If you are visiting Oregon, Mt. Hood should be one of your destination without any doubt. Once you reach there, your heart will never be ready to leave!
Did a scenic drive, a lake hike and a waterfall hike, a full day of adventure.
TRILLIUM LAKE LOOP
- Distance: 1.9 miles
- Type of Trail: Loop
- Difficulty: Easy
An easy yet stunningly rewarding hike in Mount Hood is Trillium Lake. It’s short and anyone can do it. And this is the trail we did, cos nobody can afford to miss the famous Trillium lake with Mt. Hood view while you are here!
Few other popular Lake hikes are:
LOST LAKE
- Distance: 3.7 miles
- Type of Trail: Out and Back
- Difficulty: Moderate
MIRROR LAKE
- Distance: 3.7 miles
- Type of Trail: Loop
- Elevation gain: 646 ft
- Difficulty: Moderate
MOUNT HOOD WATERFALL HIKES
It’s the feeling that a waterfall will be waiting for me at the end of the hike, that’s what keeps me going and motivates on the way. And the joy at the end of the hike is something unexplainable. That’s what Mt. Hood offers you.
TAMANAWAS FALLS
- Distance: 3.3 miles
- Type of Trail: Out and Back
- Difficulty: Moderate
This is the hike we did and it was worth every second. If I recall any of my waterfall hikes from this road-trip, this one is by far my favorite one cos it was an exhausting hike but at the end, the pure nature and the beauty I got to experience is something I won’t be able to explain. I feel like I worked hard for the prize and I loved it.
I would like to say Tamanawas Falls hike is not easy for a beginner but if you get to witness the fall like this at the end, I say it is the easiest hike for me. It’s on the east side of the mountain and doesn’t have mountain views but instead, a stunning waterfall. The hike takes you through a forest and then there’s a bit of a rock scramble towards the end. Gotta be careful cos those rocks are sharp.
I can’t believe I was here!
There are so many pretty falls on the way that it is so easy to lose track of time. Like I stopped to take so many pictures on the way that sun started getting warmer and trail got crowded. So, I suggest to start as early as possible.
And at the end, the falls are quite striking and you can go behind it if you’d like. Follow the rocky pathway on the right and do be careful on the wet boulders. We saw hikers’ dogs were scared to climb those rocks. It was scary I admit but did it anyway and the view from behind the fall is a just perfect.
Most magical shade of green you will ever see and the mist on your face is pure heaven.
Here is some mist collection:
Few other popular waterfall hikes are:
UMBRELLA FALL AND SAHALE FALLS
- Distance: 3.9 miles
- Type of Trail: Loop
- Difficulty: Moderate
Honestly my heart was not ready to leave Mt. Hood, but we had so many places in mind that we had to hit the road. With a hope to be back!
After hiking around Mt hood we drove towards the hood river area. Imagine a cute valley filled with winery, cherries, apples, peaches, lavenders, farms and many more which is surrounded by three mountains (Mount Hood, Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens ). If this doesn’t sound like paradise then I don’t know what we are searching for!
Here are few activities to do around Hood Valley: