This shuttle hike on the Wilson River Trail begins at the Jones Creek trailhead and ends at the Kings Mountain trailhead. Along the way, travel through dense forest filled with moss and ferns. Highlights including Lester Creek Falls and views of the Coast Range mountains.

distance: 7.2 miles (shuttle hike)
elevation gain: 1,800 ft.
difficulty: moderate
drive time from Portland: 1 hour
parking pass: none
hike description: OregonHikers.org – Wilson River Trail (see sections 2 & 3, which we did in the opposite direction)

Trail Map

The Hike

For our second section hike on the Wilson River Trail, we left cars at the Kings Mountain trailhead, then drove to Jones Creek to begin our hike. The trail begins at the west side of the road near the day use area and immediately enters a forest filled with mossy green trees and ferns.

The first segment of trail to the Diamond Creek trailhead heads up, then down and crosses a road twice before reaching the off-road vehicle parking area. At a trail junction just before this, take the trail on the right for views of Lester Creek Falls.

Cross the arch bridge over the Wilson River to continue on the trail.

There are several small creeks to cross, but none are difficult.

On the side of a ridge, there are several nice views of the Oregon Coast Range. We stopped at a viewpoint of the Lester Creek Pinnacles for a lunch break before finishing the hike at the Kings Mountain trailhead.