This hike was on my list for a while! Sadly, we were ready to go to this hike months ago and Idaho + Oregon were up in flames. The day we were scheduled to leave both highways that led to Eagle Creek Trail, in Cascade Locks, Oregon were closed. We ended up going to Stanley, Idaho for a beautiful camping + hiking trip instead, but that’s for another post. 🙂 Needless to say, I was determine to check this place out!
Eagle Creek Trail is about a 6.5 hour drive from Boise. We packed up our belonging and hit the road labor day weekend. Because it was Labor Day weekend, the campsites were all booked (they are popular all summer throughout the Gorge), so we found a cute little hotel about 40 minutes out from the hike.
We had a bit of time to explore the day before the hike and found this darling/creepy old abandoned house.
We woke up early Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. and headed to the trailhead. After doing a lot of research, we learned that the best place to park is at the dam. Car breaks ins are very common here. I was teasing Tony– saying, “oh please, how bad can it be?” And guys, it was pretty bad! He pointed out 3 piles of shattered glass. So park by the dam. We walked an extra half mile to prevent our car from being broken into and started the hike.
I was shocked at how beautiful this place was! It truly feels straight out of a fairy tale!
We decided to do the entire hike (to Tunnel Falls and back) which ended up being about 12 miles roundtrip. It’s well worth it!
The hike is not scary (at least compared to Angel’s Landing), but it could make someone who is scared of heights a bit uneasy.
There are chains on the side of trail in some places to lend a helping hand. There are parts where it can get slick because of the rain.We did poke around Punchbowl Falls for a bit. It really is a beautiful little place to stop and explore.
The hike goes over “high bridge” which really gave me butterflies. I couldn’t capture a good picture that shows how high the bridge really is, but it’s enough to make your palms sweat. The terrain started getting rough and we had to watch our feet a lot more.
Finally, we started nearing Tunnel Falls is aptly named this because a tunnel was carved out behind the waterfall. It was beautiful and powerful! Completely worth the hike in.
There isn’t much I can say to explain how incredibly beautiful this hike was. It’s definitely on my “will visit again” list. Only next time, we will be camping on the trail to explore and play a bit more.
We will be back!