4.5 hr
Overview
This hike is a grueling climb to the top of Larch Mountain, and it's not even the shortest route. It passes several interesting waterfalls and a beautiful section of Oneonta Creek. Later, it climbs in a series of switchbacks through coniferous forest and across open scree slopes. You'll visit low level old-growth Doulgas-fir and higher level old-growth hemlock and noble fir forests. At the top, you'll have a wonderful view of five snowclad mountains. The 2017 Eagle Creek Fire affected the lower sections of this hike, but lengthy stretches above Triple Falls did not experience canopy fire, and you'll hike out of the fire zone after you attain Franklin Ridge. This hike is an excellent opportunity for a car shuttle. Starting from the Oneonta Trailhead, the Oneonta Trail rises, paralleling the old highway and then crossing a slide gully that seems to reinvent itself every winter. When you reach the Oneonta-Gorge Trail Junction, make a left and traverse to get good views across the Columbia River to Archer Mountain. You'll recross the slide gully and then drop below a basalt pinnacle, getting more views across the river. The trail turns up Oneonta Gorge, entering an area of scorched snags and views to the narrow cleft of the lower box canyon. After passing a trailside spring, you'll reach the junction where the Horsetail Falls Trail #438 heads downhill to the Middle Oneonta Falls and the first Oneonta Creek Bridge. From the junction, the Oneonta Trail passes a wilderness permit box and a sign indicating entry to the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness. A substantial seasonal waterfall appears across Oneonta Creek. You'll cross another slide gully, which may necessitate some care if it has been recently active. The trail climbs to a pair of switchbacks as it traverses high above the amphitheater of Oneonta Falls, also known as Upper Oneonta Falls. You can see the very top of these falls from the trail. (A short, sometimes sketchy scramble path used to angle down to the falls from the main trail just below the switchbacks,
Trail Stats
0.0 km
1341 m
1235 m
0 m
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Photos
300px-LarchMountainOneontaTrailMap
300px-LarchMountainOneontaTrailMap
250px-Pinkish_coral_mushroom_%28Ramaria_formosa%29%2C_upper_Oneonta_Trail
250px-Pinkish_coral_mushroom_%28Ramaria_formosa%29%2C_upper_Oneonta_Trail
250px-Talus_slope%2C_Oneonta_Trail
250px-Talus_slope%2C_Oneonta_Trail
250px-Campsite_at_the_Horsetail_Creek_junction%2C_Oneonta_Trail
250px-Campsite_at_the_Horsetail_Creek_junction%2C_Oneonta_Trail
250px-Upper_Oneonta_bridge%2C_Oneonta_Trail
250px-Upper_Oneonta_bridge%2C_Oneonta_Trail
250px-TripleFalls1
250px-TripleFalls1
400px-Noble_fir_and_hemlock%2C_upper_Oneonta_Trail
400px-Noble_fir_and_hemlock%2C_upper_Oneonta_Trail
TKO put tools to trail here.png
TKO put tools to trail here.png