5.3 hr
Overview
Boulder Creek runs for five and a half miles through shady old growth below the talus slopes of Grasshopper Point before reaching clearcuts and generally disturbed forest. The Boulder Creek Trail is visited mostly by mountain bikers: Its lower three miles are rarely paid a visit although two of those three miles are still maintained. The trail itself was constructed before 1920 to offer grazing access to the upper meadows of Boulder Creek. A loop can be made that takes in the lower end of the trail, one of the most remote hiking venues in the Mt. Hood National Forest, as well as the two Boulder Lakes and old logging roads and trails on the ridge above the creek. If you wish to take in all of the lower three miles of the Crane Creek Trail, the hike begins with a veritable bushwhack at the Crane Creek Trailhead , where the tread has been abandoned through a clearcut private square of timberland. The verbiage Makes for some confusion: Crane Creek’s name was changed back to Boulder Creek in 1977. (It had been Boulder Creek before, until 1924, when the Forest Service decided there were too many Boulder Creeks in Oregon.) However, the actual trail name, as evinced in all the signposts mentioning "Crane Creek", was not changed. Otherwise, begin the hike at the Boulder Lake Trailhead and leave out the lower ¾ mile. The directions below start there, however, so if you choose the former, much easier, option, begin at paragraph 5. Because of the short bushwhack sections, this hike is rated 'difficult' although for most of the route, the path is easy to discern.
Trail Stats
16.9 km
418 m
1463 m
—
—
Photos
Trail photo
No caption provided.
Trail photo
No caption provided.
Trail photo
No caption provided.
Trail photo
No caption provided.
Trail photo
No caption provided.
Trail photo
No caption provided.