Drift Creek Falls

This weekend my mom came to visit! So naturally I forced her to go hiking with me! Now, here's the thing... my mother isn't much of a hiker. Her idea of hiking is driving through the woods... in the car. haha.  So I made sure it was a bit of an easier hike for her, while I strapped on a 20lb backpack to make it a little more difficult for me.

We headed over to the Lincoln City area to Drift Creek Falls. I have hiked this before but it has been 2.5 years since.  Finding the hike was easy enough. The hike itself was pretty good terrain. This hike goes down to Drift Creek falls and its downhill the way there, which means inevitably you must trek back up a bit to get back to the car.

I had remembered reading in one of my hiking books that there was another trail, like a scenic tour split off, that would add another half a mile to the hike and a little more elevation. What we didn't realize while hiking was that we missed the turnoff for this trail. We ended up hiking until we got to the exit of the trail as it meets back to the main trail. So what did we do? We took the trail thinking it was the first turnoff.  So we trekked uphill for half a mile only to meet back to the main trail closer to where we started hiking originally. Oh well! It added another half mile to our trip!

Back on the main trail, you will come to an area on your left, a divett off the trail, with small access to the creek and a nice resting log. Follow the main trail and you will come to the suspension bridge! And its not one of those tightrope type suspension bridges, so don't let that scare you away!

On the suspension bridge you'll be above the falls with a spectacular view! Go down the trail after the bridge just a little ways and it will end at the bottom of the falls!

Great little hike on the coast! We had lunch and hit the outlet mall afterward in Lincoln City!

• Date of hike: August 2nd, 2014
• Distance: 4 miles roundtrip

• Elevation gain: 800 feet

• Difficulty: Easy
• Miles thus far: 129/200 miles this year

 If you would like an extra half mile, THIS is the left path you take!

 Nice little rest area by the creek

 The suspension bridge was built dedicated to Scott Paul, who was a forest service builder and died in an accident during the construction of the bridge. Its thought that the trail was build just after the bridge, just to show off the bridge!

 See! A total, non-scary, type suspension bridge!

 The beautiful Drift Creek Falls