Drift Creek Falls Suspension Bridge
From Portland Hikers Field Guide
| This page is marked as a Closed Trail. Some or all of this hike has been closed by a governing body and hikers may be liable for fines or even arrest. The trail may be dangerous and hard to follow or it may cross areas with sensitive plant life or wildlife habitat. PortlandHikers.com does not endorse or recommend hiking this route. The information is presented for historical and possible future use only. |
- Hikes including this location:
- Drift Creek Falls Hike (TH | <-- --> | LOG)
- Latitude: 44.93235
- Longitude: -123.85176
- Maps: Portland Hikers Maps Google Earth
- Elevation: 630 feet
- Height: over 100 feet
- Length: 240 feet
Contents |
Description
The Drift Creek Falls Trail is closed due to fallen trees (observed 2007-12-29)
This trail bridge spans Drift Creek in the Oregon Coast Range. The 240 foot long bridge reaches from one wall to the canyon to the other, over 100 feet above the creek. The walkway surface is 3 feet wide. The bridge is supported by two 29 foot towers and anchored by bolts planted in rock on one side and in 29 cubic yards of concrete on the other. The bridge provides a view down to 80 foot Drift Creek Falls, as well us closeup views of the upper forest canopy.
The bridge is dedicated to the late Scott Paul, a trail builder with the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Mr. Paul was the construction foreman on the early Forest Service portion of the construction. He died in a tragic rigging accident during construction. The bridge was completed by Sahale, a firm that specializes in trail bridge construction. In our area, they also built the Lava Canyon Bridge and rebuilt a bridge on Wind River that accesses Shipperton Falls Fishway for personnel of the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.
From Sahale's website: "Drift Creek Bridge is unusual for light pedestrian suspension bridges in that it incorporates a quasi-stiffening truss in the deck. The bridge is anchored in rock on one side of the gorge and concrete deadmen are used on the other. Numerous design changes were made by Sahale during the process of construction, including changes to the anchor systems, tower configuration, truss assembly, wind cable connections, and railing system. Materials, including concrete, were mobilized to the site via helicopter, and the mainspan was erected from a skyline, more than 100 feet above the canyon floor."
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Drift Creek Falls Suspension Bridge
- Drift Creek Falls and Suspension Bridge 1-4-07
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Related Discussions / Q&A
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Guidebooks that cover this destination
- 60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Portland, by Paul Gerald
More Links
- Sahale, LLC
- Bridge details and photos
- Forest Service site
- Paul's book 60 Hikes within 60 miles of Portland
Contributors
- Stevefromdodge (creator)