Special Registration Rate! Eagle Cap Wilderness, OR – Volunteer Vacation 2024

USE CODE: 2024EagleCapVV for a special registration fee of $250 thanks to grant funding received for this project. To register at this price please select “First Trip of the Year” registration cost. Additional trip discount not available for this special rate.

Join this popular trip and head into the Hurricane Creek drainage in the Eagle Cap Wilderness!

The Eagle Cap Wilderness lies in the heart of the Wallowa Mountains in northeastern Oregon on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. The Hurricane Creek trail is a major access point for hikers and horses into the Eagle Cap Wilderness. View massive granite and limestone cliffs, waterfalls, and an abundance of wildflowers along the trail. Gradually climb across subalpine meadows alternating with timbered areas. This route will provide panoramic views of Sacajawea, Matterhorn and Eagle Cap Peaks. Cross-country hiking in and around the basin provides spectacular views and photographic opportunities.

Volunteers will work on constructing trail drainage structures such as water bars to prevent erosion, installing check dams to reclaim sections of incised tread, constructing a turnpike to get through a wet/muddy area, clearing brush out of the trail corridor and restoration of campsites and/or fire rings near Echo and Billy Jones Lakes. Volunteers will depart from Hurricane Creek Trailhead and backpack into basecamp near the confluence of Billy Jones and Hurricane Creeks. Pack stock will carry all food and group gear, giving volunteers time for a 4.5 mi hike with 1200 ft of gain. Volunteers will hike 1-5 miles daily with elevation gain of up to 3000 ft on backcountry trails. Volunteers may choose to drive their own vehicle or be transported in a Forest Service vehicle to the trailhead. Hurricane Creek Trailhead is about 10 miles from the initial meeting location in Enterprise, OR and is accessible by passenger vehicle. Parking is limited so carpooling to the trailhead is encouraged.

During this trip, Eagle Cap Wilderness has an average high temperature of 83°, and average low temperature of 58°.

There is no experience needed to join a Volunteer Vacation! Your expert hosts will provide detailed instruction, tool demonstrations, and project oversight throughout the week. All you need is a willing attitude and to be in good physical condition to participate in moderate physical activity for approximately 6-8 hours a day with plenty of breaks, at your own pace. Find out more about what it’s like to join a Volunteer Vacation and other frequently asked questions here.

AHS acknowledges with gratitude that this project takes place on the traditional lands of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla, and Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) peoples past and present. We honor the land itself, the Indigenous communities who have stewarded this land for generations, their deep and sacred connection to these lands, and those who continue to steward these lands today. We offer this land acknowledgement as the first of many steps to stand as an ally and amplify Indigenous voices. We invite the American Hiking Society community to join us through continued efforts to support Indigenous communities and learn more about the history of the lands on which we live, work and recreate.

Click here for a PDF of trip details.