Big Huckleberry Creek
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| | Raps:4-5, max ↨150ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:Required 20 min Vehicle:High Clearance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 4 May 2024
"Water was a little lower than expected with all the rain but it was at a nice level. All anchors are in good shape. There is a bit of a creek walk out |
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| Best season: | Mar-Jun
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45.8643, -121.8040
45.8674, -121.8263
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Introduction[edit]
An unassuming, overlooked creek in the proximity of the popular Panther Creek Falls in Gifford Pinchot National Forest. While it doesn't sport many rappels, Big Huckleberry is a beautiful canyon and an enjoyable day out. Best in the spring when the creek has good water. It's more fun than the nearby Eightmile Creek.
- Checkpoint: From the Panther Creek Falls parking area (old quarry) walk east up FR-65 for two minutes to where it crosses Big Huckleberry Creek. This is the exit.
- Watershed: 1.92mi^2.
Approach[edit]
Drop a car at the bottom and shuttle up to the top. High clearance best per a couple rough spots. In 2023, the last mile or so was a bit brushy, so we parked at about 45.85707, -121.82293 and hiked in rather than risk pin-striping. (This will add +1mi (20min) to the approach, but it's almost completely flat.) If you can get through, there are pullouts for a few cars just before and after the creek.
Follow the ridge on the east side of the creek and drop in at about 45.86750, -121.80825. This is just above a nice, narrow section of the creek. There's a nice section of bedrock with a few minor downclimbs. Some drops look like mini-slides, but scout them first. Not far ahead is R1.
You can drop into the creek right at the road, but it's not worth it. Few cascades to downclimb and some minor water features, but lots of brush and Devil's Club. Not recommended.
Descent[edit]
- R1: 50ft old rootball DCL.
Ahead Big Huckleberry Creek plunges into an amphitheater and another tributary of equal size - and another waterfall - enters from the east. For extra bonus points, set a rim rope ahead of time. You can run the falls, then ascend back up, bushwhack over to the tributary and run that waterfall too.
- R2: 100ft tree DCL. Very photogenic falls.
- Bonus rappel on the east tributary: Falls is about 60ft high, but need about 150ft SRT to get down per the horizontal distance. Anchor is a tree set well back DCR.
Note that the flow downstream of R2 will double. Continue downstream. There's some interesting bedrock areas and one spot which, in high flow, can be a fun 50ft long "bobsled run." Eventually, enter another area of bedrock that kicks off with a short slide into a deep narrow pool. This bedrock area leads to R3.
- R3: 45ft. Anchor on a tree DCL. (In high water, rappel from a tree far DCL. You may need to rig a traverse line to reach it.)
Continue downstream with occasional downclimbs and mini-slides to keep you on your toes. Very lush beautiful Pacific Northwest canyon. There is one mini-downclimb through a very short narrows which is fun.
- R4: 20ft from log DCL.
Exit[edit]
Keep going until the creek passes through a culvert under the road. Exit DCR. Walk west down the road to the Panther Creek trailhead (2 min).
Red tape[edit]
Please resist the temptation to run the nearby Panther Creek Falls while you're here. The area above and below Panther Creek Falls has been closed to entry since a woman fell to her death in 2018. Unlike other parts of the country, canyoning is not widely known or recognized in the Pacific Northwest. Individuals climbing, rappelling, or slack-lining around such "show waterfalls" are far more likely to garner negative reactions from the general public at large. Negative reactions can lead to complaints and more rules for canyoneers by the local authorities.
Beta sites[edit]
Trip reports and media[edit]
Background[edit]
First descended by Wade Hewitt, Kevin Clark, Andy Sorensen, Leah Sorensen, Emily Joy, and David Urbaniak in May 2021.
