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Trip Report

Lewis River Falls — Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025

Southwest Washington > Lewis River Region
Big tree down

Beautiful winter hike! I've done this a few times but never this time of year. The first part of the trail from the Curly Creek TH has many branches covering the trail, a huge tree down, and an area of complete trail coverage from branches. It is still manageable if you are sure-footed. You could avoid this part and start up near the Lower Falls area. It is muddy in places, of course, and the creek crossings are doable, but you still could get a foot in the water. I love hiking this time of year, the crisp weather and roaring river and waterfalls. The rocks at the bottom of the Upper Falls were covered in ice, so we could not sit there and enjoy the scenery. With the water flowing so strong too and the powerful falls, it felt like we were getting rained on.

Beware of road conditions! We came up through Carson and hit snow covered roads near the snow parks, then as we dropped to NF90 to the TH, the roads were clear of snow. The road (NF90) to the TH was littered with branches. People have cut back most of the big trees, just be careful. There is one spot where the road, in the gravel part, has sunk. Thankfully we got out and scouted before flying down the sunken part. Only high-clearance vehicles with 4WD should attempt this, I assume most vehicles would bottom out/get stuck.

Upper Falls
Branches across trail
River
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