Salmon River Trail Overnight

-Trail Name: Salmon River Hike

-Enter/Exit Point: Salmon River West Parking Lot

-Trail Type: In-and-out

-Difficulty Level: Moderate due to length and slick rocks and mud

-Distance: 3-10 miles depending on turn around point

-Elevation: 1000’ if you go the full 5 miles in and out

-Guide: https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Salmon_River_Hike

-Review: The Salmon River Trail was recommended to me at an Intro to Backpacking course I recently took at my local REI Store. Curious to see just how beginner friendly it was I packed a bag on Black Friday and hit the trail. The parking lot is just off the road a few miles off of Highway 26 near Welches Oregon. A Northwest Forest Pass is needed and I did see signs of broken glass so plan accordingly. Just before you cross a bridge over the Salmon River, the trail begins at a posted sign. There is a brief climb up above the river before things level out for the next few miles.

Less than a third of a mile in the campsites begin and are seen every half mile or so along the river. I did not take time to go down and explore any of the sites but I was surprised and just how spacious a lot of the sites seemed from the trail. You will cross several small streams as you hike along and these are great opportunities to filter water and top off your bottles if needed. All Trails and the Oregon Hikers Field Guide both put the turn around around point roughly 4 miles in at a mountain viewpoint. Sadly due to the clouds I did not get to see the views but I can’t imagine the views would be that much better than the views at the 3 mile point mountain view. I decided to hike roughly 5 miles in before stopping at the Goat Creek Camp for lunch. There were lots of campsites here with very easy water access.

I enjoyed a warm meal and beverage before packing up and heading out the way I had come in. The next few miles were mostly down hill from the view points which made it easy to pick up the pace. About 2 miles from the trailhead the campsites began to appear frequently again. From my perspective on the trail the best of the sites seemed to be roughly 1.5 miles from the trailhead. It had multiple large sites with easy water access. I ended up taking a site roughly .5 miles from the trailhead which also had multiple large sites but did not have easily accessible water. Thankfully a stream crossed the trail 1000’ or so up trail so it was an easy water carry once I had camp set up.

This is a very beginner friendly camp site since you can hike a mile or so round trip if you don’t care to do a lot of hiking or you can go 5 miles in and camp with a bit more seclusion. I imagine spots fill up quick during the summer months so plan accordingly. Cheers!

-Rating: Come Back!

Rating Guide:

-Gram it: Check out the pictures on Instagram because this one is not worth seeing in person

-Hike it: It’s short and sweet. Might as well knock it out in a day

-Bag it: Pack a bag and spend the night

-Bring a friend: Easy enough to bring a friend. Maybe this is where you can introduce someone to backpacking.

-Come Back: I will keep doing this trip it’s so good.