3.2 hr
Overview
The hike in to Aldrich Butte and Cedar Falls covers a little known section of the Gorge between Table Mountain and Hamilton Mountain near the town of North Bonneville, Washington. This may not be the grandest of excursions in the Columbia River Gorge, but it is certainly one of the quietest. For those who really value solitude, this is something of an unknown gem in an area with a lot of interesting history. It's a long hike in here now, after the closure of the Bonneville Hot Springs Resort & Spa in January 2017 and the termination of the resort's agreement to allow a public trailhead on their land (the former Dick Thomas Trailhead). The only legitimate approach is from the Bonneville Trailhead, a long and meandering walk over the forested terrain of the Bonneville Landslide, much of it a Pacific Crest Trail easement on private land. You will be rewarded at the end of your hike, however, with a little-visited landscape of secluded creeks, an isolated waterfall, and the vestiges of the military emplacements atop Aldrich Butte. Note that trail junctions off the PCT in the Carpenters Lake-Aldrich Butte-Cedar Falls area are usually not marked, so pay close attention to the directions and remain oriented at all times. Note that Foundations Recovery Network, the new owners of the former Bonneville Hot Springs Resort & Spa, are sensitive to the recent and sudden decommissioning of the Dick Thomas Trailhead and are partnering with Bonneville Trails Foundation to develop closer trailhead access. However, those options are not available for the short term, so the Bonneville Trailhead is the only option for now. The hike starts at the Bonneville Trailhead, on the Tamanous Trail. Ta-mah-no-ous is a Native American word translated roughly as "vision quest". Young men proved their readiness to be adults by going on a search for guardian spirits. From the parking lot, you start out on a gravel road, but quickly divert up a wooded path that starts straight uphill (Incidentally, if you continue down the gravel road another
Trail Stats
0.0 km
946 m
347 m
0 m
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Photos
160px-CedarFalls
160px-CedarFalls
500px-AldrichButteCedarFallsMap
500px-AldrichButteCedarFallsMap
250px-Looking_down_Hamilton_Creek_from_the_big_slide
250px-Looking_down_Hamilton_Creek_from_the_big_slide
250px-BonnevilleFromAldrich
250px-BonnevilleFromAldrich
250px-CedarMountain04
250px-CedarMountain04
250px-Gillette_Lake%2C_Bonneville_Slide
250px-Gillette_Lake%2C_Bonneville_Slide
400px-Cedar_Creek_at_the_winter_crossing
400px-Cedar_Creek_at_the_winter_crossing