121.89528
- Maps: Portland Hikers Maps Google Earth
- Elevation: 400 feet
Contents |
Description
This is the first obvious rest stop along the Eagle Creek Trail. There is a rather inviting log-bench at a good size clearing about 1.7 miles from the trailhead. This marks the start of a spur trail that leads down to the lower viewpoint for Punchbowl Falls. (This spur trail is labeled "Lower Punchbowl Falls Trail #440B" on some Forest Service documents.)
It may not be immediately obvious that this is a trail junction, as the spur disappears down the hill at the far end of the clearing. For Eagle Creek first-timers, it's highly recommended you take this option! You drop about 100 feet in a little under a quarter-mile to a nice rocky shoreline beside Lower Punchbowl Falls. Your view of Punchbowl Falls from this location has been the subject of countless postcards and scrapbook photos.
Many thru-hikers will skip this option, being content to enjoy the Punchbowl Falls from an overhead viewpoint about 1/4 mile uptrail. This too features a clearing that is hard to miss. Eagle Creek Trail continues upstream toward High Bridge and Tunnel Falls.
Just before this junction, the main trail crosses a Sorenson Creek on an easy crossing made of round cement steps. A few yards below the trail, the trail plunges over 125 foot Sorenson Falls.
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Eagle Creek}
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Eagle Creek
Guidebooks that cover this destination
- Hiking Oregon's Geology, by Ellen Morris Bishop
- Day Hike! Columbia Gorge, by Seabury Blair, Jr.
- 60 Hikes within 60 miles of Portland, by Paul Gerald
- Afoot and Afield Portland/Vancouver, by Douglas Lorain
- 35 Hiking Trails, Columbia River Gorge, by Don & Roberta Lowe
- Columbia River Gorge, 42 Scenic Hikes, by Don & Roberta Lowe
- Hiking the Columbia River Gorge - 1st and 2nd Editions, by Russ Schneider
- 100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon - 3rd Edition, by William L Sullivan
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- stevefromdodge (creator)