Lucia Falls

Today's adventure takes us north a bit, to Lucia Falls on the East Fork of the Lewis River, NE of Battle Ground, Washington. This is the first of four Lewis River waterfalls you'll encounter while driving east/upstream on Lucia Falls Road. Three of them are pretty much right next to the road, too, so there's barely any hiking involved. This stop on the tour is clearly marked as Lucia Falls Park (operated by Clark County), which consists of a parking lot, a short, easy loop trail, and the falls.



Oh, and a bunch of signs explaining firmly that you are not supposed to go swimming, or diving, or rafting, or inner tubing here, and there's no fishing allowed, and, in short, you're not permitted to so much as touch the water, ever. And it's not for your protection, either, but for the endangered salmon. Which sounds kind of ridiculous and draconian until you realize there are no dams between Lucia Falls and the ocean. So the thinking is that the salmon on this branch of the Lewis River are maybe not quite as doomed as most salmon populations are, and they're going to great lengths to keep it that way. There may actually be a court order to that effect; I haven't been keeping track that closely, but it wouldn't surprise me.

One upside to the falls being a protected place is that at the right time of year you can come and watch salmon try to jump the falls on the way to their spawning grounds. There are a lot of other places you can go to fish or ride an inner tube down the river, but far fewer places -- at least accessible ones -- where you can see salmon doing their thing. So there's that.


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If you're unfamiliar with the area and need to find Lucia Falls Road first, it's reasonably simple. First go to Battle Ground, either SR 502 east from I-5, or SR 503 north from Vancouver. SR 503 is also known as 10th Avenue within Battle Ground, so you either stay on it, or turn left onto it, depending on which way you're coming from. After you're out of town, SR 503 also goes by Lewisville Highway. Drive north until you get to Rock Creek Road and turn right. It curves south & becomes 152nd Avenue. The road then curves right and becomes Lucia Falls Road (although a dead end part of 152nd also continues south). Once you're on Lucia Falls Road, all you need to do is watch for signs that say "Falls" on them.