2.7 hr
Overview
The "big" loop in the Catherine Creek - Coyote Wall area is best done east to west in order to get the views coming down Coyote Wall. In the spring, this is a prime wildflower hike, and there are great views of the Columbia River, the east end of the Columbia River Gorge, and Mount Hood. Wet weather over Portland/Vancouver often breaks at about Hood River, so on many spring days, you will get blue skies at least part of the time. Also in the spring, however, the poison oak is leafing out, ticks can be an issue, and rattlesnakes are starting to be active. Note that dogs must be kept on leash throughout the area in the spring months, and you will be sharing trails with mountain bikers between Rowland Creek and Coyote Wall. There are numerous variations to this hike, including starting farther east at the Tracy Hill Trailhead for a much longer day that will take in most of the features of these interesting scablands. From the Catherine Creek Trailhead, hike on a closed road (Atwood Road, signed FR 020), toward the northeast. After 80 yards, keep left at a junction with the new Catherine Creek Loop Trail. This trail soon drops down to Catherine Creek as it bubbles through a small oak forest. The graveled road continues upstream for a bit to a junction with another closed road, this one signed FR 021, a.k.a. the Catherine Creek Arch Trail. Follow the road as it crosses the creek on a small bouncy bridge made of logs and plywood. This trail heads up the east side of the creek next to large wall of columnar basalt. You'll soon come to an abandoned corral filled with miner's lettuce that blooms in April. The Catherine Creek Arch looms over the corral high above a talus slope made of fallen rock. In times past, visitors could scramble up and through the arch to the bench above, but now it is fenced off by pole and rail to protect it as a significant cultural site for Native Americans. Past the corral, on your left, are the collapsed remains of a shed: rattlesnakes take cover under the planks here, so be careful if you'
Trail Stats
0.0 km
804 m
492 m
0 m
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Photos
500px-CatherineCreekCoyoteWallMap
500px-CatherineCreekCoyoteWallMap
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160px-Poet%27s_shooting_star_%28Dodecatheon_poeticum%29%2C_Coyote_Wall
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250px-Rowland_Pinnacle%2C_Rowland_Basin
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250px-Upper_falls%2C_Labyrinth
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250px-Marching_down_Coyote_Wall
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250px-Lupine_on_Sunflower_Hill%2C_Catherine_Creek
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250px-The_arch%2C_Catherine_Creek
400px-View_to_Rowena_Gap_from_the_Traverse_Trail%2C_Coyote_Wall
400px-View_to_Rowena_Gap_from_the_Traverse_Trail%2C_Coyote_Wall