Fall Creek

February at Fall Creek is a chance to learn from the burn.

The moistest and most succulent forest in Lane County is found along the banks of Fall Creek, a fifty minute drive east from Eugene.  All four seasons find Fall Creek draped in rich greenery.  The moss and lichens are everywhere:  Yellow-green liverworts wrapped like a fur coat around big leaf maples, rust red and green hanging moss swathed around broken Douglas fir limbs, and grey-green Methuselah’s beard dangling ghost-like from hemlocks. 

It’s wet year round, too.  The vegetation has so much surface area that it traps fog and other moisture.  During the dry months as much as half of the forest’s water can come from fog adhering to leaves and needles, condensing and falling to the ground.  It’s so wet at Fall Creek the Forest Service has for years referred to this part of the Willamette National Forest as the “asbestos district”—a forest to wet to burn. 

That was until this last July, when temperatures soared into the hundreds and relative humidity—a measure of the percentage of water in the atmosphere—plummeted into the teens.  The wet forest became bone dry, and when a careless camper let a campfire get out of control the mountains of moss carried the blaze into the upper canopy of Fall Creek’s old-growth forest.

About a mile of the lower section of the famous Fall Creek Trail was severely burned by the fire, but that doesn’t mean that the trail is ruined.  On the contrary, the fire has provided a great opportunity for hikers to explore a fascinating fire-scorched landscape.

Directions: Take I-5 south from Eugene for approximately 3 miles. Take the Oakridge/Klamath Falls exit (Exit 188A). Stay to the left onto Hwy. 58. Drive 58 for approximately 13 miles and take the left onto the Jasper-Lowell Road (next to the white covered bridge). Drive through the town of Lowell, following the signs for Fall Creek (a left on W. Boundary and a Right on Moss Street). A mile outside of Lowell, you’ll come to a 4-way intersection with another covered bridge ahead. Take the right onto Fall Creek Road. In a half-mile stay left on North Shore Road (stay to the left at the intersection in seven miles). This paved road follows Fall Creek and turns into Forest Service Road 18.  Park on the right just before a bridge and the sign for Dolly Varden Campground. 

At the parking lot you’ll find the western trailhead for the fifteen-mile long Fall Creek Trail.  From here it’s a fairly easy (but often very muddy) six mile round trip to Timber Creek and back.  This hike will take you through some of the most spectacular rain forest in Oregon, featuring dew-drenched ferns and cathedral-like Douglas fir, western hemlock and red cedar trees.

If you want to take in the burn, drive another three miles up the road, park at the Clark Organization Camp on your left and pick up the Clark Butte Trail.  Skip the steep three-mile 2,000-foot climb to Clark Butte and stick to the short loop trail that takes you past the western end of the fire boundary.  Note that this part of the fire burned relatively cool, burning off much of the underbrush but leaving most of the large overstory trees singed but still thriving. 

If you want to explore the more severely burned forest, drive another half mile up the road, take a right on Forest Service Road 1821 and hike the trail upstream.  WARNING:  This portion of the trail is not for everyone.  There’s lots of dead wood across the trail.  Trees killed by the fire are at extreme risk of toppling over unexpectedly.  Other dangers include washed out bridges and falling rocks.  Use extreme caution when traversing this section of the trail. 

But you won’t have to worry about another forest fire until this summer.