Hiking Susan Creek Falls
Monday morning I was awoken by the sun blazing through the windows of our corner room at the hotel in Eugene Oregon. It was only 6am- a terrible time to have to wake up on a long holiday weekend, right? Actually, no. Getting up early didn't suck because there was a lot I wanted to do. Monday would be a long day of hiking waterfalls in the Cascades then driving back up to Portland for the night.
From Eugene we headed south on I-5 toward Roseburg then skirted around town to State Highway 138 climbing up into the mountains. It wasn't long until we reached the trailhead of the first hike on my list, Susan Creek Falls.
The trail to Susan Creek starts in a burned area. Most of the trees still standing are dead, though in the years since the fire shrubs have thrived. We passed by a lot of wild berry bushes... and poison oak. The trail zig-zags up the side of a hill for a bit before cutting around a corner into the Susan Creek canyon. Here, as you can see in the photo above, some of the taller trees survived the fire.
Once around the bend it's a pleasant walk of another 0.5 mile or so to the falls at the back of the canyon. The trek is just 1.5 miles round trip with an ascent of about 200 feet. Susan Creek Falls pours over a rock ledge and drops about 50'.
The trail offers both a small vista partway up the right side of the hill in front of the falls and a little picnic area below the foot. I found the best viewpoint (above) by going to the lower area then hopping over a few rocks and downed trees to get closer to the falls.
From Eugene we headed south on I-5 toward Roseburg then skirted around town to State Highway 138 climbing up into the mountains. It wasn't long until we reached the trailhead of the first hike on my list, Susan Creek Falls.
The trail to Susan Creek starts in a burned area. Most of the trees still standing are dead, though in the years since the fire shrubs have thrived. We passed by a lot of wild berry bushes... and poison oak. The trail zig-zags up the side of a hill for a bit before cutting around a corner into the Susan Creek canyon. Here, as you can see in the photo above, some of the taller trees survived the fire.
Once around the bend it's a pleasant walk of another 0.5 mile or so to the falls at the back of the canyon. The trek is just 1.5 miles round trip with an ascent of about 200 feet. Susan Creek Falls pours over a rock ledge and drops about 50'.
The trail offers both a small vista partway up the right side of the hill in front of the falls and a little picnic area below the foot. I found the best viewpoint (above) by going to the lower area then hopping over a few rocks and downed trees to get closer to the falls.