Coyote Wall is an extremely popular hiking trail on the North side of Columbia Gorge in Washington State. It is so popular because it can also be used by mountain bikers with side variety of terrains to traverse through. From Portland, it takes about 2 hours to drive to the trail head and the trail does not require any permit. The trails goes from the parking lot all the way up to the rocky hill above it with a distance of about 3 miles one way.
During this beautiful sunny March Saturday, we headed to Coyote Wall with hope to see some wild flowers. We left Portland around 7AM and got to the trail head around 9AM. Instead of taking I-84 on the Oregon side and then cross Columbia Gorge via Bridge of God, we took Highway 40 on the Washington side. It is a bit slower taking Highway 40 but it avoids the toll route.
When we got to the trail head, the parking lot was already full. So many people were here already. We had to park on the side of the road like many other people. Luckily, we did not have to park the car far and it was still within the walking distance to the trail head.
The trail head has 1 restroom for people to use. However, due to the amount of people there, there was a super long line waiting to use the restroom.
We started the hike around 9:30AM walking upwards. Many bikers were on the trail but they would slow down when they see hikers on the trail. We usually step aside to allow them to pass through first. Basically sharing the trail.
The trail also has many different routes for people to take but all of them eventually lead upwards to the top of the hill.
The trail was not difficult at all with limited elevation gain. The steeper part is after about 2 miles in. The trail starts to incline at a steeper angle, but it was not difficult either and totally doable for people of all ages.
From the top of the Coyote Wall, we could see the snow capped Mount Hood on the far side. It was such a beautiful day and Mount Hood looked like a ice cone. There were few trail paths that go near the cliff side, it was a bit scary to walk along these paths since it was very close to the cliff wall. Just be very careful when walking along the cliffs.
Overall, the trail was well maintained and dry. We had no problem sharing the path with bikers and finished the whole trail within 3 hours. There were also many people with their lovely pet dogs. Some dogs were unleashed but still well behaved. This is a highly recommend trail for wild flower viewing as well later in the season of May.
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