Solitude & Dickey Creek Trail
Many or most of us head for the wilderness to seek a little solitude. I know that's the case with me. Back when I actually had time on my hands I’d head out alone for a week or more and do my best to avoid other people. I’m not anti-social but I do think that there’s something to be gained by spending time with ones thoughts. Of course it doesn’t hurt to have a good dog around.
As the back country around Portland has become more crowded I had to find new ways to find solitude. Snowshoeing is very good since trails aren’t important and underbrush is buried. Hiking during poor weather is another way to spend some time alone. But what if you want a really nice trail, on a nice day, but would at least like to have a chance to feel alone?
On a perfect hiking day on September weekend I found such a place. Since not many people see this web page I feel ok about mentioning it here. The place is in the Bull of the Woods wilderness above Estacada. Some of the trails in this area are heavily used but there’s at least one that’s not. It passes through miles of low to mid elevation old growth, has plenty of water, beautiful views, and more. The trail isn’t perfectly maintained but it’s a good, useable trail. The occasional blow-down probably helps to reduce the number of hikers but perhaps the biggest obstacle is the initial steep descent to the valley floor. When you’re scrambling down you can’t help but think that what goes down must come up. But really, it’s not at all that bad despite some comments in the log book at the trailhead.
This is the Dickey Creek trail. As mentioned it makes a quick descent right at the start. My guess is that it drops a few hundred feet and in places it’s fairly steep with not the best footing. But once you reach the bottom the trail becomes a normal Northwest forest trail. I mentioned blow-down. It seems that the Forest Service has opted for a sort of benign maintenance for this trail. If the blow down can be walked around, over or under it’s left in place. If it’s a hazard or truly blocks the trail it’s removed or cut back. (This work may be being done by volunteers. I don’t know for sure.) In any case, after crossing Dickey Creek itself, there’s some sneaky blow-down that sort of obscures the trail a bit. This adds to the fun. And there’s one spot where the trail appears to end in a creek bed. If you look upstream you can’t see where the trail continues, but it does.
About 5 miles in there’s Big Slide Lake below a mountain of the same name. This is a pretty spot, with a little island, and a nice view. There are campsites here and from here you can day hike to the top of the mountain or over to the Bull of the Woods lookout. There’s also at least one campsite at the Dickey Creek crossing.
The trail register shows many entries but over a long span of time. When I went in there was one truck in the parking lot and I met this guy coming out. I hiked for over 10 miles and spent 7 hours there and didn’t see anyone else. The trail was immaculately clean. The register mentioned 2 bear sightings and 1 cougar sighting within the past month. If I was a bear or a cougar I’d like to live in the area for sure.
In the summer this place would be loaded with mosquitoes I suspect. There are a few small lakes and ponds that are nearing the end of their lives and are probably great breeding grounds for mosquitoes. But during the shoulder seasons this is a really nice Northwest hike with the bonus of solitude.
Some small Dickey Creek photos