This new trail is not yet known to most Portland area hikers, but it’s bound to draw more admirers as word spreads about this attractive and relatively easy creekside ramble through the second-growth forests of the Tillamook State Forest. Despite heavy rainfall, this is a good winter hike, because the tread drains well and remains in good shape with relatively few mud problems.
DIRECTIONS Drive west on State Highway 6 toward Tillamook. Just before you reach milepost 35, turn right on the well-signed gravel road to Gales Creek Campground. After about 1 mile, pull into the day-use parking area on the left just before the road crosses a bridge over Gales Creek. This campground is closed from November to May when a gate blocks the access road from Highway 6. The gate is sometimes open during the off-season, but even if it is, do not drive through it—it may close at any time without warning.
Take the Gales Creek Trail to the right (northwest) from the parking area and begin a slow steady climb. For the next 0.7 mile you travel across a hillside about 50 feet above Gales Creek generally staying near the transition line between the second-growth coniferous forests on the slopes above you and the alder woodlands near the stream. The forest floor beneath these trees is covered with a dense mat of sword fern, which grows so profusely it forces out nearly all other understory species.
After 0.8 mile you take a narrow log bridge over an unnamed side creek and then immediately reach a junction with the Storey Burn Trail (Trip 14). Turn right and travel up and down on a trail that alternately hugs 15-foot-wide Gales Creek or traverses the woodsy hillside above the water. Much of the time the trail follows an old road, long since abandoned and now just a wide, well-graded trail. A little more than 1 mile from the Storey Burn junction, the trail crosses a small side creek. Look left to see a 20-foot-tall, sliding waterfall. In winter or early spring when the water runs high and the waterfall is not obscured by foliage, it’s at its best.
Falls along Gales Creek Trail
The forest scenery remains unchanged as you continue up the canyon of Gales Creek for another mile to a sturdy log bridge that takes you over the creek. After another 0.5 mile, you come to a second log bridge and cross the flow again. As it slowly gains elevation, the trail goes over several side creeks. Quaint wooden bridges sometimes convey you, but more often you simply hop over. Although these side creeks are small, they make up a large percentage of Gales Creek’s volume, so the main stream gets noticeably smaller as you continue up the canyon.
Near the 4.5-mile point, you pass a nice campsite after which the creek and accompanying trail curve to the east and the canyon narrows. The ascent now gets more strenuous as the grade becomes moderately steep. Just beyond the 5-mile point, Gales Creek has diminished to the point where it barely deserves to be called a creek. Here the trail pulls away from the water to ascend a woodsy hillside. Most hikers will want to turn around here because the scenery is less interesting away from the creek. If you prefer to make this a longer one-way hike, however, stay on the trail as it climbs another mile to a wide, forested ridgeline where it crosses remote Bell Camp Road. From there the trail is described in Trip 16.
The author on a log bridge over Gales Creek
TRIP 16 Northern Gales Creek Trail
| Distance | 6.8 miles to Bell Camp Road, Out-and-back | |
| Elevation Gain | 1500 feet | |
| Hiking Time | 3 to 4 hours | |
| Optional Map | Tillamook State Forest | |
| Usually Open | February to November | |
| Best Time | April to June | |
| Trail Use | Dogs OK, backpacking option, mountain biking, horseback riding | |
| Agency | Forest Grove District, Tillamook State Forest | |
| Difficulty | Difficult | |
| Note | Good in cloudy weather |
HIGHLIGHTS Starting beside a lovely stream, this trail climbs through second-growth woods to a road atop a high ridgetop. The route has no spectacular scenery, but it provides good exercise and is fun to hike. Beware, however, that parts of this trail, especially in its upper reaches, are rather unattractive, with some logged areas and many new logging roads. Even so, it is a pleasant hike, and provides relatively quick access to the upper reaches of Gales Creek, where there are some excellent options for both anglers and overnight backpackers.
DIRECTIONS Drive U.S. Highway 26 west from Portland to a junction a little past milepost 38. Turn left (south) on Timber Road, drive 3.1 miles, and then turn right on Cochran Road, which starts as pavement but soon changes to good gravel. At 2.5 miles from Timber Road and 0.1 mile past the turnoff for Reehers Campground, turn left into the signed parking area for the Reehers Campground Trailhead and day-use area.
From the east side of the parking lot, pick up the Gales Creek Trail as it curves downhill and to the west to a meeting with the clear waters of the small Nehalem River. From here the trail meanders upstream, through a bottomland ecosystem of deciduous trees and some surprisingly large specimens of western red cedars. The understory is a tangle of thimbleberry and other thorny shrubs, which effectively discourage any off-trail travel. At about 0.4 mile you reach the road, where you turn left and cross the river on the road bridge. Just 20 yards after this crossing, bear left onto an unsigned road, walk 10 yards, and then turn left onto an obvious foot trail.
This winding path gradually makes its way uphill through a tangled forest with numerous large, moss-draped vine maples overhanging the trail. In late October the fall colors from these maples are a real treat. At about 0.8 mile the trail crosses the tracks of the Tillamook Railroad and then twists and turns in a slow ascent of the forested hillside. Look here for numerous ancient stumps with old logging springboard holes and fire scars from the massive Tillamook Burns of the 1930s and 1940s. The trees planted after those fires are now large enough to harvest, so don’t be surprised if you hear chainsaws (especially on weekdays) and encounter brand new (usually unmapped) logging roads crossing the trail. As of early 2007 there were two such new roads that you must cross in the next mile, but more can be expected in the future.
At about 2 miles you cross gravel Round Top Road and then wind uphill along the edge of a recently thinned area that still shows many logging scars. The remaining forest is an open mix of Douglas firs and western hemlocks with an understory featuring the Coast Range’s usual “Big Three,” Oregon grape, sword fern, and salal. Although the uphill grade is sometimes moderate, it is rarely too steep. About 0.5 mile above Round Top Road you cross a rarely used logging spur and then switchback uphill through another selectively cut area. Near the top of this logging scar you cross the end of another logging spur road, walk 0.2 mile, and then cross a final logging road. This
