2.8 hr
Overview
The Indian Point loop travels along forested trails to a memorable viewpoint. The loop will be described clockwise, using the gentler Gorton Creek Trail on the ascent and then the steep, switchbacking Nick Eaton Trail on the descent although it's your choice as which direction you wish to follow. Much of the area was affected by the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire, but most sections of this loop still enjoy a relatively intact and shady forest canopy even while the undergrowth was burned to the ground. The plants of the forest floor are returning from their roots, and hikers can still enjoy spring and early summer wildflowers along the way. Indian Point itself is a basalt spire perched on the edge of a sheer cliff: It invites a scramble, but with a great deal of care, and the views are not more fantastic than from the ridge behind it. The trip can usually be made at all seasons except when there is a lot of low level snow. You can hike a longer loop by using the Deadwood Trail, and an even lengthier outing employs the entire length of the Nick Eaton Trail (See the Nick Eaton Ridge Loop Hike). The loop hike involves three trails named after early locals: James H. Herman was an early settler near Cascade Locks; a man named Edward Gorton had a homestead claim near the mouth of Gorton Creek in the 1890s; Nick Eaton was a farmer who lived between Cascade Locks and Wyeth at the beginning of the 20th century. The trail drops from the trailhead, but then switchbacks up twice before traversing. There are two more switchbacks in shady big-leaf maple, hemlock, Douglas-fir woods. Reach the powerline corridor and cross it, heading up to the right to reenter the woods. Here, you'll begin to see the effects of the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire, with the understory burned away but slowly recovering and the conifer canopy mostly intact. The path winds through an area of large, moss-covered boulders, and then passes an old forest track leading off the left. (This track drops down to Herman Creek Road.) Pass around the nose of a ridge, switchba
Trail Stats
0.0 km
832 m
894 m
0 m
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Photos
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400px-IndianPointMap
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160px-Rough-leaved_aster_%28Eurybia_radulina%29%2C_Nick_Eaton_Trail
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250px-View_to_the_two_forks_of_Herman_Creek_and_top_of_Mt
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250px-IndianPtView
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250px-Kneeling_angelica_%28Angelica_genuflexa%29%2C_Gorton_Creek_Trail
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400px-IndianPoint4