1.2 hr
Overview
This is a short hike to a 1,000 foot viewpoint beneath the power lines, often confused for the much longer and higher Wauna Point Hike, which also starts at the Tooth Rock Trailhead. The short cut from that trailhead via the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail, as described in many older reports, has been overgrown since the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire, so you will be descending to the resumption of the Gorge Trail #400 near Tanner Creek. (An alternative trailhead for this hike could be the Wahclella Falls Trailhead, but a Northwest Forest Pass is required there, and parking space is limited.) Views increase the higher you hike and, since the fire, there are more vistas through the charred trees to the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. Start by walking west back down towards Tanner Creek for about a third of a mile. Before the junction with the freeway exit, look to your left for a small sign denoting the Gorge 400 Trail. The trail switchbacks up from the road in a Douglas-fir/big-leaf maple forest, passing a covered flume that once serviced the Bonneville Fish Hatchery. You’ll get a view down to the Wahclella Falls Trailhead before switchbacking and traversing through a forest that was scorched by the 2017 blaze but still supports a canopy. An unsigned trail leads down to the left, an overgrown shortcut from the Tooth Rock Trailhead beginning near a large concrete water tank. The trail switchbacks gain, making a long traverse on a steep slope. You’ll get a glimpse of Beacon Rock at the next switchback. Now well within the fire zone, you’ll find the tread overgrown with trailing blackberry. At a signpost, the trail joins an old road bed on an alder/maple bench and crosses an area of springs to pass across a powerline corridor. Hamilton Mountain, Aldrich Butte, Cedar Mountain, and Table Mountain are all visible from here. You’ll join the powerline track, and after about 60 yards, branch left on a grassy road to keep to the route of the Gorge Trail. Through the burned maple snags, you can see Wauna
Trail Stats
0.0 km
365 m
329 m
0 m
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Photos
600px-WaunaViewpointToothRockMap
600px-WaunaViewpointToothRockMap
250px-Bridge_of_the_Gods_and_Mt
250px-Bridge_of_the_Gods_and_Mt
250px-Ringed_pinkie%2C_Gorge_Trail
250px-Ringed_pinkie%2C_Gorge_Trail
250px-Old_fish_hatchery_flume_at_Tanner_Creek%2C_Gorge_Trail
250px-Old_fish_hatchery_flume_at_Tanner_Creek%2C_Gorge_Trail
400px-Waunaviewbonn
400px-Waunaviewbonn
TKO put tools to trail here.png
TKO put tools to trail here.png