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Past Activity

Kentucky Falls with shuttle

  • Start date: 09/28/2024

  • Start time: 8:00 AM

Description:

The Kentucky Falls trailhead, 60 miles west of Eugene in the Coast Range, connects to the North Fork Smith River trailhead by an 8.5 mile downhill trail along Kentucky Creek and the North Fork Smith River. Two gorgeous waterfalls and old growth forest are the attractions here, as well as some fine swimming holes if the weather is warm enough. The trail becomes rather narrow and overgrown in the middle of the route. We will do a car shuttle on a paved road about 12 miles long. This road is paved, but the route to the trailhead from highway 126 is steep and in some spots rough, so high clearance vehicles will be desirable.

  • Event Leader: Gordon Sayre

  • Event Leader Phone: 541-515-9450

  • Event Leader Email: gsayre@uoregon.edu

  • Assistant Leader:

  • Event category: Trips

  • Area Type: Mountain

  • Departure Location: Eugene Target, W11th, parking lot closest to W11th

  • Rating: Moderate

  • Roundtrip total drive miles: 120

  • Season: 2024

  • Permits Required:

  • Event Status: Passed

  • Supplies and Equipment Required: sturdy hiking shoes, lunch, long pants for brushy trails, water shoes if weather is warm.

  • participant prerequisites:

  • Conditions:

  • Total Distance: 8.7

  • Member Fees: —

  • Elevation Gain: 1400 foot descent

  • Non-Member Fees: 5

  • Committee: Trips

  • Junior member fees: —

Trip Report

A cool sunny day in the coast range was perfect for this hike, although too brisk to swim in the large pool that Sullivan\'s guide describes. The full trail is 9.5 miles or a bit more, and it required more than 5 1/2 for us to complete it. The car shuttle is easy on a one-lane paved road. Several new wooden bridges, and repetitive trail signs showed the USFS has done a lot of work to develop this trail, but some sections are narrow, or are collapsing on steep slopes. Gorgeous old-growth forest with cedars and very tall Douglas firs. We also found lots of mushrooms; lobster and chanterelle.

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