Echo Basin

AreaWestern Cascades
(Willamette National Forest)
Best time to visitLate June through July
Blooming NowNo
Elevation4158-4650 feet
Trail Info2.4 miles round-trip, 600 feet elevation gain
 PLANT LIST AVAILABLE
 WILDFLOWER SEARCH
 ADDITIONAL PHOTOS
 Hike information - Oregon Hikers Field Guide
DogsAllowed, but must be kept on leash AT ALL TIMES.

NOTE: The blue marker indicates the trailhead.

Description

A relatively easy hike leads to beautiful wildflower meadows in the basin below Echo Mountain.

The trail is a bit rocky in parts of the forest section, so shoes that provide good support (such as hiking boots) are strongly recommended. There is a bit of blowdown that has been here for years, but it is easily navigable. Flowers that bloom in the forested areas include: Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus), Western White Anemone (Anemone deltoidea), Bunchberry (Cornus pumila), Goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus), Vanillaleaf (Achlys triphylla), Pacific Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa), Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis), Sitka Valerian (Valeriana sitchensis), Great Polemonium (Polemonium carneum), Starry Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum stellatum), and False Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum racemosa).

In the meadows, boardwalks have been strategically placed along the trail to navigate muddy/boggy areas. Nonetheless you are still likely to encounter muddy areas, so (once again) hiking boots are highly advisable. Expect to see profuse amounts of Elephanthead Lousewort (Pedicularis groenlandica), Shooting Star (Dodecatheon jeffreyi), Western Bistort (Polygonum bistortoides), Western Columbine (Aquilegia formosa), Menzies' Larkspur (Delphinium menziesii), Arrow-leaf Groundsel (Senecio triangularis), Tall Bluebells (Mertensia paniculata), and Yellow Monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus).

NOTE: Although we do not recommend it, if you choose to go off-trail in the meadow, please tread very lightly and minimally in this fragile boggy habitat to help maintain future generations of wildflowers.

Directions

Take Highway 20 east of Sweet Home (or west of Sisters). Approximately 3 miles east of Tombstone Pass (or 4.8 miles west of the junction with Highway 126), turn north onto gravel road #055 which will be signed "Echo Basin Trail". Proceed two miles and watch for the trailhead on the right side of the road, just after the road curves left and crosses Echo Creek. Several sections of this road require you to drive slowly, but it is navigable for normal passenger cars.

Trip Reports

DateSubmitted by
Reports from previous years
06/19/2015Margi Willowmoon
06/01/2015Greg Lief
06/21/2014Greg Lief
07/14/2012Greg Lief
07/07/2010Angie Moore
07/26/2008Greg Lief
06/26/2008Greg Lief
07/08/2007Greg Lief

Switch to historical view of wildflower reports

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Photo Gallery


Echo Basin study #1

Echo Basin study #2

Echo Basin study #3

Elephanthead at Echo Basin

Elephanthead at Echo Basin


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