Story and photos by Cheryl Hartz
Built by the Youth Conservation Corps, the Alsea Falls Trail in Oregon’s Alsea Falls Recreation Site is a cool green gem of a hike.
You can go out and back 2.4 miles to Alsea Falls and across the river to 60-foot Green Peak Falls, which we didn’t get to on our latest trip. But Alsea Falls delighted us with its 30-foot cascade.
Making it even more delightful was a small wedding party in western attire – including fancy cowboy boots – of a couple who found each other in their golden years.
Some of their folks, including one gent carrying oxygen and using a cane, had to slowly negotiate the short Sidewinder Trail, with its rather steep switchbacks to the Falls. But he politely declined our offer of assistance and made it just fine on his own to the June nuptials.
We all had to be careful walking on the slick rocks below the Falls.
In the Central Oregon Coast Range, which boasts the highest density of streams in the state, the recreation site, with an elevation of 781 feet, is managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Its name comes from the Alsea people, an indigenous tribe who lived near the river’s mouth and experienced the peak of its population in the 1700s.
The South Fork of the Alsea River flows through the site and forms the Falls. The cold water is great for summer swimming.
Alsea Fall Recreation Site offers camping from May through September, but day use is open all year for picnicking, fishing, swimming, hiking and biking. Fishing is a popular winter activity, as anglers try for salmon and steelhead. During spawning season, visitors could see salmon leaping the waterfalls.
You also could see black bears, cougars, bald eagles, deer and elk along the way. Naturally, beavers build their homes in the river. Oregon is the Beaver State, after all. And Corvallis, home of the Oregon State University Beavers, is only about 45 minutes away.
The recreation site features much second growth forest, but you’ll see some behemoth moss-covered old growth Douglas fir, along with western red cedar, Sitka spruce, western hemlock and maples.
Look closely and you might spot a gorgeous pink and white Calypso orchid.
Several kinds of berries, such as the ubiquitous blackberry and salmonberry, are accessible along the trails for summer snacking.
Happy Pacific Northwest hiking!
