Trip Report
Coyote Wall
A beautiful, sunny hike with plenty of early spring wildflowers.
Danielle Graham
- Sun, Mar 22, 2026
- Coyote Wall
- Day Hiking & Naturalist
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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The trails were 99% dry. Despite being recently burned, the area was very green with plenty of wildflowers and birds to enjoy.
The entire area was burned in July 2025 by the Bourdoin Fire--it's amazing how quickly the Coyote Wall has recovered since this article in the The Columbian was published. At the landscape level, it was difficult to see remains of the fire, but on a closer look, some of the Ponderosas and the Garry Oaks showed burn scars.
Burned oak
We got an early start (before 8 am) as the Coyote Wall parking area is not large. There is a vault toilet and no parking pass is needed. The area is popular with dog walkers, hikers, mountain bikers, and trail runners. This area is part of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.
The Coyote Wall itself is a cliff of columnar basalt rising about the Columbia River not far from Hood River, Oregon. It is possible to walk a trail along the top of the column (although we chose to skip it on this trip). For photos of the wall and more on the geology of the area, take a look here.
We started off cold (37 F) and in the shade along Old Highway 8 where we enjoyed a pond with buffleheads and mergansers and then the view over the river. We paused to watch two juvenile bald eagles attempt, unsuccessfully, to take a fish from an adult.
Our hike was about 4 miles with 700 feet of elevation gain. We chose smooth switchbacks on the way up and down, using the Little Maui Trail #4425 and the Old Ranch Road #4426. Either of these trails could be combined with the Little Moab Trail #4425 for anyone who wants to hike along the top of the Coyote Wall.
Many early wildflowers were present, including monkey flowers, miniature lupines, desert parsleys, woodland stars, and Columbian saxifrage.
Our bird list for the day included 23 species. Canyon wrens were elusive as we could hear their lovely songs, but not see them. We especially enjoyed seeing a pair of California Scrub Jays on an osprey nest platform as we returned to our car at the end of a wonderful hike. I hope a lot of other folks get to enjoy this beautiful place in the future!
Our bird list:
4 Canada Goose
2 Mallard
3 Greater Scaup
4 Bufflehead
1 Common Merganser
1 Eurasian Collared-Dove
1 Killdeer
9 Double-crested Cormorant
1 Great Blue Heron
7 Bald Eagle
2 Northern Flicker
4 California Scrub-Jay
7 American Crow
1 Common Raven
35 Violet-green Swallow
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
2 Canyon Wren
3 American Robin
4 Dark-eyed Junco
7 White-crowned Sparrow
1 Golden-crowned Sparrow
2 Song Sparrow
3 Western Meadowlark
Number of Taxa: 23