Drift Creek Falls

Siuslaw National Forest / Lincoln City, Oregon, USA

About Drift Creek Falls

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Drift Creek Falls was a very popular waterfall dropping some 66ft on Horner Creek beneath a 240ft bouncy suspension bridge spanning the gorge carved out by Drift Creek.

I suspect it’s that Indiana Jones-like feel of this suspension bridge that made this place quite popular, especially with the attention-seeking fiends on social media platforms like Instagram.

Drift_Creek_Falls_057_04082021 - Drift Creek Falls
Drift Creek Falls

Moreover, the popularity that we witnessed on our early April 2021 visit may have also been exacerbated by the Drift Creek Trail’s closure for maintenance last Summer (bringing visitors back in force when it re-opened earlier in 2021).

It was during that closure time when a giant slab of rock chunked off the cliff face supporting Drift Creek Falls ultimately giving the waterfall a more bare appearance as shown in the photo above.

Not surprisingly, Drift Creek Falls was reached on a relatively easy hike to both the suspension bridge over Drift Creek and the end of the trail at Drift Creek itself.

According to my GPS logs, the trail to the suspension bridge was 1.5 miles (3 miles round-trip), and it was another 1/4-mile (or 3.5 miles round-trip) to the bottom.

Drift_Creek_Falls_099_04082021 - Drift Creek Falls as seen from its base. Notice the huge slabs of rock surrounding its former plunge pool location
Drift Creek Falls as seen from its base. Notice the huge slabs of rock surrounding its former plunge pool location

There was also an option to extend the hike an additional 3/4-mile (or 4.25-5 miles in total) by taking the North Loop instead of the direct route.

Trail Description – The Direct Route to the Drift Creek Suspension Bridge

From the well-signed paved parking lot for Drift Creek Falls (see directions below), we followed a well-signed path as it descended a switchback then hugged the slopes of a forested ravine cut forth by Horner Creek.

At about the 3/4-mile point, we encountered a trail junction where we kept to our right to continue descending towards Drift Creek Falls.

The path on the left would also get to Drift Creek Falls, but it would do so in a more roundabout manner on a path called the North Loop Trail, which I’ll describe later in this write-up.

Drift_Creek_Falls_027_04082021 - Julie and Tahia keeping right at this unsigned trail fork to remain on the direct path to Drift Creek Falls. The narrow trail on the left was the North Loop Trail
Julie and Tahia keeping right at this unsigned trail fork to remain on the direct path to Drift Creek Falls. The narrow trail on the left was the North Loop Trail

That said, on our early April 2021 visit, we did encounter a pair of joksters who tried to troll us by saying we were going the wrong way to the way and should have taken the North Loop Trail on the left.

However, I knew better since I was armed with my Gaia GPS app, and we were observant enough to see that the vast majority of visitors didn’t take the North Loop Trail.

Anyways, after another quarter-mile past the trail fork, it eventually reached a signposted trail junction near Horner Creek.

Going right at this junction, we then followed Horner Creek downstream before crossing a muddy footbridge traversing the creek.

Drift_Creek_Falls_038_04082021 - Julie and Tahia crossing this muddy bridge over Horner Creek en route to Drift Creek Falls
Julie and Tahia crossing this muddy bridge over Horner Creek en route to Drift Creek Falls

Beyond the Horner Creek bridge, we went another 0.4-mile before the trail finally descended towards one end of the famous Drift Creek Suspension Bridge.

As we crossed the bridge (trying not to mind the heights and bounciness of the bridge), we could see the profile of Drift Creek Falls down below.

At the other end of this 240ft bridge we had the option of turning back here or continuing on the trail down to the bottom.

By the way, despite its name, my maps have shown that Drift Creek Falls actually flowed on Horner Creek before feeding Drift Creek at the waterfall’s base.

Drift_Creek_Falls_047_04082021 - Approaching the suspension bridge spanning the gorge carved out by Drift Creek
Approaching the suspension bridge spanning the gorge carved out by Drift Creek

So it’s not clear to me why the falls wasn’t called Horner Creek Falls instead.

Trail Description – The Base of Drift Creek Falls

Immediately beneath and to the left of the suspension bridge, there was a somewhat muddy viewing area directly across from the Drift Creek Falls.

However, in continuing on the descending trail for another quarter-mile, the path made one switchback before ending up at a numbered signpost just above the banks of Drift Creek.

It was from here that I was able to see both Drift Creek Falls and the suspension bridge running above it (in a view that reminded me of a smaller version of Stuibenfall in Austria).

Drift_Creek_Falls_066_04082021 - Context of the Drift Creek Falls Suspension Bridge as well as the Drift Creek Falls with a faint rainbow in its mist
Context of the Drift Creek Falls Suspension Bridge as well as the Drift Creek Falls with a faint rainbow in its mist

In any case, I had the option to just chill out here and enjoy the view, but I did notice some people boulder scramble their way onto the giant slab that had fallen off from the cliff on which Drift Creek Falls fell from.

By the way, those fallen rocks illustrate the inherent dangers of doing such scrambles, especially since you don’t really know when the next chunk will flake off.

This spot was strangely quieter than the suspension bridge area, which led me to believe that most people were content with just going to the bridge before turning back.

Regardless, after having my fill of the bottom of Drift Creek Falls, I then backtracked my way back up to the suspension bridge, and then backtracked to the signed trail junction near the bridge over Horner Creek.

Drift_Creek_Falls_117_04082021 - Distant view of Drift Creek Falls from the banks of Drift Creek at the end of the official trail
Distant view of Drift Creek Falls from the banks of Drift Creek at the end of the official trail

It was from that trail junction that I had the option of returning via the direct trail (for a round-trip distance of 3 miles), or I could take the longer North Loop Trail back to the trailhead, which would add an additional 3/4-mile to the overall distance.

Trail Description – The North Loop Option

You may wonder what the benefit of doing the North Loop Trail would be if it’s going to involve hiking an additional 3/4-mile.

Well, to be honest, I didn’t think the scenery of the North Loop was any better than the direct trail.

However, I did find myself alone on it during my early April 2021 visit so I was able to breathe freely and not through my facial mask during my time on this extended part of the hike.

Drift_Creek_Falls_141_04082021 - On the return hike, these signs at the trail junction near Horner Creek seemed to try to steer us towards the North Loop Trail instead of going back the way we came
On the return hike, these signs at the trail junction near Horner Creek seemed to try to steer us towards the North Loop Trail instead of going back the way we came

Indeed, given the high volume of visitors on the direct trail, I constantly found myself flipping my mask on and off in the presence of other people, especially since many of them didn’t wear masks during our visit.

Anyways, as far as the scenery was concerned, the North Loop seemed to be slightly more open due to the presence of thinner trees.

It might also be just a little drier than the forest flanking the direct trail.

Nevertheless, in my mind, it really wasn’t necessary to do the North Loop unless you’re trying to get away from too many people.

Drift_Creek_Falls_148_04082021 - The type of scenery seen along the North Loop Trail
The type of scenery seen along the North Loop Trail

So overall, I wound up doing the 4.25-mile loop hike by going directly to the end of the trail, and then taking the longer loop back, which consumed about 2.5 hours at a leisurely pace with lots of stops.

However, Julie and Tahia did the direct trail in both directions and didn’t go to the bottom so they only hiked for a grand total of about 3 miles round trip.

Authorities

Drift Creek Falls resides in the Siuslaw National Forest near Lincoln City in Lincoln County, Oregon. It is administered by the National Forest Service. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.
Tagged with: lincoln city, siuslaw national forest, busy, north loop, horner creek, drift creek, suspension bridge



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Drift Creek Falls, Lincoln City, Oregon, USA January 11, 2016 2:33 am by Wendy Gnau - Hi, Thankfully found your site from a blogger while planning a trip to Iceland. Figured we'd see where all you have been and if you had been to Oregon. We live in Lincoln City, Oregon and note that Drift Creek Falls (a hike at the edge of town) was not seen on your Oregon Coast… ...Read More

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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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