Sweet Creek Falls Hike

A hike! Woo-hoo! We found a hike that sounded really great...about two miles along a rushing creek, easy,     little kids can do it, they said, a "great family hike"....It took us about a 45 minute drive to get there, but it was worth it, every bit! Take highway 126 out of Florence, towards Eugene. and Mapleton. Right after the bridge in Mapleton is Sweet Creek Road. Turn right and follow that road for about ten miles. There's a small paved parking lot on the right and a sign for the trailhead, to the Sweet Creek Falls.

We used our walking poles today....trail got a little narrow, a little rocky, a little bumpy underfoot with tree roots so we LOVE our walking poles. We went all the way to the end of the trail to the top of the waterfalls. There really are about 10 or 11 waterfalls along this hike in what appears to be a temperate rainforest. I read somewhere that this hike is through forest that is denser than the Amazon. It sure seemed like it....check out the photos!

When we got to the top of the trail, we decided to climb over the rail (tch! tch!) to get a better view of the falls at the top. You really couldn't see the main falls, all of it unless you peered over the rail or got on the other side of it. Well, Sparky just had to get a better look so we got a photo of me over the rail first, (bottom left corner) then Eldy. Rocks were moss covered and slippery but we were careful. In order to get back on the "safe" side of the observation area, we had to slide under the wooden rail. It looked like doing the limbo, so I caught Eldy going under it with the camera. When he saw I was catching him in the photo, he laughed his head off...

It was a beautiful day for a hike, cloudy and a little drizzle at first, then the sun came out and reflected off the rushing creek, creating sparkly rushing water vistas everywhere you looked. That's when the people started coming out to the trail as we left.....glad we went earlier in the day!  See you tomorrow!