Highlights
Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous
Distance: 9 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: 900 feet
Season: Late spring to late fall
Notes: A parking fee or permit is required at the trailhead.
About this Hike
Tourists tend to pass by this easily accessible hike, making it a favorite for locals trying to escape summer heat. It’s also one of the first trails in the area to open up in spring. The trail follows the proposed Bear Creek Wild & Scenic River, which – along with its tributaries – is part of an important wildlife corridor home to rare wildlife including wolverine, wolves, and perhaps even a remnant population of Mountain Quail. Bear Creek was once the water source for the town of Wallowa.
From the trailhead, you’ll cross Bear Creek on a well-maintained bridge about a quarter mile up the trail. There are nice bluffs, wildflowers, and flowering trees as you make your way. At 1.5 miles, you’ll cross Baker Gulch and enter the Eagles Cap Wilderness at 3.3 miles. Stay on the main trail always following Bear Creek. There are good campsites after the Goat Creek Bridge as well as some nice fishing spots. At 4.3 miles you’ll find the side trail to the Bear Creek Guard Station on your right. Pass an outhouse before coming to the cabin, which, though not open to the public, has a nice porch and some great meadow camping spots.
Continue down the trail for a longer hike, or return to your car.
Getting There
From Enterprise, follow Hwy 82 west. As Highway 82 takes a sharp turn at Goebels Service station in the town of Wallowa, follow signs to Bear Creek Road. Take a left at the sign to Bear Creek. Follow this winding road into the National Forest about 8 miles. Stay straight/right at the only – and sometimes unsigned – major intersection after the road becomes gravel. Approximately one mile later on Forest Road 040, you’ll find the inviting Bear Creek Campground. The trailhead is the end of the road at the far end of the campground.
Take Action
Large extensions of roadless forests lie around the edge of the Eagle Cap Wilderness, including along this trail. Take action here to defend the Roadless Rule, and support additional protections for Bear Creek by becoming a citizen co-sponsor of the River Democracy Act here.
