Covell Creek Waterfall is no Secret

An impressive waterfall up Covell Creek just a mile from paved roads is easily accessible by foot. In fact, hikers actually have the opportunity to hike underneath it on their way to Burley Mountain .

Covell Creek Falls, Lewis County, Washington

To reach the waterfall take Highway 12 to Randle and turn south on WA 131 towards Mount St. Helens . About one mile south of Randle, take the left hand fork that travels up the Cispus River Valley . Follow the signs to the Cispus Learning Center and drive about 50 meters beyond the main entrance of the camp. There is a small pull-out on the right and directly across the road is the Covell Creek Trail.

Many early spring blooms graced the trail leading up to the falls.  Here, a trillium calls the forest floor home.

The trail starts out gently through the mature one-hundred year old forest that was created after the great Cispus burns of 1902 and 1919. Stay of the left side of the creek, but don’t be tempted by any of the well-maintained trails turn to the left return you to the Cispus Center . A poorly maintained but well-used one hundred yard portion of the trail will drop you off on what appears to be an old road. Veer to the right and the creek will stay within sound and sight all the way to the 60 foot waterfall. It the meantime, you will be dazzled by several smaller waterfalls along the scenic little creek.

Smaller falls dot the terrain below the main falls of Covell Creek.

The trail is actually a small loop, but a blown out bridge near the start makes the first crossing a little “unofficial”.

The waterfall is hardly a secret due to the generations of Western Washington kids that have attended the various kind of camps at the Cispus Learning Center . It is worth a visit whether you have been there before or not.

GAP Photo

Dispersed Camping is Available in the National Forests

It used to be a part of the lifestyle in Southwestern Washington. Large timberland owners managed much of the recreational land, and allowed camping. Along many of our region’s most famous rivers, families could pull off the pavement and camp next to the stream. It was one of the few places that campers could set up without hiking into the backcountry.

The practice has largely stopped along many rivers and streams as large land owners began to restrict camping due to resource damage and occasionally vandalism among other issues. In the National Forests, access is freely allowed in most areas.

Dispersed camping (read, camping anywhere you want) outside of a campground is allowed in the national forests unless there is signage that indicates otherwise. It is the step between a developed campground and backpacking. Humans however are drawn to water so most of the most notable dispersed camping areas in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest are along the Cispus, Lewis and Green Rivers south of Randle and Skate Creek between Packwood and Ashford.

We stumbled onto a beautiful spot along the Cispus River underneath Juniper Peak.

With campsites priced at $15 or more per night in most Forest Service or Park Service campgrounds, many people choose to “rough it” without water or bathroom facilities. There are extra responsibilities and skills that are necessary for dispersed camping. It is important that campers recognize and choose sites that are already “set-up” for camping rather than clear space, build a new fire ring and disturb more ground. That also includes leaving vehicles on barren ground and doing everything possible to not pollute lakes, creeks and rivers.

Campgrounds are carefully planned, regulated and maintained. They limit the number of camping locations closest to the local creek or river. Unless you camp on weekdays, the chances of you occupying some of this prime camping real estate, is fairly remote. It seems that there is always someone that never works and has the most enjoyable locations. Dispersed locations and a little luck can get you some of the best scenic locations on the forest.

Unfortunately, there can be an adversarial relationship between dispersed campers and their neighbors. With little enforcement around by camp hosts or rangers, behavior and ethics can be a little lax. Every spring, a group of Packwood area residents and outdoor enthusiasts pick up tons of garbage left by campers along Skate Creek Road.

My boys and I have a great dispersed location on Nason Creek in the Wenatchee National Forest near Steven's Pass. It has a beach and a great view of the tracks.

My boys and I share a very popular dispersed location on the Wenatchee National Forest near Levenworth with scores of faceless other visitors. We tend to be there on weeknights and most dispersed spots are busiest on weekends and holidays. Once last summer, we were awoken by a couple of young men looking for their friend at about 1:30am. I pointed to an location upstream a couple of miles where we had been hearing loud music all afternoon and evening. Again, the ethics of a few dispersed campers are not up to your standard forest user.



A campfire can be another variable. In almost all seasons in this state, you are allowed a fire in a developed campground. In undeveloped locations, campfires are tolerated, often restricted during fire season, or not allowed at all, even if there is what appears to be a safe fire pit. For my boys this is a deal breaker in the debate where we camp. Dispersed campers must know and obey the regulations. Our favorite spot is often marked with a fairly clear statement posted on one of the trees; No Campfires. In many cases, it is a gray area. Campers need to have an understanding of the true fire danger.

My boys building an access bridge with "resources" left behind by other campers.

In all, dispersed camping requires more skill in addition to a determination of the camper to allow the lightest impact possible. It is a wonderful opportunity, but everyone must realize that it is not something we can take for granted. With Forest Service budgets going in the tank and maintenance and enforcement at an absolute minimum, it wouldn’t surprise me to see dispersed camping become an activity of the past, just because a small percentage have poor ethics about how they treat their federal lands. Here in Southwest Washington, we watched private landowners do it over the last two decades. Let’s not give the feds reason to even think about it!

An Old Growth Forest with a History

Jason Imes, a Lewis County weed program specialist tasked with guarding the National Forests from invasive weeds, mentioned a piece of the forest near the Cispus River he thought odd. Our mutual interests and knowledge find us sharing information on a fairly frequent basis. He drove the 2506 road to the very end to a place called Bluff Mountain and was curious about the vegetation there. He also described the area as being snow free. In light of recent excursions, the last statement caught my attention.



As he described the location, I remembered the fire history in the area. In June of 1918, the Cispus Burn altered the landscape of nearly 230,000 acres with a version of catastrophic wildfire. Let me think, views and natural history. It was worth a visit.



To get there, take Highway 131 (USFS RD 25) 6.1 miles south of Randle. Turn left onto Forest Road 2506 and go about 2 miles. At the junction of FS road 2506 and FS road 037 veer to the right and continue for about ½ more. There is no problem finding the Kraus Ridge Trail #275 on the left side of the road. The excitement is getting turned around on the road in the muddy conditions. The Kraus Ridge trail winds through old growth and “naturally maintained stands” that are roughly 90 to years old. In 1918, fire licked at the ridge, burning the forest to near 100% consumption, but clearly leaving the typical mosaic pattern of survivorship. Here and there, were signs of the huge 200 to 400 year old stands of Douglas Fir that stood here before the outset of the Cispus fire. Some of them survived. Many have fire scars that reached 60 feet on their fire resistant bark.



The forest along the trail is a natural history buff’s dream. Each turn into a new ravine illustrates how the winds of flame rode the landscape. By looking at the fire scares on the older trees, a visitor can see how a fire that was driven east to west by winds, turned around and ran west to east to follow the uphill topography, actually burning the ridge multiple times.



Instead of following the trail all the way to the east trailhead off of Forest Road 23 (Cispus Road), I chose to take a look at the spot Imes pointed out to begin with. After 3.2 miles on the trail, I turned right, onto the FS2306 road which parallels and then crosses the trail, and hiked to the end. About a mile later, I found myself at a dead end on the summit of Bluff Mountain. Just off the road, a viewpoint offers a dramatic look at the Cispus Valley below.



How about that for a Monday conversation that led to a great hike on Sunday; An experience that amounted to a cerebral walk in some big, historic woods.