Winter hike at Punchbowl Falls, OR

Directions: 

Travel eastbound on I-84 and turn off on exit 41 to Eagle Creek Park. You will exit the freeway and take a right at the stop sign at bottom of the hill. From there, you will see the outermost parking lot which offers over-flow parking as well as a bathroom building (open seasonally, though portable toilets are available during the winter months). A Northwest Forest Pass is required but you are able to purchase a day pass on site if you do not own one. The trailhead begins at the end of the innermost parking lot (located farther down the road).

Trail Report: 

January 2nd, 2017. My travel partner and I started the hike at 10:45am- at which point, there were only 4 cars in the parking lot.

The first leg of our journey was a little discouraging due to the icy, steep entry into the hike. We carefully navigated our steps- slipped around a bit- and eventually made our way over the beginning of the trail.

Once we passed the first slippery hill, we didn't have any issues hiking up the rest of the trail. There were some more icy areas on the way up but avoiding them was just a matter of stepping onto the exposed earth or finding snow patches that were not padded down hard. (Note: we did not have traction gear on our hike boots and we did not carry trekking poles but we were able to safely and efficiently make it up to the falls without any prolonged hassles or delays)

The cliff-side portion of the hike was definitely the most scenic section of the hike. The panoramic views of the forest (covered with snow) was absolutely breathtaking (see photo). There are guides on the cliff that you can utilize if needed although we didn't use them because there was enough water runoff to melt away the snow and ice in that portion of the hike. We safely sauntered up the cliff-side without hesitation (other than our frequent stops to gawk at the beauty of the area, of course).

There were a few more ice patches on the final descend to the falls so we took our time to traverse down the hill. At the bottom of the hill, there is a rock-filled quarry which allows visitors plenty of space to wander around without feeling like they're walking on top of one another. We were fortunate enough to have the rock "beach" to ourselves for the half hour that we spent down there so we were able to get plenty of uninterrupted photographs of the area. There were a few other visitors who peaked down at the rock beach and turned around before checking out the creek-side view of the falls- presumably because the falls are not visible from the trail or the rock beach.

We followed the sound of the falls and eventually came across a man-made rock bridge (see photo). My travel partner was the first to make the trip out onto the rocks and she had no issues making her way to the last large rock that provided a peek-a-boo view of Punchbowl Falls.

Overall, the hike was pleasant and did not require an excessive amount of energy to reach the falls. Despite the heavy traffic on certain days, the trip is definitely worth the effort. I am planning on making a trip back out there in the summer so I can take a dip in the cool, refreshing water after the pleasant hike.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for my next report~