4.8 miles
750 feet elevation gain
A good waterfall hike for those who want a little more oomph but nothing too tough.
You can start this hike at Oneonta Trailhead, but that's for boring people with no friends. Real men start it at Horsetail falls and get the extra 2 waterfalls + viewpoint out of it. You also get slightly more of a workout. The Oneonta trail doesn't offer much but a slightly shorter path.
You start up the 1/4 mile hill from the base of Horsetail, do the switchback thing, then you are at the top quickly and behind Ponytail falls.
The trail can never decide if it wants to stay flat or go up the entire way to Triple falls. You alternate between nice flat sections and moderate uphills, but never is the trail too steep. After passing Ponytail you wander on a flat section for a while, come to a nice overlook, and take in the last views of the gorge before you plunge upstream.
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| Viewpoint past Ponytail looking East, Beacon Rock and Hamilton Mtn seen on the left side |
After some more flat walking you come to a downhill across Oneonta creek at middle Oneonta falls. Cross the bridge one by one since it's a feeble bridge, then go uphill to the junction with the Oneonta trail that the lame people take. From here, turn left and go up along the creek ridge. Then you level out. Then you go up. Then you level out, then you go up. Eventually you come around a corner after a slight downhill and you are rewarded with Triple falls.
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| Triple falls |
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| The woods nearby |
Triple falls is a lot bigger and more impressive in person than pictures make it look, but due to how the stream flows you can't really get a good scale picture. You can wander past Triple falls to the bridge over the creek behind it for a nice look downstream. The trail continues upstream from here and it's really nice and isolated, but unless you are headed all the way to Larch Mountain there isn't anything else to do or see past Triple, so go it's time to go back. I hear this hike is great in Autumn, so I'll have to report back on that one.
The day we did this, we also decided to drive up the road to Larch Mountain and take in the views from Sherrard Point. It was a beautiful day.
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| Mt. Hood |
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| Little Giants guy |
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| One of the best pictures I've taken of Mt Hood. |
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| Hood |
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| Mt St. Helens to the north |
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| Mt. Adams to the Northeast |
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