Catherine Creek & Tracy Hill Hike – Columbia River Gorge
The Catherine Creek area is known for spring wildflowers, but it also features panoramic views of the Columbia River from Tracy Hill on this scenic loop hike.
distance: 5 miles
elevation gain: 1,250 ft.
difficulty: moderate
best season: February-May
drive time from Portland: 1 hour 30 minutes
parking pass: none
screen grab of my track from the Gaia GPS app
The Hike
The east side of the Columbia River Gorge is a population destination in the spring for several reasons: spring wildflowers here are spectacular, and the drier climate offers a retreat from the rain that’s frequent farther west. It’s also known for ticks, rattlesnakes and poison oak, so I prefer to go early in the season when all three are less prevalent.
We parked at the Catherine Creek trailhead and took the trail to the right of the signboard. At the first trail split just after the trailhead, we stayed to the left on a wider gravel path and continued past this to cross Catherine Creek on a small wobbly bridge. Doing this loop clockwise provides better views on the descent.
The bridge here has seen better days, but it was easy to cross.
In this area, we missed the turn off for the eastern part of the loop, so we turned around and backtracked to it.
Grass widows were abundant along the lower sections of this hike.
The power lines were buzzing as we hiked under them.
The trail going up on the western side of the loop is steeper than the descent on the other side, and it alternates between open grassy sections and wooded sections.
Still going up!
Mount Hood comes into view near the top of the loop.
We stopped here at this rustic bench for lunch with a view.
Wildflowers were much more abundant on this side of the loop.
We were back at the trailhead soon after crossing this bridge.
