Echo Basin as seen from above. The white planks through the meadows are called puncheons. (cfm)

Wild ginger (cfm)

Old-growth Alaska yellow cedars (cfm)

The route of the Echo Basin Trail (bobcat) Courtesy: Caltopo/USFS

• Start point: Echo Basin Trailhead
• End point: Echo Basin
• Trail Log: Trail Log
• Hike type: Lollipop loop
• Distance: 2.0 miles round trip
• Elevation gain: 650 feet
• High point: 4,880 feet
• Difficulty: Easy
• Seasons: June–November
• Family Friendly: Yes
• Backpackable: No
• Crowded: No

Hike Description

The hike showcases one of the few populations of Alaska yellow cedars (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis) in the Central Cascades, including the state champion. The trail is often overgrown and is far less visited than the nearby trails leading to Iron Mountain and Cone Peak. The main impediment to access is the last couple of miles of road in to the trailhead. High clearance is recommended.

The trip begins on a former logging road in a small stand of young fir trees along Echo Creek. The fir trees give way to a narrow alley of alders. Along this portion of the trail you will see the large cables left behind from the tree harvest in the late 1980s. After 0.3 miles, you will enter mature forest. Look for the shaggy gray bark of the Alaska cedars. At a half mile, you will reach a small footbridge that starts the loop trail. Take the loop in either direction to travel through the giants.

After a short distance, the trees open up and you will find yourself in the great meadow amphitheater of Echo Basin. The basin is ringed by Echo Mountain and its sub-peaks, including North Peak. Travel across the often soggy meadow is aided by using the puncheons—large planks through the wetlands. Continue across the meadow to re-enter the forest and return to your car.

For a longer trip, it is possible to ascend to the top of the ridge and travel cross country all the way from North Peak to Iron Mountain.

Maps

• Maps: Hike Finder
• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Sweet Home Ranger District
• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Willamette National Forest
• Pacific Northwest Recreation Map Series: Willamette Cascades
• National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map: Mount Jefferson, Mount Washington
• Adventure Maps: McKenzie River, Oregon, Trail Map

Fees, Regulations, etc.

• Rough road: high clearance recommended

Trip Reports

• Search Trip Reports for Echo Basin

Related Discussions / Q&A

• Search Trail Q&A for Echo Basin

Guidebooks that cover this hike

• Oregon's Ancient Forests: A Hiking Guide by Chandra LeGue
• 100 Hikes: Central Oregon Cascades by William L. Sullivan
• Hiking Oregon's Central Cascades by Bruce Grubbs
• 50 Old-Growth Hikes in the Willamette National Forest by John & Diane Cissel
• Best Old-growth Forest Hikes: Washington & Oregon Cascades by John & Diane Cissel
• A Walking Guide to Oregon's Ancient Forests by Wendell Wood
• Guide to the Middle and South Santiam Roadless Areas edited by Julie Ambler

More Links

• Echo Basin Trail #3410 (USFS)
• Old-Growth Alaska Cedars in Echo Basin (Central Oregon Geographica)
• Hackleman Grove, Echo Basin and Fish Lake – 6/19/2020 (wanderingyuncks)
• Adventures in Oregon – Echo Basin Trail (Rachel Andrea Go)
• Echo Basin hike offers some unique features (The Nugget Newspaper)
• Echo Basin Trail #3410 (Hiking Project)
• Echo Mountain Trail (All Trails)
• Relaxing NPSO Trip to Echo Basin (Mountain Plants of the Western Cascades)
• Echo Basin (OregonWildflowers.org)
• Echo Basin (Northwest Wildflowers)

Contributors

• CFM (creator)