Echo Basin hike offers some unique features

Here is a great little hike just off Highway 20. Although I've frequently driven by this trailhead, I had never before stopped to check it out. In fact, on average, I pass it about 20 times a year on my way to the coast or OSU Beaver football games. This is the Echo Basin Trail between Santiam and Tombstone Passes.

The Echo Basin Trail works its way up Echo Mountain to the headwaters of Echo Creek. A narrow, but good, gravel road trims two miles and several hundred vertical feet off the climb. Just before the trailhead, however, there is a gully in the road that could be hard on a low clearance vehicle. The trailhead is clearly marked by a sign on the right, but the parking area is little more than a wide spot in the road.

The trail follows a pair of abandoned logging cables up an old, overgrown logging road. The grade is steady but moderate. This dense, canopied, westside mixed forest was cool even on one of our hottest days last week; and the gurgling of Echo Creek makes it seem even cooler. There is a rich variety of trees, and many wildflowers are still blooming. One unexpected treat of the hike was the presence of a goodly number of old-growth Alaska yellow cedars.

Oregon tree guides say that the Alaska cedar is scarce in Oregon and found only on the western slopes of the Cascades. Also, the tree rarely occurs south of Mt. Jefferson, so its presence here is all the more unusual. There are some very big specimens on Echo Mountain, and they are easily recognizable by the shaggy appearance of the bark and needles. The needles are quite different in appearance from the other cedars we usually see in Oregon.

After about three fourths of a mile the trail splits, and the right fork crosses Echo Creek on a nice footbridge. We took the right fork, and the cedars begin to appear shortly afterward. On the day of our hike, crews from the Mendocino National Forest's Elk Mountain Hotshots were working to suppress a smoldering lightning-ignited blaze less than a mile to the northeast.

When the forest gives way to the open landscape of Echo Basin, the lush ground cover is a sharp contrast to that of the forest floor. In some areas, bracken ferns tower above head height and all but obscure the well-worn trail. At one point, the trail becomes very, very steep, but only for a short distance. Don't turn back now, because it's about the same distance back in either direction. The total vertical climb on this hike is about 600 feet.

This unique, boggy, horseshoe-shaped basin is carved out from the sides of Echo Mountain. At the apex of the trail, the entire soggy basin floor is alive with a myriad of tiny springs, which give birth to Echo Creek. Wooden boardwalks have been installed in the wettest portions. Still, there are some deep holes and hazards to be avoided where the vegetation has overgrown the trail, so be careful and watch your step.

The basin's meadow-bog is loaded with Indian paintbrush and many other wildflowers. We also saw red columbine, fireweed, asters, elderberry, wild celery, devil's club, and a host of other plant life. My favorite, however, was the salmonberry, and I plucked and ate about a pint of the tasty berries along the way.

Salmonberries are a compound, yellow or light-orange berry that resemble - in structure - a cross between a raspberry and Himalayan blackberry. The taste is kind of a blend between the two, as well.

After leaving the basin, the trail plunges back into the forest and returns to the same bridge crossing where the trail forked on the way up. The total hike is only about 2.5 miles; and, even at a very slow pace, it took us only an hour and forty minutes to complete the trip.

This hike is easily paired with the even shorter nearby Hackleman Old-growth Trail, so we did that one, too; but I'll save that story for another day. We also stopped for a picnic at the nearby Lost Prairie Campground.

To reach the Echo Basin turnoff, travel west from Sisters to the Santiam "Y" and turn left to stay on Highway 20. Travel another 3.5 miles and stay straight on Highway 20 at the Eugene turnoff. From there it's another 5.1 miles to the Echo Basin Road (Forest Road 055). There is no advance warning for this right turn except that it's almost immediately after the sign that announces the upcoming Hackleman turnoff (which is on the left a half-mile ahead). There were no signs requiring a Forest

Pass.