Lost River Gorge & Ecology Trail (Lost River Reservation)

Lost River Gorge & Ecology Trail (Lost River Reservation)

Hike Type: Figure 8 Loop

Distance: 1.61 miles

Elevation: 307 feet

Time: 1 hour, 28 minutes (55 minutes moving)
Hiking Challenges: Operation Alaska Benchmark Challenge

The Hike 

Our final adventure of vacation and some rain brought Gen and I to the Lost River Gorge! We had both done the Flume Gorge, so it only makes sense to explore this one, too! We ordered our tickets online during dinner last night and were on the road a little before 8:00am to drive across the Whites for our 9:00am tickets! Tragically, we got there 15 minutes early and the parking lot was still roped off, so we parked at the Beaver Brook Trailhead to chit chat for a bit before starting our adventure.

This adventure was FUN! We were the first ones there and got the run-down by the cashier - the TL;DR was 1) stay on the path, 2) read the cave descriptions for committing, 3) watch out for velicoraptors! We started our "hike" by following the well-manicured path down to the base of the gorge, down many, MANY steps (thankfully none were slippery). 

Then, the fun began! The gorge itself was very wild and mossy, and the caves were fun! Some were tricky for full-grown adults, but we had a blast! The Sun Altar was an easy one, and the Cave of Odin, Dvil's Kitchen, and Cave of Silence got a bit more interesting, with some wiggling involved. 

The caves did a good job slowly progressing with "difficulty," if you could call it that, and I personally vetoed the Lemon Squeezer, especially after watching Gen try to get through the gauge! Not for me, and that is okay! In the same area as the Lemon Squeezer was the Valley Viewpoint, which probably had a lovely view, but the rain fully enveloped us.

I skipped the Dungeon and Bear Crawl, but got back into the caves for the Judgement Hall of Pluto, which was personally recommended by the cashier. He said it was only open when water levels allowed, and we noticed we were likely on the cusp of what was "allowed," as the water came right up to the floorboards.

We climbed up to the Suspension Bridge and took a loop around the Forest Treehouse and Birdseye Viewpoint. We took a quick intermission in the gift shop afterwards, and then worked toward the parking lot to find the Ecology Loop.

The Ecology Loop is a free loop trail that meandered through misty, moody forest. Less manicured than the gorge, it felt more like an "actual" hike. One neat part of this stretch was when the trail came up to the land burned in the Dilly Fire (and with some bonus research, it turns out that the Dilly Cliffs Trail originated from this parking lot before the fire!

The trail ended in a marshy area on boardwalks that had metal grating, which made them not nearly as slippery as they could be.

This was a great way to get outside and still be active on our last day of vacation! We concluded the Flume Corge is much more beautiful, but this Lost River Gorge is more fun to experience becuase of the caves - they compliment each other well!

Photo Album