Season 6 . Hike # 12 - Diamond Creek Loop and Salt Creek Falls

 

Season 6 . Hike # 12 - Diamond Creek Loop and Salt Creek Falls

Starting Location: Parking lot for Salt Creek Falls, just past tunnel on Hwy 58 past Oakridge

Point of Interest : Waterfalls, forest, creek

Distance: about 4 mile loop (lollipop)

Difficulty: easy to moderate (mud, slope)

Bathrooms: Yes. Bathrooms at Salt Creek were under construction as of 5/26, but there are bathrooms at nearby snow park (1/2 mile)

Parking: plenty of parking, paved

EV Chargers: no

Dogs OK? yes, on leash

Trail Map

Our original plan for hiking today was Trillium Lake on Mt. Hood. Then we saw the weather advisory for the Northern Cascades for snow.


So we went to the middle Cascades instead, and guess what? Snow. Not a ton, but we were above 4000 feet elevation, and although it wasn't sticking much, we were hiking through snowflakes. 

The views, however, were still amazing. 

The construction at the trailhead took some of the prime viewing areas out of bounds, but there were still some great views of Salt Creek Falls. 
We then headed down the trail to Diamond Creek. There were a lot of fun little bridges and stairs built into this hike. 

There are also other trails available if you have more time.
There are plenty of views to enjoy. There are also plenty of warning signs about drop offs and cliffs, so be careful when heading towards an edge.


Eventually, you will get to Diamond Creek Falls, and there is an overlook where you can see the falls. However, the best views are at the lower falls viewpoint. I highly recommend you take this offshoot of the main trail. 
Not only do you get a great view, you get to climb up and down this cool set of stairs carved from a log. Even more exciting with a small dusting of sleet on them!





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Make sure you follow the trail all the way to the bottom of the falls. You can see almost all of it. 

Here's a short video from the bottom


We view any stairs or bridge as a photo op.
Eventually, the trail comes out on a forest service road (#3601). We missed returning to the Diamond Creek trail at first, but there was another opportunity to rejoin it a bit later, which we did.

This was a cool looking bridge
Also, someone carved a chair out of a stump, so another photo op. 
When we returned to the trailhead, we found the trail to the bottom viewing area for Salt Creek Falls. There was a detour due to construction, but it's not hard to find. The trail down is pretty easy, not too muddy even with the rain and snow.
Salt Creek Falls is pretty amazing in itself, and is also a short distance away from the parking lot, if you are in a hurry.

This picture is from the viewing platform at the bottom.
Our after hike meal was at the 3 Legged Crane in Oakridge, part of Old Town. A good variety of options for food and drink.

The only part of this hike I wasn't too fond of was the drive. At 2 1/2 hours, it was a bit long. Even with the weather, the hike itself was wonderful. Make sure you have the right winter weather gear, and the weather won't be an issue.

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