I’m a kid from interior Alaska where trees — beyond birch and alders — are limited to stick-like black spruce, stunted by intermittent permafrost and nine-month winters with temperatures frequently dropping below minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
To me, western Oregon woods seem like tropical rain forests. Although technically far from tropical, the mild winters and bountiful rainfalls in the Western Cascades provide for abundant moss, gigantic ferns, larger-than-life firs and lots of caky mud.
Fall Creek, only 40 minutes from Eugene, is one of my favorite getaways. On a beautiful day, sunshine barely trickles down onto the trail through the lush, moss-covered trees, making the understory foliage seem fluorescent green. On rainy days — and there are plenty of these — the trail’s thick canopy offers trail runners, mountain bikers and hikers some protection form the rain.
Exactly what is it that protects hikers from the rain?
Trail users will encounter yew trees that are several hundred years old, with their skinny, needle-rich branches covered in hanging moss, almost to the point where the trees are invisible. Douglas firs, cedars and western hemlocks are among other conifers that help shelter the trail. Vine maple and hazelnut spread their leaves over the trail and protect trail users from whatever elements the conifers let through.
Which is exactly why I love to run along Fall Creek when soggy Eugene winter days have me drenched on my other, more open running alternatives. In the summertime, that rain protection doubles as a shelter from Eugene’s occasional sweltering heat.
The trail meanders along the creek’s southwest bank for miles. Any hike is an out and back, ranging from a few miles of easy terrain to more challenging trail-handling farther from the parking area. Other more challenging options exist in trails branching off from the main Fall Creek trail. One of those trails takes hikers to Clark Butte, elevation 2,643 feet, just short of two miles into the hike. Another one leads to Jones Creek Trail about three miles from the parking area. If hikers arrange for a shuttle, it is possible to hike nine miles to Forest Road 1828.
The easiest hike, to Timber Creek where the trail crosses over Fall Creek, has a 200-foot elevation gain. Hikers who go all the way to Forest Road 1828 experience a 700-foot elevation gain and a terrain change to more open meadows and sunnier forests. Those who choose to scale Clark Butte face a 1,763-foot elevation change during a hike that is just more than 11 miles round trip.
Compared to, say, Spencer Butte or the Ridgeline Trail in town, Fall Creek is by far less traveled and offers trail users a wilder experience — although the challenge of the Ridgeline Trail is comparable to Fall Creek.
While the elevation gain of Fall Creek is not stunning, at least on the shorter trails, views of the river’s occasional whitewaters, the forest’s incredible lushness and the sounds of its ecosystem make a trip worthwhile.
Finally, Fall Creek lacks the pest of poison oak and stinging nettles found at Spencer Butte and the Ridgeline Trail — an added bonus for Fall Creek.