Tanner Creek to Eagle Creek Loop Hike

Overview

The Gorge Trail between Tanner Creek and Eagle Creek was completed in the 1980s, connecting existing roads and trails for Tanner Creek, Tanner Butte, and Wauna Viewpoint. The trail makes use of a bench below Wauna Point for the major part of its traverse, an alignment also used by BPA powerlines. Returning along the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail (HCRHT), you'll take the Tooth Rock Viaduct to get elevated views across the Columbia River. The area, especially along the Gorge Trail, was heavily impacted by the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire and wasn’t reopened to the public until 2020. Perhaps because of the closeness of the power lines (Gorge Trail) and the freeway (HCRHT), this is a little used loop. You can also use the Tooth Rock Trailhead (which doesn't require a fee) for this loop. Walk back up the road from the Wahclella Falls Trailhead, and bear right at the junction, looking 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 conflagration but still supports a canopy. An unsigned trail leads down to the left, a 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

Trail Stats

Photos

500px-TannerCreekEagleCreekMap

500px-TannerCreekEagleCreekMap

250px-The_observatory%2C_Eagle_Creek_Bridge%2C_Historic_Columbia_River_Highway

250px-The_observatory%2C_Eagle_Creek_Bridge%2C_Historic_Columbia_River_Highway

250px-Coho%2C_Eagle_Creek

250px-Coho%2C_Eagle_Creek

250px-Eagle_Creek_Bridge%2C_Gorge_Trail

250px-Eagle_Creek_Bridge%2C_Gorge_Trail

250px-Old_fish_hatchery_flume_at_Tanner_Creek%2C_Gorge_Trail

250px-Old_fish_hatchery_flume_at_Tanner_Creek%2C_Gorge_Trail

400px-Bonneville_Dam%2C_Table_and_Greenleaf%2C_Gorge_Trail

400px-Bonneville_Dam%2C_Table_and_Greenleaf%2C_Gorge_Trail

TKO put tools to trail here.png

TKO put tools to trail here.png

Tags