The first weekend of June found Rebecca and I camping in Northeast Oregon. Rebecca is familiar with this area and wanted to share with me a place that she had camped at with her kids a few years ago. We left home on a warm and sunny day and headed southwards to Enterprise, OR. Once in Enterprise, we grabbed some snacks and firewood for camp and then headed south again towards Joseph, OR on OR Hwy 82. We turned right onto Hurricane Creek Road and followed that for 7 miles to Hurricane Creek Campground. The road did turn to gravel several miles from the campground, but it was a decent enough road. With a little care, I think that even low clearance vehicles can manage the potholes and rocks in order to arrive with no damage. The forest service advises that the road to the campground is not suitable for low clearance trailers or RV’s. There are not many places to turn around a vehicle much larger than truck inside the campground either, so camping closer to the trailhead might be advisable if taking an RV or trailer.

With camp set up, we explored the campground a bit more. Two of the sites were not available because of flood damage to the sites. There are 14 sites available on a first-come, first-served basis. The sites are spaced enough to provide a little privacy, but not necessarily far enough apart to prevent you from hearing those particularly loud neighbors who treat the woods as if they are their own private homes (you know the ones). Amenities at the campground include fire pits and tables at every site along with 3 sites that are handicap accessible and a vault toilet that is accessible. There are two other vault toilets in the campground, so no one is really far from a bathroom, no matter where you camp at. There were a few little trails that broke off from campsites, but they mostly went to Hurricane Creek or off into the woods just a little ways. Cost for an overnight stay is $10 and there is no garbage service, so you will have to pack out your own waste.

After exploring the campground a little, we returned to our campsite. Fire at hand, we made some honey ginger tea and sat around chatting until after dark. Relaxed and tired, we went to sleep. With the roar of the creek in the background, it was fairly easy to sleep. We rested well and awoke at a not so early 9 in the morning. We broke camp after eating some pancakes and headed up the road to the next part of our adventure: hiking up to Falls Creek and the waterfall for which it was (probably) named?

The trailhead for the hike is roughly half a mile from the campground. The big attraction here is the Hurricane Creek Trail, #1807. This trail appears to follow in close proximity to Hurricane Creek all the way to its’ source. From there, you can follow a few other trails and hike to the Eagle Cap summit. We hiked a much shorter hike than the length that would be required to reach Eagle Cap. It is roughly 1 mile round trip to Falls Creek Falls, and this is the hike that we embarked upon. The trail to the falls is narrow, but quite easy to see. Once we made it to the creek, we traversed rock and water to reach the base of the waterfall. It was a pretty decent fall while we were there, and the roar of the water made conversation a little more difficult than usual.

Overall, this was a fun morning hike. It was with a heavy heart that we left the area early due to my need to take it easy still. The forest was nice and shady. There were a tremendous amount of wildflowers present as we hiked along. Both creeks flowed with clean, clear water. It was a great experience and we look forward to returning when I can hike more. Perhaps we will make it up to Mirror Lake to get an iconic photo of Eagle Cap framed within its’ shores. Definitely going back to this area for more camping and hiking.

The hike requires either a $5 fee or one of the passes listed here.
For official information from the Forest Service for the Hurricane Creek Trailhead: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/wallowa-whitman/recarea/?recid=51485
and for the camground: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/wallowa-whitman/recreation/recarea/?recid=51483

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