TRAVEL

Hike to Abiqua Falls

Zach Urness
Statesman Journal
Abiqua Falls from the trail along Abiqua Creek.

The trek to Abiqua Falls is an adventure. It requires navigating difficult roads and hiking a slippery, unmarked trail. Here is how to make the trip.

Directions to trailhead: From the hamlet of Scotts Mills, drive south on Crooked Finger Road for 9.5 miles to where the pavement ends, and continue 1.4 miles on gravel to a road poorly marked as CF300 (the road goes downhill and has a wooden sign for an ORV/ATV area).

Turn right on CF300 and follow it downhill, ignoring all deviations from the path for 2.25 miles to the end of the road at a gate and park. This is the trailhead. The road down is rough and steep in places and is not well suited to low-clearance vehicles.

Coordinates: 44.93127, -122.56800

Finding the trail: From where you parked near the gate, walk 100 feet back along the road where there is a metal sign on a tree stating that the land is private property but is available to the public via the Abbey Foundation of Oregon. This is the trail.

The hike: The path leads steeply downhill to Abiqua Creek in 0.2 miles. At the steepest points in the trail, there are lengths of rope tied to tree trunks for handholds that people can use. Turn upstream along the creek, following a rough trail for another 0.2 mile. You will have to climb over and around rocks and logs (tough in high water). Eventually, you'll reach the falls. The hike is 0.8 miles, but it feels longer.

The rocky trail along Abiqua Creek to Abiqua Falls