Sawblade Falls hike

To start the Sawblade Falls hike, park by the yellow gate on the side of the road, then proceed up the nearby gravel road.

Within five minutes following the path, you’ll arrive at your first junction. Go left, making a hairpin turn.

When the trail splits once more, follow the sign marked for the Woodland Walk.

In about 1.1mi into the hike, you arrive at a dirt path, directly under two sets of power lines. Go left onto the road. Walk about 100 yards and you will cross a bridge over Pritchett Creek.

Continue until you spot a sign for the Upper Loop, which is our planned return route. Instead, press onwards towards the Lower Loop, following the dirt trail. As you crest the corner, you’ll see Mount Beautiful, Dilly Peak, and Eagle Ridge ahead of you, across the valley. This is a great spot for a quick photo op and water break. Look up at the trees and you’ll spot a sign for the Lower Loop to the right, follow it.

Once on the trail, it becomes more bumpy and rough, though with minimal grade. Follow the blue markers over a few creeks, until the path continues on a sharp uphill path, following alongside a creek.

About 2.1mi into the hike, there are signs in the trees marked for ‘Falls’ in yellow text on a wooden board. Go left. Don’t go right, which would be easy to do. To the right is one of two connecting trails to the Upper Loop Trail. Be careful to look for this junction and stay left on the Lower Loop.

From here, cross over a creek and look down to spot tricky roots sticking up in some sections.

Eventually, you will spot a large stump, left behind from years of logging in the area. Here, the terrain begins to level out and you’ll continue to notice those blue flags until you arrive at Woodland Falls. Pop off the trail here for a quick scramble down the creek to get a better view.

Once back on the trail, follow the signs for Sawblade Falls on your left and prepare for the hardest part of the hike—a sharp incline that zig-zags all the way up, as it connects to the Upper Loop Trail. Keep following the signs for Sawblade Falls.

There’s a trail that goes all the way down to the bottom of Sawblade Falls. There isn’t a lot of space down there to stretch out and enjoy lunch, but you’ll get a great view of the water of Coho Creek pouring over the forty-foot falls.

After you’ve rested at Sawblade Falls, retrace your steps back to where to trail split at the Upper Falls, You’ll want to follow the Upper Loop/ Harper Road path all the way back until you reach the Woodland Walk. You will reach the dirt road you were on earlier, and you can go left. You’ve now completed the loop and can retrace your steps the rest of the way back to your car.