Hiking to Angels Rest, Oregon
This trail was impacted by the Eagle Creek Fire in 2017. The Forest Service has reopened the trail but warns hikers to enter at their own risk because of hazardous conditions, including loose rocks, falling trees and limbs, debris flows, and damaged or blocked trails. Less experienced hikers should consider an alternative to this hike while these conditions exist, and all hikers with dogs or small children should consider safer alternatives.
Distance: 5 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: 1,500ft
Difficulty: Moderate
Solitude: Very crowded
Points of Interest: Waterfall, river, overlook of Columbia River Gorge, wildflowers through the spring and summer
Dogs: Yes, on leash
Bathrooms: No
Since I was unable to spend Mother’s Day with my mom, I decided to head out and do something she loves to do, go hiking. I picked Angels Rest for a few reasons. #1 it’s really popular due to its proximity to Portland (only 35 minutes from downtown), #2 the views are phenomenal of the Columbia River Gorge, #3 the trail was recently reopened after the devastating Eagle Creek Fire in 2017.
The trail starts off at the Angels Rest Trailhead and when I arrived at 9:30am, the parking lot was full (it’s super small) so there were already cars parked up and down the road. Oy vey. The one thing I don’t recommend is hiking this trail on the weekends, it gets crowded FAST. Unfortunately for me, not only is Angels Rest one of the most popular hiking trails in the Columbia River Gorge, I went on one of the most popular hiking days of the year. I easily encountered 100+ people (I seriously wanted to guesstimate 200 but I feel like that’s too high).
Anyways, the trail is pretty uphill the entire hike. You start off in a lush Pacific Northwest forest surrounded by ferns and within a few minutes you’ll hike up to a waterfall. From this point the trail transitions to burnt, exposed landscape and you’ll get to experience the devastation of the Eagle Creek Fire and see how quickly the landscape has healed. There are multiple viewpoints along the trail where you can look out over the Columbia River and up and down the gorge.
This would be a great hike for either a sunrise or sunset as well, just make sure you dress appropriately and bring headlamps for the hike up or back!
Have a great week!