Wauna Viewpoint from Tooth Rock Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Tooth Rock Trailhead
- End point: Wauna Viewpoint
- Hike Type: Lollipop loop
- Distance: 5.4 miles round trip
- Elevation gain: 1200 feet
- High point: 1,080 feet
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Seasons: Year round
- Family Friendly: No
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: No
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Hike Description
This is a short hike to a 1,000 foot viewpoint beneath the power lines, often confused for the much longer and higher Wauna Point Hike, which also starts at the Tooth Rock Trailhead. The short cut from that trailhead via the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail, as described in many older reports, has been overgrown since the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire, so you will be descending to the resumption of the Gorge Trail #400 near Tanner Creek. (An alternative trailhead for this hike could be the Wahclella Falls Trailhead, but a Northwest Forest Pass is required there, and parking space is limited.) Views increase the higher you hike and, since the fire, there are more vistas through the charred trees to the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge.
Start by walking west back down towards Tanner Creek for about a third of a mile. Before the junction with the freeway exit, look to your left for a small sign denoting the Gorge 400 Trail. The trail switchbacks up from the road in a Douglas-fir/big-leaf maple forest, passing a covered flume that once serviced the Bonneville Fish Hatchery. You’ll get a view down to the Wahclella Falls Trailhead before switchbacking and traversing through a forest that was scorched by the 2017 blaze but still supports a canopy. An unsigned trail leads down to the left, an overgrown shortcut from the Tooth Rock Trailhead beginning near a large concrete water tank. The trail switchbacks gain, making a long traverse on a steep slope. You’ll get a glimpse of Beacon Rock at the next switchback. Now well within the fire zone, you’ll find the tread overgrown with trailing blackberry. At a signpost, the trail joins an old road bed on an alder/maple bench and crosses an area of springs to pass across a powerline corridor. Hamilton Mountain, Aldrich Butte, Cedar Mountain, and Table Mountain are all visible from here. You’ll join the powerline track, and after about 60 yards, branch left on a grassy road to keep to the route of the Gorge Trail. Through the burned maple snags, you can see Wauna Point rearing above to your right. The track soon joins the Tanner Creek Road, where you should turn left to head down to a tight bend.
At the bend, find the Gorge Trail leading up past a rootball into a desolate forest of standing snags. Soon, you’ll be on a wide trail bench hiking through a brushy groundcover of fireweed, blackcap raspberry, trailing blackberry, thimbleberry, and Oregon grape. Large fire-killed Douglas-firs tower overhead, and views open up to the Bonneville Dam, Table Mountain, and Greenleaf Peak. When you reach the rock-buttressed junction with the Wauna Viewpoint Trail, take a moment to admire the old concrete trail sign embedded just below the Wauna Viewpoint Trail.
The Wauna Viewpoint Trail rises in six switchbacks to reach the destination of this hike. Fringe-cup and Oregon grape bloom trailside in the spring, and poison oak also flourishes here. You'll begin to see more of Mount Adams, with the Bridge of the Gods now also becoming visible. The entire complex fo the Bonneville Dam is spread below. A few large Douglas-firs that survived the Eagle Creek Fire provide a living canopy. (The area also experienced a fire in the 1990s.) The third switchback turns you below the basalt promontory of Wauna Viewpoint. When you come to the powerline corridor, you'll get a view west to Munra Point and the Columbia River. The trail threads between the legs of a powerline pylon and then passes the junction with the Wauna Powerline Trail. The last switchback turns up towards Wauna Viewpoint again. There's a tricky slide to cross, and then you'll reach the viewpoint at Pylon BDF 11, with its concrete pyramid and triangulation marker (Bradford 2 on topographical maps).
Wauna Viewpoint gives you an excellent vantage point of the Bridge of the Gods, the town of Stevenson, and Table Mountain. To the west of Table is Hamilton Mountain, with the distinct monolith Beacon Rock at its base. To the east of Table, is Greenleaf Peak. On a clear day, you'll see Mount Adams rearing over the hills to your northeast and Augspurger Mountain sloping towards the river. This is also probably the best view of the Bonneville Dam from above. Be sure to bring binoculars as you get a great bird's eye view of the two operating locks. Perhaps you'll be lucky enough to be there when a boat is passing through. Over a thousand feet straight above Wauna Viewpoint, the sheer, dark basalt prow of Wauna Point looms.
For a more direct return, hike back down past the first switchback into the open powerline corridor. Before the next pylon, turn a sharp left on the Wauna Powerline Trail. This service track for the power lines is rocky but wide as it morphs into a road. You can expect some downed trees and a meadow of Queen Anne's lace in late summer. There are still views across to the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. When you reach the junction with Tanner Creek Road, you have a couple of options. You can forge ahead on an overgrown track to join the 400 Trail or head right to descend a short distance to the signed Gorge Trail, where you can turn left to follow your footsteps back to your vehicle.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Green Trails Maps: Bonneville Dam, OR #429
- Green Trails Maps: Columbia River Gorge - West #428S
- Geo-Graphics: Trails of the Columbia Gorge
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service/Bureau of Land Management: Columbia River Gorge
- National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map: Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- No fee or pass needed at Tooth Rock Trailhead
- No parking overnight. A good nearby trailhead with overnight parking is the Eagle Creek Trailhead.
- Picnic tables
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Wauna Viewpoint from Tooth Rock Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Wauna Viewpoint from Tooth Rock Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Curious Gorge by Scott Cook
- Pacific Northwest Hiking by Scott Leonard & Sean Patrick Hill
- Oregon Hiking by Sean Patrick Hill
More Links
- Gorge 400 Trail (USFS)
- Wauna Viewpoint Trail (#402) (USFS)
- Tooth Rock & Wauna Viewpoint (Backpacker)
- Wauna Viewpoint (Just Peachy)
- Toothrock/ Scenic Hwy Loop A17 (Curious Gorge Blog)
- Wahclella Falls Trailhead – Columbia River Gorge: Part 1/3 – Wauna Viewpoint (Track to Trails)
Contributors
- Stevefromdodge (creator)
- Krystle