The Forest Service's first full-service campground was established where the fish hatchery now is, and soon thousands of people could enjoy areas that were impossible to traverse otherwise. In many sections, workers used dynamite to blast the trail out of cliff faces. The East Side Progressive Businessman's Club of Portland was behind some of the funding, with the total construction cost put at $18,600. It was begun in 1915 as part of the work on the Historic Columbia River Highway. Maybe as impressive as the trail itself is the story of how it was built. The blackened snags and scorched trunks of conifers stand out on the steep hillsides above the Eagle Creek gorge. That lush forest canopy has completely burned off in places, and an understory of sun-loving shrubbery has grown up along much of the lower section of the trail. The 2017 Eagle Creek Fire has scarred the landscape, however, although the trail, reopened in 2021 after much painstaking labor by the PCTA (Pacific Crest Trail Association), is fully intact. The Eagle Creek Trail is the quintessential hike in the Columbia River Gorge, boasting several spectacular waterfalls, tall basalt cliffs, and the lush temperate rain forests that so characterize the Pacific Northwest. Note that the name of the waterfall is correctly spelled as two words, i.e. The Eagle Creek to Punch Bowl Falls hike is one of the shorter options for taking in the beauty of the Columbia River Gorge and perhaps is the most popular, taking in three of the 10 major waterfalls to be seen along the creek and its tributaries. There is a steep cliff to one side of the trail in several sections. Be careful with dogs or small children on the Eagle Creek Trail.
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