Straight Creek Falls

Take Interstate 5 to the town of Woodland, and exit onto Highway 503 heading east. Follow 503 east to Cougar, and continue to Forrest Service Road # 90, just passed the Pine Creek Ranger Station. Follow FR 90 for 17 miles to the Quartz Creek Trail. Hike a moderate 2 miles to the bridgeless crossing of Straight Creek. A logjam 100 feet upstream can be used to cross dry, otherwise carefully ford the creek and find a path leading upstream on the opposite bank to the falls.Straight Creek Falls is a series of three sliding cascades that stair-step down a twisting section of the areas ubiquitous orange bedrock ending in a great swimming hole. I measured the falls with my rangefinder at 66 feet tall, but my eye wants to say that figure is too high, so I may have to re-measure it on a successive visit. This is a good stopping point for day-hikers on the Quartz Creek Trail as there is a fantastic swimming hole at the base of the falls to quell the heat on a summer afternoon (and there really isn't anything else to see further up the trail aside from some old growth trees).