Sardine Creek

Current Status: Closed. This creek was overrun by the Beachie/Santiam Fire in Sept 2020 and has been closed. Please check on local closures before planning a trip to this area. When the area eventually reopens, use extreme caution when descending the creek. Between landslides, fallen trees, and loose rocks, this area may be unstable and dangerous for years to come. The canyon may have changed dramatically. Do not rely on the beta below being accurate. Closure information. Sardine Creek is a tributary of the North Santiam River that flows into the western end of Detroit Lake. There at at least three options here: If running lower Sardine early in the season, it may be prudent to check the flow on the final rappel (Chasm Falls - R16) that is visible a short distance up the road from the Parking Exit point. At high flow, this pothole can be a serious hazard. Sardine seems to drain out pretty quickly and often has low water by July or August. (Be aware: some of the trip reports and reference photos on this page are for the East Fork, not the Main Fork. This was done before the east fork was broken out into its own page in 2022.)

Drive up Sardine Creek Rd and leave a vehicle at your planned exit. Pre-fire, the lower part of Sardine Creek Rd was a bit rough but could be driven carefully with a 2WD vehicle. High clearance or 4x4 may be recommended, however. Depending on your plan, you will likely want to do one of the following:

The upper main fork is, hands-down, the best part the Sardine complex. It's pretty non-stop action. Con: It takes more effort to reach. From the parking at the end of FR 535, bushwhack directly north into the forest a hundred yards or so. Vegetation was relatively thick in 2019 per an old clearcut. When you can, angle down to your left to drop into the creek. Takes about 5min. Head downstream through a logjam. The creek abruptly clears out and is easy traveling from here to the very end. R5-R7 come in quick succession. Might be possible to combine anchors for some of these: Head downstream until the vegetation closes in. This thicket is easily bypassed by jumping out of the creek on the DCL side. Bushwhack for all of two minutes to circumvent the thicket and get back in the creek. Continue downstream another 5min to the place where the 4WD road crosses Sardine Creek. This is the "Middle Entrance". It's end of Upper Sardine... and the beginning of Lower Sardine. You can either: 1) exit here via the road, or 2) continue on down Lower Sardine to make a full day of it. This section of creek has some nice waterfalls, but they're much further apart than the upper section. Expect more creek-walking. In mid-summer, you may find the creekbed dry at first. Continue downstream and water will soon appear. Below R12 is a gigantic house-sized monolith that the creek diverts around. The creek divides many times, plunging through a giant boulder garden below the monolith as it seeks the canyon floor. It's possible to downclimb this section (DCR?) or find a nice place to rappel from. One party rappelled 30ft from a dead log DCL side of the boulder. Another group went DCR around the boulder, then cut back to canyon left for a rappel 100ft into a pool. Your rappel count here may vary depending on your chosen path. For the purposes of this description, we'll count the boulder garden as R13. Just below the boulder garden, the East Fork enters on the left.