1.0 hr
Overview
This is a short hike to a nice open perch at a powerline pylon 1000 feet above the Bonneville Dam area. There are broad views from here across to the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. The hike crosses Eagle Creek and uses the Gorge Trail to access the switchbacking Wauna Viewpoint Trail. Be warned that there are active slides near the very end of the hike. The area was severely impacted by the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire, and there are a lot of standing dead trees with a very brushy understory. This hike starts at the Eagle Creek Day Use Trailhead. Walk to the right of the historic restrooms, known as "Big John", following an Eagle Creek Trail sign. Keep left at a staircase leading to Eagle Creek Lane, and then angle down on the paved trail through the picnic area. When you reach Eagle Creek Lane, you'll see the Eagle Creek Bridge ahead. After crossing the bridge, turn right at the other end. You'll hike through a cutting in a massive log, pass the Gorge-Shady Glen Trail Junction, and then switchback and ascend about 200 feet, rising high above Eagle Creek and its fish hatchery before turning left parallel to the Columbia River. Before long you'll pass a fenced overlook of Bonneville Dam. The conifers that once stood here were logged after the Eagle Creek Fire, so there are now clear views to Hamilton Mountain, Table Mountain and Greenleaf Peak. The trail switchbacks here and makes an open traverse on the recently logged slope now overtaken by fireweed and trailing blackberry. You'll switchback again in woods scoured by an intense crown fire and, looking northeast now, you'll see the snowy summit of Mount Adams. Across Eagle Creek, rugged Ruckel Ridge rises to the Benson Plateau. A long, gradually rising traverse leads up to the junction with the Wauna Viewpoint Trail #402. A mossy concrete marker is embedded in the rock wall at the junction. 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 o
Trail Stats
0.0 km
313 m
329 m
0 m
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Photos
400px-WaunaViewpointMap
400px-WaunaViewpointMap
250px-Table_Mountain_and_Greenleaf_Peak_from_Wauna_Viewpoint
250px-Table_Mountain_and_Greenleaf_Peak_from_Wauna_Viewpoint
250px-Mossy_marker_at_Wauna_Viewpoint_junction%2C_Gorge_Trail
250px-Mossy_marker_at_Wauna_Viewpoint_junction%2C_Gorge_Trail
250px-Cougar_paw_print%2C_400_Trail
250px-Cougar_paw_print%2C_400_Trail
250px-Feathery_solomon-plume%2C_Gorge_Trail
250px-Feathery_solomon-plume%2C_Gorge_Trail
400px-Bridge_of_the_Gods_and_Mt
400px-Bridge_of_the_Gods_and_Mt
TKO put tools to trail here.png
TKO put tools to trail here.png