Dog Creek
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| | Raps:6-8, max ↨60ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:Passenger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 23 Mar 2025
"Flow was very high so we hiked in and looked at R3-R6. We ran R5 and R6. R5 and R6 were both fine going DCL. The majority of the flow was in the middl |
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| Best season: | June-Aug
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45.7140, -121.6772
45.7355, -121.6802
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Introduction[edit]
Dog Creek is is another nice canyon destination in the Columbia Gorge. There are two primary objectives here:
1) Lower Dog Creek (3C III) - This page describes the recommended route and visits the best part of the canyon, doing an out & back from the bottom. This approach requires teams to be comfortable with some class 3-4 scrambling and/or setting safety lines for protection. A good creek for training and practice.
2) Upper Dog Creek (3C IV) - A full descent of Dog starting from the radio towers atop Cook Hill. This option is long and strenuous and takes most of a day. The upper drainage is wild, overgrown, seldom-visited, and rugged. This route is described on a separate page.
A number of other approaches to Dog have all been tried and none of them are good.
- The Meditation Pool sequence in the lower canyon can be extremely dangerous in high flow.
- The checkpoint is the last waterfall on Dog Creek which is about a 1min walk from the exit parking area.
- Water Catchment: 3.75mi^2.
Approach[edit]
The recommended route on Dog Creek is to do an out & back from the bottom. Hike up the creek bypassing all of the falls, then turn around whenever you like for a technical descent. Groups commonly turn around above the Meditation Pool sequence (R1). Pro: This approach allows all the falls to be scouted in advance. Con: Your team needs to be comfortable scrambling on, sometimes loose, class 3-4 terrain and route-finding. Consider setting up one or more safety lines for your team.
Hazards[edit]
- Poison oak. It's everywhere. You'll undoubtedly encounter it on slopes away from the water.
- Wildlife. Bears, yellowjackets and rattlesnakes have all been encountered in the lower creek.
- Tourists. The lower falls are frequently visited by non-canyoner hikers in late summer. You may encounter them climbing up and down Class 4 terrain with no ropes, no helmets, and wearing flipflops. It's a scary sight.
Descent[edit]
Note that the bypass descriptions are from the POV of going downstream.
The Meditation Pool[edit]
Most canyon teams will come up the canyon from below, bypassing all of the falls, and turn around here to start their descent.
The creek narrows up and plunges over two drops into a deep pool. This section of narrows can be dangerous in high water. A hydraulic and strong current may be present. Historically, the Meditation Pool has been rather abused by day hikers. Please remove any fixed ropes or other installations you find here. There's still some hardware and other junk affixed to the canyon walls. Ropes are unnecessary to play in the pool or bypass this falls.
- R1a: 10ft from single bolt DCL.
- R1b: 30ft of vertical height down a chute into the Meditation Pool. Rappel required: approximately 50ft from bolt station DCL per the horizontal distance. At the bottom of the chute, look carefully DCR (rappeller's left) to spot a narrow ledge just out of the flow and above the pool. This is a good place to set the length. [1] Video of the bottom of his rappel in high flow. This rappel is the signature photo of this page.
Bypass: From the top of the falls, backtrack up-canyon 100ft, then thrash out DCL. There's an animal trail if you can find it. Head up through the poison oak and traverse the rim, until you find a place to rappel back in downstream of the falls. Alternately, downclimb a dirty gulley (class 3-4).
Lower Narrows[edit]
Below R1 the drops come in quick succession.
- R2: 20ft. Bypass: downclimb a gully DCL.
- R3: 20ft. Bypass: downclimb slippery slope DCR.
- R4: 20ft. Bypass on trail DCL. There are a couple manky bolts in the DCL wall which can be used for a handline if needed.
- R5: Fan Falls: 25ft. Bypass on a trail starting DCL near the top of R4.
- R6: 50ft from single bolt in the canyon wall DCR. Bypass: dirty trail DCL.
- 15ft two-tier jumbly drop. Usually skipped. Bypass on dirty trail DCL.
- R7: 35ft. Beware a pinch DCR side of the falls where a rope can get stuck. Bypass: Circle around the rock formation DCR and downclimb (class 3-4) to the top of R8. There is another old dubious bolt at the top this downclimb.
- R8: Dog Creek Falls: 60ft from an unlinked bolt station atop a boulder DCL. Location of the anchor allows you to rappel in or out of the flow depending on preference. Visitors may be present in the pool below, so beware throwing your rope. Bypass: Go 20ft DCR along the edge and downclimb (class 4). A small tree marks the top of the downclimb. Using this tree for an anchor is not recommended as it has a rotten core.
Exit[edit]
Walk back to your car at the trailhead.
Red tape[edit]
None. Please help keep the canyon clean and remove any trash or fixed ropes you might find. Thanks!
Beta sites[edit]
CanyoneeringNorthwest.com (archive.org) : Dog Creek- HikeArizona.com : Dog Creek Falls
- Super Amazing Map : Dog Creek
Trip reports and media[edit]
- Quadcopter flying over Dog Creek narrows
Background[edit]
Dog Creek has seen human visitation going back many years. Look for the remnants of a couple of old concrete dams and pipe works at the top of R7. The lower one has an interesting cave-like space underneath it.
