hike: Wilson River Trail – Elk Creek to Idiot Creek Road
This section of the Wilson River Trail in Oregon’s Coast Range goes from the Elk Creek trailhead to the Idiot Creek trailhead.
distance: 7.4 miles (out and back)
elevation gain: 1,370 ft.
difficulty: moderate
drive time from Portland: 1 hour
parking pass: none
hike description: OregonHikers.org – Wilson River Trail Traverse (see the Further Explorations section)
Trail Map
The Hike
The final leg of our journey to complete all of the sections of the Wilson River Trail, we started at the Elk Creek trailhead for an out and back hike to the Idiot Creek trailhead. This hike can also be done as a shuttle, but it would require a longer drive on forest roads to the Idiot Creek trailhead.
We timed this section for when the bridge is in place over Elk Creek. This year, it wasn’t put into place until sometime in late June or early July.
The trail switchbacks up to Idiot Creek on an easy tread through coastal forest filled with ferns.
Interesting lichens on rocks next to the trail.
About two-thirds of the way up, we took a short side trail to big views of the Coast Range.
Once we reached the Idiot Creek trailhead, we continued a short distance on the road to a large opening with views.
Heading back to Elk Creek
