Horsetail Creek Trail (#425)

Horsetail Creek Trail #425 is a 5.6-mile one-way wilderness trail from a junction with Oneonta Trail #424 to Nesmith Point Road 222. Starting at West Oneonta Trailhead adds the roughly three-mile Oneonta approach, making the complete mapped outing about 8.6 miles one way. This is a point-to-point day, not a loop; decide how you will leave the road end before you start. Allow about seven to eight hours of walking, with roughly 3,600 feet of net climbing from the parking access.

The Oneonta Trail leg climbs from the roadside pullout to the #425 junction. Triple Falls lies about 1.7 miles up that approach, so the first part of the outing is its own steep hike. Horsetail Creek #425 then leaves the popular waterfall corridor for a more remote forest route. The roadside Horsetail Falls and Ponytail Falls loop is separate; those falls are not the destination of #425.

Expect mostly natural ground tread. Its westernmost section makes a very steep series of switchbacks; farther along, the path meanders through forest and crosses several forks of Horsetail Creek before the Bell Creek area. A view from the trail looks across the Gorge, but most of this is a backcountry creek-and-forest walk rather than a string of overlooks. Part of #425 enters Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness; bicycles and motor vehicles are prohibited, and fires must stay at least 200 feet from the trail.

West Oneonta Trailhead is a small pullout with about eight spaces and a kiosk; there is no potable water. The Oneonta approach is snow-dependent. At the far end, #425 meets Forest Road 222; confirm your exit or turnaround plan because this route does not bring you back to the parking area. The Oneonta Creek crossing used for the Bell Creek loop may be impassable in winter and spring, so do not count on that combination when water is high.