Archer Creek (Columbia River Gorge)

Another short, close-in creek in the Columbia Gorge at has a neat mini-narrows and a couple of shallow hanging pools. The creek takes a few hours to run and could be combined with other short creeks in the area. Makes for a nice quick after-work adventure in the summer when the days are long.

Park at the St. Cloud Day Use Area just off Hwy 14 near milepost 30. There are restrooms at the trailhead. A NW Forest Pass is required. From the parking area, walk back to the entrance and cross Hwy 14. Pick up the obvious trail on the far side. Cross Gable Creek, then follow the trail to Archer Creek. The trail switchbacks up and, after about 10min of hiking, reaches a junction with a view of R4. This is the checkpoint. If the flow looks good, continue on up the trail through several switchbacks to the rim. Ignore the first faint path going left (dead end) and take the second. Follow it down into a stand of large Douglas Fir trees just above the creek. Just downstream, behind a car-sized boulder, is R1.

Below the falls, thrash downstream 5min through the jungle. Creek can be slippery. Lower Archer Falls (R2 - R4). Rappelling R2 commits you to the rest of the descent.