Dry Creek Falls

 

Dry Creek Falls is a popular weekend getaway destination near Portland. Dry Creek Falls hiking trail is only about 2.5 miles long with little elevation gain. The trail head is located about an hour East of Portland and easily accessible by car. The parking area by the trail head has space for about 15 cars, but people can always park just a little further along the street.

We left Portland around 7:30AM in the morning and got to the trail head around 8:30AM in the morning. There were only 2 cars there when we arrived and plenty of parking space available. The hiking trail to Dry Creek Falls is along Pacific Crest Trail. The first part of the trail was a bit muddy but the trail was very well maintained.

After about 50 minutes, we got to the junction that intersects with another trail that leads to Dry Creek Falls. There was a wooden bridge that leads Pacific Crest Trail further, but the sign indicated that the way to Dry Creek Falls is on the right side. So don't cross the wooden bridge if you are heading to Dry Creek Falls.

When we got to Cry Creek Falls, the waterfall was taller than we thought with lot of water pouring down. There were also 2 dogs running around by the waterfalls, it was a great scenery. There was a concrete bridge built to allow people to walk across the stream of water to the other side. It was interesting that such concrete bridge was built. Not really sure what the initial purpose was.

We stayed by the waterfalls for quite a while to enjoy it. As we headed back down, there was a lot of people coming up. We were glad to have arrived early to avoid the crowd and enjoyed our own time by the waterfalls.

When we got back to the parking lot, we were surprised that the parking lot was not fall. We were not sure where people parked their car. Overall, Dry Creek Falls is a great trail to start the hiking season and getting our muscles ready for the future hikes in the year.

Cape Lookout State Park

 

Cape Lookout State Park is located on the West coast of Oregon. It is about 1.5 hours West of Portland. The park itself surround the Netarts Bay and many people come here to enjoy a nice picnic on a sunny day. There are also many camping spots in the park. The day use fee of the park is $5 and unfortunately Northwest Pass is not valid for Cape Lookout State Park.

We got to Cape Lookout State Park around 11AM in the morning. The day use parking space was huge. It can probably fit over 200 cars. But when we got there, there were only like 10 cars there and many of them actually just arrived. We looked at the map and noticed that many trails were closed. It was really unfortunate. Thus instead of hiking to the Cape Lookout, we went for a walk on the beach.

As we headed down the beach, we saw a guy gliding down with its para glider. It was quite cool. He said he came down from the cape. We wished that we came earlier to see him jump off the cape.

We then walked towards North to Netarts Bay. As we go further, the tide was coming in fast and rising. The sea water was getting really close to us and we often had to step onto the rocks to avoid getting our feet in the ocean. It was a fun experience nonetheless. We also saw a few dogs running around enjoying the ocean.

As we walked further, the tide was getting really high. If we continued to proceed further, we were afraid that we may not be able to make it back if the tide rise higher. Thus we headed back early.

When we got back, there were more and more people arriving. Many had picnic chairs and tables ready to enjoy a nice lunch by the ocean. 

Cape Lookout State Park is quite a nice place for family to enjoy. It offers many picnic spot for people and the sandy beach is a great place for family to have fun at.