Calendar

Past Activity

Brice Creek

  • Start date: 08/21/2021

  • Start time: 12:00 AM

  • End date: 08/21/2021

  • End time: 11:59 PM

Description:

We'll join Brice Creek trail at Cedar Creek Campground, and follow Brice Creek to Champion Creek, taking the Trestle Falls loop to Upper Trestle Falls on the way out. We'll turn around at Champion Creek for the return, taking the .6 mile loop diversion to Lower Trestle Creek Falls on the way back. On the way out we will scope out the swimming holes, and choose the best one for our swimming break on the way back - or maybe more than one!

This is an easy drive for any vehicle type. And yes - I encourage you to mask when sharing car space. Some of us have kids or work with kids, or have friends who do.

  • Event Leader: Carpenter Kathie

  • Assistant Leader:

  • Event category: Trips

  • Area Type: Mountain

  • Departure Location: South Eugene High School, 19th & Patterson

  • Rating: Difficult

  • Roundtrip total drive miles: 89

  • Season: 2021

  • Permits Required:

  • Event Status: Passed

  • Supplies and Equipment Required: Face mask for carpooling and something to swim in and/or dry off with. Lunch, water, the usual.

  • participant prerequisites:

  • Conditions:

  • Total Distance: 10.8

  • Member Fees: 1

  • Elevation Gain: 1880

  • Non-Member Fees: 5

  • Committee: Trips

  • Junior member fees: —

Trip Report

Brice Creek is a real treasure - it's an easy drive from Eugene, lushly landscaped with moss, ferns and spectacular big ol' trees, and it offers enough entry points and side trails that you can make your hike long or short, easy or challenging. (It can be crowded though.) We hiked southeast from Cedar Creek Campground in a lollypop-shaped path* that took us behind Upper Trestle Creek Falls down to Champion Creek, and back along Brice Creek for a bracing swim in a 43 degree pool.

The wildlife highlight was an amazing flash of blue that turned out to be a juvenile skink, and the lunch highlight was Mi's freshly picked cherry tomatoes. It was also fun to see numerous locals out panning for gold in the creek.

We were glad that we took the loop clockwise rather than counter clockwise as is usually recommended, because the Trestle Creek Falls trail from Brice Creek up to the falls was steep and heavily eroded in places, and would have been treacherous to descend. The portion of the trail from the falls to Champion Creek was much easier to go down.

The signage on these trails is pretty confusing (at least to me) so I recommend that you use a good map or app instead.


*Assuming lollypops are triangular

Members & Guests signed-up & waitlisted

  • Number of spots on trip: 10
  • Number of spots available: 2
No. Status Full name Phone Transportation Needed? Trip Fee # Can Take?
1 Signed-Up Carpenter, Kathie 541-505-2370 N 1
2 Signed-Up Sojak, Darko 541-799-9199 N 1
3 Signed-Up Ruzicka, Angie 541-521-6840 N 1
4 Signed-Up Jacobsen, Janet 541-206-1251 N 1
5 Signed-Up Randall, Kathy 541-844-5916 N 5
6 Signed-Up Zhao, Mi 206-369-3644 N 5
7 Signed-Up Parks, Linda 607-244-4194 N 1
8 Signed-Up Shapiro, Virginia 541-224-1597 N 5