2.6 hr
Overview
This loop offers a comprehensive visit to much of the terrain in the west Columbia River Gorge and entails a complete loop without any trail repetition. You’ll see several beautiful waterfalls, get views from high perches, and scramble down a resurrected user trail in the zone of the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire. The hike is a decent conditioner, with good elevation gain and some unpeopled stretches of trail. Bear in mind that the recommended connector down from Devils Rest, the whimsical Primrose Path, is very steep and can also be brushy, with several logs to step over. The trail begins at Multnomah Falls Lodge, a historic building built to serve early automobile travelers in 1925. From a photographer's viewpoint, get a head on vista of both the lower and main tiers of Multnomah Falls and the picturesque span of the Benson Bridge. From here, the trail is a gently sloped 2/10 mile paved path to the Benson Bridge, put in place in 1914 by Simon Benson, one of the builders of the old highway. This part of the trail has one switchback. You'll pass below a rock net and can look up to see the seasonal Shady Creek Falls, which splash down a cliff just west of Multnomah Falls. Beyond the bridge, the asphalt trail switches up steeply for another mile to a ridgecrest (there are 11 switchbacks to be exact). At the first switchback, you'll come to the Larch Mountain-Gorge Trail Junction. After the Eagle Creek Fire, logging crews cut many of the trees on this slope and the views are more open. At the third switchback, a once shaded viewpoint with a bench offers a view to Multnomah Falls. At the fourth switchback, a scree slope shelters a busy colony of pikas, which tend to disappear when the midday crowds show up. As you ascend higher on the slope, look for Columbia River views. Post fire, the trail seems more precipitous and the drop-offs more lethal as much of the buffering understory was incinerated during the blaze. At the crest, you'll see a few trees that were killed by the 2017 fire. From the top, the trail drops slight
Trail Stats
0.0 km
790 m
745 m
0 m
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Photos
400px-MultnomahFallsDevilsRestMap
400px-MultnomahFallsDevilsRestMap
160px-Fairy_Falls%2C_near_Wahkeena_Creek
160px-Fairy_Falls%2C_near_Wahkeena_Creek
250px-Bright_red_vine_maple%2C_Primrose_Path
250px-Bright_red_vine_maple%2C_Primrose_Path
250px-Pox_sign%2C_Primrose_Path
250px-Pox_sign%2C_Primrose_Path
250px-Starry_Solomon_plume%2C_Devils_Rest_Trail
250px-Starry_Solomon_plume%2C_Devils_Rest_Trail
250px-Wiesendanger_Falls%2C_Larch_Mountain_Trail
250px-Wiesendanger_Falls%2C_Larch_Mountain_Trail
250px-Western_trillium_%28Trillium_ovatum%29%2C_Multnomah_Falls
250px-Western_trillium_%28Trillium_ovatum%29%2C_Multnomah_Falls
400px-Mt
400px-Mt
TKO put tools to trail here.png
TKO put tools to trail here.png