Name: Horsetail Creek Trail #425
Rating: 3.0

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Features Commonly Backpacked · River/Creek

This trail is in the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness and the usual federal wilderness area regulations and restrictions apply here. Practice Leave No Trace (LNT) backcountry skills and ethics. Camp 100 feet from fragile areas; bury human waste at least 200 feet from water, trails, and campsites. This trail is usually closed by snow between November and May.

Description

This 5.6-mile trail offers loop and shuttle opportunities with the Bell Creek and Nesmith Point trails.

This trail starts at its junction with the Oneonta Trail #424, about 3 miles from the Oneonta Trailhead. It immediately crosses Oneonta Creek which may not be fordable in the winter and spring (no bridge, look for a big log). Past the creek, the #425 climbs a very steep series of switchbacks for 2.3 miles before topping out on Latourell Prairie, at its junction with the Bell Creek Trail #459.

From this junction, the #425 proceeds northeast on the level along the rim of the Gorge, crossing two branches of Horsetail Creek along the way. There are small primitive campsites near each crossing. At 4.2 miles, the trail swings east past Yeon Mountain to end at Forest Road 222 (Nesmith Point Road) just south of Nesmith Point.

There is a limited view of the Gorge from the #424 between Yeon Mountain and Nesmith Point but much of this trail is a viewless journey through the forest.