Information about this hike provided in partnership with
Mountaineers Books.
Copyright © Dan A. Nelson/The Mountaineers Books Lewis River Trail
Speed onto Lewis River
If you want to reach the beautiful Lewis River quickly, this is your trail. In the spring and fall, ocean-running steelhead return en masse. Even if you don't plan on fishing, we recommend bringing a pair of polarized sunglasses to help you peer into the swirling cold water and spot the big fish. Look for ripples as the fish lunge up from under big rocks to snatch insects off the surface of the river. The trail drops steeply from the road into the Lewis River Basin, slicing through thick old-growth pine and fir forest. Anglers love this trail because it takes them right to water that's chock-full of big rainbow, brown, and brook trout. Hikers who don't fish will still love the path since it provides a beautiful walk down to a front-row seat on the beautiful riparian world. Late in the year, it might be possible to ford the river and continue your trek on the Lower Lewis River Trail found on the north side of the river. But don't force the ford-it's better to simply sit back, relax, and enjoy the river music for a while before climbing back the way you came. The climb back up to the car is a workout, so go slow and enjoy the deep-forest environment.
Driving Directions:
From Cougar, drive about 25 miles east on Forest Road 90 up the Lewis River Valley to the well-marked trailhead on the left (about a mile past the Big Creek Falls trailhead). Recent Trip Reports
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Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns | Snow on trail
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We started the hike just after the first Lewis River Bridge. The weather was pretty cold and it sno...
We started the hike just after the first Lewis River Bridge. The weather was pretty cold and it snowed on us for most of the hike. We hiked from the Lewis River Bridge to the Quartz Creek Trailhead, about 4 1/2 miles one way. There was a significant amount of snow on the trail between upper falls and the Quartz Creek Bridge/Trailhead (about 1/4 of a mile) up to 10 inches deep in spots. The trail between the upper, middle and lower falls was pretty clear and not too muddy. There were perhaps 5 downed trees across the trail, all fairly easy to get around. There was a large volume of water going over the falls right now, it's pretty impressive. We didn't see any other people on the trail all day.
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
Mud/Rockslide | Washouts
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We ended our 10 day camping and hiking trip as we did last year by hiking the Lewis River Falls Trai...
We ended our 10 day camping and hiking trip as we did last year by hiking the Lewis River Falls Trail starting at the Lower Falls Recreation Area where we were camped. The trail is in good condition most of the way and the river and falls are running almost full with the winter snow melt. At the first switchback above Middle Falls tread work is needed where the trail has washed away to a narrow and unstable area. After viewing the Upper Falls, we recommend continuing on The Lewis River Trail by hiking a fairly steep 1/8 mile section of trail to a viewpoint above the Upper Falls. This is where we always have lunch. We then continue another 1/8th mile to Taitnapum Falls before returning to the TH. Twin flower, wild ginger, penstemon, yellow monkey-flower, pink pyrola, starflower, bunchberry, foam flower, and spring beauty were some of the flowers blooming.
Day hike
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ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!! Three magnificent waterfalls within three miles, 6 miles round trip. Earlier i...
ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!! Three magnificent waterfalls within three miles, 6 miles round trip. Earlier in the year the waterfalls are fuller, later in the year less water so hike this twice a year! The trail is fantastic, sometimes along the river, other times 100 feet above the river, hiking along steep cliffs. I can't describe how impressed I was this hike. I've lived in western Washington all my life and this is the first time I've been to the Lewis river. For a summer weekend I was surprised how few people were on the trail. The campground was only have full too. I plan to photograph the waterfalls in the fall color, should be gorgeous!
See BobandBarb's trail report, great pictures and great review. If you're into photography, try to go on an overcast day or go early or late on a bright sunny day because the waterfalls will be very contrasty. If so, it's HDR time! Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns
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This hike was along the Lewis River, starting at the Curly Creek Falls Trailhead. Access the trailh...
This hike was along the Lewis River, starting at the Curly Creek Falls Trailhead. Access the trailhead by driving Forest Road 90 4 or 5 miles east of the junction with FR 25. Turn left at the sign and drive less than a mile, to a bridge over the Lewis River. Cross the bridge, then 0.3 mile later, turn left into the parking lot. There is a vault toilet and a signboard featuring a map of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument: South Side (which does not even include this area). Parking is free.
Note: As of this writing, the WTA Hiking Guide lists the one-mile "Speed Trail" #31E as the Lewis River Trail #31. Most of our hike was along the lower part of the real Lewis River Trail #31. The Hiking Guide is wrong. From the parking lot, we walked west a quarter mile to the viewpoints for Curly Creek Falls and Miller Creek Falls. Both featured brand new signs affixed to trees. Unfortunately, the first sign is misspelled "Curley Creek Falls". The falls is largely in shade, but features a two-tiered drop below a natural rock bridge. Very pretty. Miller Creek Falls is farther away from the viewpoint and also mostly in shade. It is a classic single drop waterfall. From this spur trail (#31A) we backtracked then bypassed the access trail to the parking lot, walking straight along #31A to the bridge, where we picked up Lewis River trail #31 on the other side. This is a fine, well shaded trail along the Lewis River through old growth forest, usually within sight of the river. There are few ups and downs. There was however, one blowdown about a half mile north of the bridge, which required ducking under. Bicyclists would be able to dismount and drag their bikes under the large log. There are three nice camps along the river at about 1.75 miles from the bridge, one with a rope swing hanging over the sunlit water. Nice. We stopped briefly at Bolt Camp, 2.5 miles from the bridge. We explored the shelter, then continued on another 2.5 miles, looking for the junction with the Speed Trail, #31E. (This is the one called "Lewis River Trail" in the WTA Hiking Guide.) I was curious how deep the river was running at the ford location. At the right mileage, we saw a tent and its owner on the opposite side of the river, and just past there on our side was a nice camp site. But we saw no indication of any path that might lead to a ford of the river, or a connecting path on the opposite side - just the person camped there. In fact, the water was running high and swift, so high that it appeared to be chest deep at its deepest. We turned around after eating lunch and had a pleasantly shaded walk back to the parking lot. Total mileage: about 11. Day hike
Issues:
Mudholes | Water on trail
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This hike along the Lewis River Trail #31 started at the Lower Falls Recreation Area, along Forest R...
This hike along the Lewis River Trail #31 started at the Lower Falls Recreation Area, along Forest Road 90 about 14 miles east of the junction with FR 25. (The 13th mile currently includes 0.6 mile of rough and potholed dirt and rock road, due to an earlier washout.) The day use area has vault toilets and picnic tables. A Northwest Forest Pass is required.
Note: The WTA Hiking Guide currently lists the one-mile "Speed Trail" #31E as the Lewis River Trail #31. Our hike was along the real Lewis River Trail #31. The Hiking Guide is wrong. From the day use area, we took one of two paths to the Lower Falls viewpoints. The Lower Lewis River Falls were spectacular. Photos I had seen in previous trip reports had led me to believe the falls were not that large. Wrong! They're a respectable 43 feet high and 200 feet across! On the left side is a churning trough which gathers most of the water flow. There are several viewpoints to capture the scene from. Another mile and a half further upstream was the Middle Lewis River Falls, a river-width combination of a waterfall and a cascade of water along a sheet of bedrock. The viewpoints are limited here, but even the riverbed is pretty, the clarity of the water revealing its ragged volcanic nature. We chose the short side trail up to Lower Copper Creek Falls, a small trickle of water that drops 32 feet in a classic formation. Returning to Trail #31, we continued upstream one mile to the very impressive Upper Lewis River Falls. Again, photos don't do it justice. The falls are 58 feet high and 175 feet across, again with a churning trough on the left side. We ate lunch at the river's edge below the falls and enjoyed the view. We knew about Taitnapum Falls a short distance further up the trail, so we continued on. What we didn't know was that there is also an upper viewpoint to the Upper Falls, about a quarter mile beyond the lower viewpoint. It requires climbing steeply uphill, but I highly recommend it. The view from above was not as picturesque, but like I said, photos don't do it justice anyway. See the churning trough up close. Taitnapum Falls drops only 16 feet, across the 60 foot width of the river. Its most noteworthy feature is the raggedness of its lip. Most waterfalls course over a well-rounded lip, but not Taitnapum. Its lip has resisted wearing evenly, leaving a bizarre-looking ragged undercut edge for the water to spill over. From Taitnapum Falls, we continued the remaining one third of a mile to the Quartz Creek Trailhead, where we turned around and headed back to our starting point at the Lower Falls Recreation Area. Total mileage was about 7 miles. The trail was in excellent condition, with only a couple muddy areas. |
 Hiker on the Lewis River trail. Photo by Don Paulson.
2011
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