Written by Marcus Axford
6/14/24
Anxiety started to creep over me the further inland from Mapleton we drove. Did I miss the turn? Not according to Google maps, but man did it feel like it was going to take an hour to find this place. I shouldn't have been too worried, it's not often my wife Jessica and I get the opportunity to go out and enjoy a trip like this, so there really was no rush.
I had never been to Sweet Creek Falls before this trip, but the pictures and articles I have seen about it have always drawn me to going, particularly the catwalk hugging the rock wall of the valley along the creek, it's iron supports buried in the stone and soil. So it was that I endeavored to plan a trip on a warm Wednesday afternoon, to the complete surprise of my wife. Oh she knew the road we traveled, after all Florence is one of my favorite places on the coast and the backroad of Highway 36, also known as the Mapleton-Junction City Highway, is my favorite scenic route to take. Sure, I could take the more direct route and get there faster, but then we would be missing out on the beautiful landscape of Triangle Lake, the winding passage of the Siuslaw River, and the chain of small towns leftover from the grand logging days. There are even a couple of wigwam burners, cone shaped steel structures that were used to dispose of sawdust and mill scraps by incineration, as you drive through.
What my wife did not count on was my decision to turn left in Mapleton, rather than going straight like we always do, her face going from a knowing amused grin to an eye-widening surprised facial expression. We crossed the bridge, and then made the immediate right turn onto Sweet Creek Road. It's always exciting to travel to a new place, but it can also be a little scary, especially when you are worried about time. The road seemed to jog on forever, twisting and turning, filled with ornate houses and lush meadows among a forested landscape.
Just as my anxiety and anticipation reached its peak, we finally found the first parking lot of the Sweet Creek Falls trail. If you have ever been to McDowell Creek just above Sweet Home, the area feels strikingly similar, although it becomes apparent real quick that Sweet Creeks gives McDowell a run for it's money. We got out of the car and observed the signage at the head of the trail, stating that due to a bridge being collapsed by fallen debris, there was only going to be so far we could go on this trail before having to turn back.
Along we went, finding the first bridge and immediately falling in love with the scenery. Something about the bridge that I had noticed is that at least part of it, the railing, was clearly made by hand on site, judging from the saw marks used to create the notches that linked the logs together. It was quite the neat little detail, and as we walked along it seemed like our rewards became greater the farther along we traveled, including all kinds of flowers and areas that made for perfect pictures. Every shot we took with our phones felt like we were out catching Pokémon, finding wild snapdragons, bleeding hearts and salmonberries, determined to capture every type of plant in the area.
We stopped at the top of the first falls, the water was plenty low enough by now to have created a plateau to walk out and gaze upon all the unique and beautiful features, in fact we must have spent 15-20 minutes on that spot alone taking pictures and enjoying the sounds of rushing water. Eventually we made our way farther up the trail to the top of the next drop, taking a little less time than before but still plenty of time to grab more amazing photos. We contemplated if we wanted to go back or push forward to see how much more we could view, after my wife had an accident involving her ankle as well as having hip problems I did not want to push her, as eager as I was to take in all I could during this rare opportunity, but she made the decision for us to press on towards... A bridge? No, not a bridge, the catwalk!
This was it, this was the whole reason I wanted to come out to this place, and the experience was completely worth the journey! It might seem trivial to the uninitiated, until you actually step onto the steel grating. You must understand, this isn't just a bridge, to traverse along the creek the builders had to design a catwalk that rises above the creek, meaning you could look down and be staring directly into the water. It's definitely something I recommend experiencing for yourself.
Eventually we made it to the collapsed bridge, and sure enough there was definitely no way around it. We stayed for a few minutes, then made our way back towards the car the way we came, a little more light footed as by this time Jessica's hip was beginning to give her trouble. We made it back to the car, climbed in and drove up to the entrance, trying to figure out whether we wanted to see the rest of it or continue on to Florence. We opted for the latter, deciding on leaving some mystery to the place for another adventure!
Comments