A falls favorite
Rainy season makes Drift Creek Falls a spectacular sight
By Michael Edwards
For the TODAY
At the base of Drift Creek Falls, a rainbow flickers in the turbulent mist. The steady thunder of water striking boulders drowns out a boisterous group of hikers crossing the suspension bridge 100 feet above the canyon floor. High up on the basalt cliff’s face, an American dipper darts behind the falls and seconds later re-emerges into autumn light, flies underneath a big leaf maple’s moss-laden branches and vanishes into the cool airspace above the creek. The slate gray aquatic songbird’s presence signals that the water here is clean and alive with tasty invertebrates.
Spanning the realm of the dipper is the 240-foot-long Drift Creek Falls suspension bridge. For those with vertigo, the stroll across the bridge can be unnerving. If it helps calm your stomach, know that the bridge has a 165,000-pound weight limit. For perspective, that’s equivalent to 550 three-hundred-pound black bears, 262 eight-hundred-pound Sasquatches, or some whimsical combination of the two. From the bridge’s perch, visitors look down onto the falls and into an emerald, creek-cut canyon lined with ancient cedar, spruce, hemlock and fir.
Hikers who follow poet Robert Frost’s advice and take the path “less traveled” the North Loop Trail in this case, will enter into an old-growth forest grove. This section of trail is a quiet place to sit, unplug and breathe.
On one fall morning, after a few minutes of stillness, inquisitive chickadees approached. A Wilson’s warbler hopped on a sun-bathed vine maple, its olive yellow feathers melting into the foliage. The last of the season’s dry winds blew flecks of plant matter between shadows and light. The silence is such that the subtle scrape of drooping hemlock branches brushing against the bole of an ancient Douglas fir was audible. The old fir’s gnarled branches were the size of mature trees. Though its immense crown is broken, the fir is thriving.
Might there be a northern spotted owl perched up there; the bird’s big chocolate brown eyes scanning the forest floor for a plump red tree vole?
The trees closest to the parking area were logged more than 60 years ago and though the difference between the 60-year-old forest and the centuries-old forest is noticeable, the regenerating capacity of our temperate rainforest is also visible.
Along the creek, red alders thrive and Douglas fir trees have colonized the sunlit hillside. Throughout the decades, storms topple some of the firs, creating gaps in the canopy. The fallen trees become nurse logs and home for fungi, insects and small mammals. Canopy openings allow sunlight to reach the forest floor which spurs growth in conifers and ferns. Standing dead trees, or snags, provide habitat for insects which attract woodpeckers.
A rectangular cavity in a fir snag is a clue that the young forest is home to crow-sized pileated woodpeckers. Look for the flash of their bright red head feathers and listen for their loud laughing call and powerful drumming.
Public Service Announcement: Though you might not see them, Ewoks do live in the forest and they are sticklers about visitors packing out their trash. If they see you discarding plastic fruit cocktail cups or colorful dog poop bags along the trail, our typically mild-mannered furry friends will take note and they will infiltrate your REM sleep. That lovely dream about sailing the South Pacific with your sweetheart will involve an uninvited Ewoks getting tangled in the rigging, and unless C3PO is there to translate, the boat is going down. To the person hiding his Dasani water bottle under the nurse log: Che Womok!
The Drift Creek Falls hike is a 3.1-mile, round-trip walk from the parking lot to the suspension bridge and a little further if you take the alternative North Loop Trail through the magnificent old-growth grove. The trail’s 518-feet elevation gain is felt on the return trip to the car. Exposed roots, wet rocks and a slick clay surface makes for slippery conditions so leave the flip flops at home.
To get to Drift Creek Falls, follow Highway 18 east from Lincoln City and take a right onto Bear Creek Road. Follow Bear Creek Road south for 3.5 miles and merge onto Forest Service Road 17. Drive FR 17 seven circuitous miles to the trailhead. At the trailhead, there is a vaulted toilet, an information kiosk and a picnic table. A $5 parking pass is required and must be secured prior to arrival. For more information and passes, go to fs.usda.gov/main/siuslaw.