Falls Creek

This is another great ride in the Mt. Saint Helens area.

There are three ways to do this ride. 1) shuttle where you park one car at Old Man Pass and the other at Falls Creek. 2) park at Falls Creek and ride the trail as an out and back and 3) Do it as a loop starting either from Falls Creek TH or Paradise Creek Campground.

From Old Man pass the trail starts on the opposite side of the road from the parking area. It starts off with nice swoopy section of trail that really brings out the smiles. It can be dusty late in the season and makes it hard to see. After that there is about a 4 mile climb not overly steep through old growth forest. After the climb there is a bit of road to the horse camp and then fun fast buff trail for the next 12 miles. The trail has a few short climbs here and there, but for most the trail heads downhill with very little pedal action needed. The trail goes by some Lava Tubes, nice water fall, some very old forests and sections of single track with small amounts of exposure. There is a little bit of everything on this ride.

NOTE: the percentage of single track to gravel/fire road to paved listed above is based on the total loop option of riding the paved road from somewhere near the bottom up to Old Man Pass and then the single track and fire roads down. The paved section is about a 7 mile climb. Leave the paved part out and the ride is about 17 miles of single track and fire roads/gravel with the a ratio of about 70/30 respectively. There are currently advocacy groups working with  the Forest Service to build additional single track to bypass some of the road sections.

How to Find It

I-5 to 503 East to Cougar. From Cougar 503 becomes the Lewis River Road which becomes FS Road #90.

Drive east on FR 90 to Curley Creek Road. The turnoff to Curley Creek Road is before the turnoff to the Lewis River trailhead. Turn right onto Curley Creek Road. Go up the road about 6 miles to FR 30. Turn right onto FR 30.

The Old Man Pass parking area is about 3 miles up the road on the right. This is where you will want to drop the bikes off, then park a car at the lower trail head.

To get to the lower trailhead continue on past the Old Man Pass parking area. Drive down the road keeping to the left when intersecting FR 64 Dry Creek Road. After driving about 12 miles from Old Man Pass look for FR 3062 on the left. If you get to the fish hatchery and the "T" intersection with road to Carson you have gone about a mile too far.

Turn left onto FR 3062. Drive about 2 miles along FR 3062 to the fork in the road. Take the left fork to the lower trailhead of trail #152, do not park at 152A.

Green Trails maps Lone Butte #365 and Wind River #397

Typical Conditions

Snow is usually gone by June and by August trail is very dusty

Local Points of Interest

Paradise Creek Camground is on road 30 between the upper and lower trailheads, and is an excellent place to camp. They have a pump with drinking water.

Turn by Turn

Begin at Old Man Pass on Forest Road (FR) 30 or get here by climbing up the road. Start on TR 151, which starts right at the highway next to the gravel road that accesses the kids sledding area. TR 151 is marked with a little blue diamond that guides xc skiers in the winter.

You'll start off with some nice singletrack that rolls along and has one short grunt of a climb (when you see the $ up in a tree, you've finished the nasty bit). The trail continues to gently climb up to McClellan Meadows.

You'll pop out on to a gravel road when you're done with TR 151. Turn right here and follow the road until it ends and TR 157, McClellan Meadows, begins.

TR 157 gently climbs until you get to a nice little campground (this CG was empty when most bigger campgrounds were full). You'll pop out onto the road for a few hundred yards, and then TR 152 Falls Creek starts in the campground.

Now the fun begins! TR 152 heads downhill and is smooth and buff. Follow the trail until it turns into a jeep road. At this point you'll see a big hole on your left which is where the lava caves are. See below for more info on how to find the cool parts of the caves. After the caves you'll cross a gravel road and continue downhill on nice singletrack.

You'll continue down TR 152 until it comes out at the intersection of FR 67 and another road. Continue straight across the road and take the primitive jeep road. The trail is unmarked at this point, but you follow this jeep route until it heads downhill and turns back into trail 152.

The trail will be singletrack for a short bit, then comes out onto another jeep road where you go left. Follow this doubletrack/jeep road for a while and then it will turn back into singletrack and you'll know you're on the right track.

After a nice bit of singletrack you'll come to the lower falls. Then you get into a nice section with some exposure and some serious fun. Ride the trail all the way down to the lower trailhead.