Gales Creek & Step Creek Loop Hike – Oregon Coast Range
Located in Oregon’s Coast Range, the Step Creek Loop is an easy hike that’s great for a cloudy or rainy day.
distance: 5.5 miles (roundtrip)
elevation: 600 ft. gain/loss
difficulty: easy
best season: fall, winter, spring
drive time from Portland: 1 hour
parking pass: none needed
hike description: OregonHikers – Step Creek Loop
The Hike
This loop hike begins at the North Gales Creek trailhead, located near the town of Timber just south of Highway 26 at a large parking lot just past Reehers Camp. Several trails are accessed via this trailhead, including the Step Creek Trail, the Triple C Loop, and the Gales Creek Trail, which heads south for 10 miles to the South Gales Creek Trail located off Highway 6. This trail is open to horses, hikers, and mountain bikers.
To reach the Step Creek Trail section, follow the North Gales Creek Trail for one mile. From the trailhead, the trail descends on an old road bed, then turns and travels next to the Nehalem River for a short distance before reaching Cochran Road.
At the road, turn left and cross the river on a bridge, then return to the trail on the other side at a sign for the Gales Creek Trail. Across the road is another short loop, the Triple C Trail, but for this hike, continue on the Gales Creek Trail.
The trail picks up on the other side of the bridge near a logging gate and a former clearcut.
On this day, we saw many different types of mushrooms next to the trail.
Tillamook State Forest trails have the best bridges… every creek crossing on this hike is via a large bridge like this one.
I wasn’t expecting to see much fall color in the Coast Range, but the forest here is filled with lots of vine maples in the understory that turn shades of yellow and orange in the fall. And mushrooms were everywhere! So many mushrooms.
The trail crosses over the old Tillamook Bay Railroad, now completely overgrown. This railroad used to travel through the Coast Range to Tillamook before storms in 2007 heavily damaged the route.
Cross a small road bed and continue on the trail a short distance to the right.
At one mile in, reach the start of the Step Creek Trail. The loop portion of this hike begins in another 0.25 miles.
When the trail splits for the loop, we took the trail to the right.
We were surprised to see so many mushrooms completely wrapped around the base of this old snag.
The Coast Range forest has a quiet beauty that I find soothing on a cloudy day.
Parts of the hike feel like a tunnel as you pass under vine maples arched over the trail.
Red alders and sword ferns lining this straight section of trail just before the end of the loop section.
Big Leaf Maple leaf (and me).
