Buck Creek

The Buck Creek trail was originally a connector trail between the White River Trail on the east side of the White River, and the Skookum Flats trail on the west side, via a hiker suspension bridge that spanned the river. Alas, the bridge was wiped out in a 2006 storm and was never replaced. Here is a description of what remains.

The most direct path to explore the Buck Creek Trail is to walk from the Snoquera Falls parking lot, back down the pavement for 500 feet, until you are just 50 feet from SR 410. A very obvious but unmarked trail heads southeast, parallel to the highway. Walk the flat trail for a quarter mile, always within sight and sound of highway traffic. A sign confirms that you have found the Buck Creek Trail #1169. According to the sign, to the left in a quarter mile is the White River Trail #1199. To the right in a quarter mile is the Skookum Flats Trail #1194. Looking to the right, it becomes obvious that you must cross the highway. A wooden pole a short distance to the south marks the point where the trail resumes. Use caution when crossing SR 410. On foggy days, it might be too dangerous.

Picking up the trail on the west side of the highway, the trail continues 0.4 mile (not a quarter mile), dropping 65 feet to the shore of the White River. River and shore conditions change frequently, but you should not expect any room to wander the shore. Across the river, Buck Creek flows into the White River. Upstream of Buck Creek in the shadows, you can see a stout hiker bridge that remains intact. Look to the right of that, and imagine the suspension bridge that formerly spanned the river at this point. Not a trace of the bridge remains.

Leaving the river, return to the signed junction near SR 410 and choose which path to take on your return to the parking lot. The Length of 1.6 miles given in this writeup is round trip mileage, if going back the way you came. Two other alternatives are arguably more interesting.

If you follow the sign toward the White River Trail, in 100 feet you will come to an unmarked junction. Going right will allow you to experience the rest of the Buck Creek Trail, to where it connects to the White River Trail a quarter mile away (for real). From that junction, you can follow the White River Trail and connector trails left to the parking lot, if you know where you’re going. (Maps of this area are not always accurate.)

If instead, you go left after the 100 feet, a short spur trail connects you to the wheelchair-friendly Moss Lake Interpretive Loop. Go either direction to get to the beginning of the loop, near a Scout amphitheater. From the amphitheater, it is a mere 400 feet west to the parking lot.

What happened to the Buck Creek Trail on the west side of the White River? The west end of the suspension bridge was connected to the original Skookum Flats Trail. However, a significant portion of the Flats trail fell victim to a colossal mudslide, probably during the same storm that took out the bridge. The Skookum Flats Trail was rerouted to higher ground. The southern portion of the old trail still connects the new trail to that stout wooden bridge over Buck Creek. But the old trail, now a dead end, has been abandoned. Due to lack of maintenance, it has become overgrown and dangerous.