Camp Creek

Camp Creek was overrun by the Eagle Creek wildfire in Sept 2017. While the area has reopened and it's possible to run the canyon, the area is still very unstable. Expect lots of woody debris and loose rocks in the creek. It's not nearly as nice as it was pre-fire. Short & sweet objective on a minor tributary of Herman Creek. Camp is usually "open for business" relatively early in the season, although be aware that it dumps into Herman Creek which will always be running much higher. Camp is a good creek for beginners. Requires some amount of navigation / bushwhacking to exit. A good creek for training beginners.

Drive up through the Herman Creek campground and continue bearing right at all junctions to find the trailhead. (The road into the campground is closed/gated in the winter season. If the gate is closed, you can park just on Frontage Rd adjacent to the gate. It's a 5min hike up to the trailhead.) Follow trail 406 until it intersects Camp Creek (~2.5mi). It takes about 1-1.5hrs. Bring a map as there are several junctions. Beware poison oak along the trail. Start your descent down a small, brushy creek until you reach the first rappel in about 15min. There is a lot of new debris in the creek post-fire.

R1: Multi-tier: 35ft to a platform, then another 35ft to the bottom. Anchor DCL on a still-living tree. 100ft of rope (single strand) is required for both drops due to the horizontal distance. Immediately below the rappel is a short 6ft drop. Can body anchor it or downclimb DCL. R2: 50'. Anchor off a tree DCR atop a small cascade that precedes the waterfall. Rappel right down through the flow. R3: 30'. Anchor off a tree DCR well out of the creek. This rappel drops into an ankle deep pool of Herman Creek. Be aware, Herman Creek can run very high in the early season and has a LOT more flow than Camp Creek. There is a 20ft falls just upstream of the confluence on Herman Creek. If it's a nice day, it's worth the detour to go see it. (This is the exit from the Herman Creek narrows.) Early in the season, there may be a short swim downstream of the confluence.