Chickoon Creek
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| | Raps:6, max ↨200ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:Passenger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Best season: | Jul-Sep (avg for this region)
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46.1468, -121.8722
46.1447, -121.8955
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Introduction[edit]
Chickoon is a sizeable tributary of the Lewis River entering just downstream of Lower Lewis Falls. A pleasant outing, but not quite as dramatic or action-packed as other destinations in the Lewis River area. Chickoon does, however, sport some interesting geology.
Approach[edit]
Park on the north side of the bridge crossing the Lewis River just west of Lower Lewis Falls. There's a pullout with room for 4-5 vehicles. This is the same trailhead for Cussed Hollow.
From the cars, walk south across the bridge. On the south side of the river, look carefully on the left for a trail. Follow the trail up the bank a short distance before it abruptly turns and drops back down into the drainage of Crab Creek. There is an old pipe system here. Cross the creek and follow a game trail up onto the ridge on the far side. Head up-slope wherever is easiest. Just ahead is the steepest part of the approach; make your way through weaknesses in several short cliff bands. Gain 250ft before the terrain starts to mellow out again. Keep going until you reach an old road grade about 2100ft. Follow it left / northeast. Pass an old junction and continue straight. After 0.6mi past the junction (~2450ft elevation), break off the road and bushwhack down forested slopes enter Chickoon.
- USGS shows a trail in the area, but we found no sign of it.
Descent[edit]
- 8ft drop on the creek. Can downclimb / slide DCR into a deep pool. Possible shallow jump. Or bypass DCL. This is the checkpoint.
Continue downstream through some nice sections of bedrock. The creek narrows up for a mandatory pool or two.
- R1: 20ft. A giant truck-sized boulder is wedged in the drop; the water was all pouring down one side and the other had dry channel. Deep pool at the bottom and some interesting water features. Another short downclimb immediately below into a second pool.
- R2: 18ft drop. Anchor on a log. (Or bypass DCR?)
• 15ft drop on the creek with two big old growth logs wedged across it and the water flowing down underneath. Downclimb slippery rocks DCR.
Pass through another nice area of basalt bedrock. Ahead around the corner is:
- R3-R4: Ahead is a 250ft+ low angle ramp. Anchored tree DCR at the top. Run a 200ft rope all the way out and anchor on a second tree DCR to reach the bottom. Might be able to bypass, but rappelling is more fun.
- R5: two stage: 25ft, then a horizontal section around a boulder, then down again another 15ft.
- 10ft drop. Rappel or downclimb DCL. Another long stretch of bedrock leads to the last rappel of the canyon:
- R6: Chickoon Creek Falls. 92ft. Anchored off a tree DCL. A lot of recent rockfall was observed at the bottom of the canyon. This concludes the technical section of the canyon.
Exit[edit]
Keep going downstream for 5-10min to the confluence with the Lewis River. Reportedly, it is possible to traverse the shore and forested slopes on the south side to head back to the bridge, but in the late season it’s easier to just wade across the Lewis River and thrash up the slope on the far side to gain the Lewis River Trail. Turn left and follow the nicely maintained trail 1mi back to your car. Nice old growth trees along the way.
Red tape[edit]
Starting in 2021: between June 15 and Sept 30, a permit is required to park along a 14mi stretch of FR 90. Parking in this area is limited to one of six different recreational sites. Permits are available from recreation.gov.
- Map of the restricted parking area: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd910851.pdf
- The best parking area for Chickoon is Crab Creek. (Parking at the Lower Falls will also require a NW Forest Pass.)
Beta sites[edit]
Trip reports and media[edit]
Background[edit]
Creek was first descended by Keith Campbell and Kevin Clark in September 2016.
