We circumnavigated Oregon’s scenic Mount Hood in 5 days by backpacking the Timberline Trail clockwise — 42 miles with 9900 feet gain and loss. This joyful gem of the Pacific Northwest is not restricted by a permit quota system.
Day 1: A beautiful sunset bathed Paradise Park in golden light on our first day of backpacking Mount Hood’s Timberline Trail.
At 11,249 feet elevation, Mount Hood is the highest point in Oregon and the fourth highest peak in the Cascade Range. Mount Hood has been an active stratovolcano for at least 500,000 years in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, formed by a subduction zone on the Pacific coast. The mountain is known as Wy’East by the Multnomah Tribe of the Columbia River valley.
Built 1936–1938 by the Works Progress Administration during the Depression, the Timberline Lodge is honored as a National Historic Landmark. The Timberline Lodge year-round ski resort has the longest skiing season in the United States. Exterior views of Timberline Lodge were used in The Shining (1980), Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of Stephen King’s 1977 novel set at the fictional Overlook Hotel.
On a gorgeous summer day, our group of three hikers hefted backpacks and began walking clockwise from the popular Timberline Lodge. Timing the circuit for later summer (August 26–30 in 2024) allowed all streams to be crossed with dry feet carefully stepped on logs and stones, using trekking poles for balance. Beware earlier in the summer when voluminous melting snow makes afternoon creek crossings more hazardous. As Portland is just one hour by car, going Monday through Friday pleasantly depopulates the trail of weekend crowds.
Backpacking for five days moderated our daily mileage to accommodate the 4-hour commute from Seattle on the first and last days:
- 6 mi, 1270 ft up, 1180 ft down, from Timberline Lodge to Paradise Park tent sites — Gaia GPS map1.
- 12 mi, 2900 ft up, 3300 ft down, to McGee Creek tent sites — Gaia GPS map2. To circumvent 100+ downed logs on the Timberline Trail between Muddy Fork and Yocum Ridge (felled in a 2020 storm), we looped west on the Ramona Falls Trail to the Pacific Crest Trail to reach Top Spur Junction and onwards, stopping for the night at McGee Creek, a half mile before reaching Cairn Basin.
- 9.3 mi, 2100 ft up 1720ft down, to Cloud Cap Saddle Campground (a road-accessible National Forest Service campground) — Gaia GPS map3.
- 8 mi, 1860 ft up 2220 down, to Clark Creek tent sites — Gaia GPS map4.
- 6.4 mi, 1750 up 1420 down, to Timberline Lodge. All mileages were measured by the Gaia GPS app — Gaia GPS map5. (I show elevation gains/losses using figures from a more-accurate Suunto altimeter, instead of using Gaia’s elevation numbers).
We rock-hopped across many streams, such as this one on the Pacific Crest Trail, which overlapped the Timberline Trail during our first two days of backpacking around Mt. Hood.
Day 2: One of the most beautiful sights of Mt. Hood’s Timberline Trail is Ramona Falls, which can be done as a day hike.
Colorful rock blocks in a cliff face at the base of Yocum Ridge, near Ramona Falls.
Day 3: Washington’s Mount St. Helens protrudes on the horizon, seen from the Timberline Trail on the flanks of Mt. Hood.
Burnt forest in Wy-east Basin.
North face of Mount Hood.
Rock hopping along Eliot Branch of the Middle Fork Hood River.
Day 4: Dawn twilight at Cloud Cap Saddle Campground.
Picnic sunrise at Cloud Cap Inn, above Cloud Cap Saddle Campground, on Mt. Hood’s Timberline Trail.
Golden sunrise on Mt. Hood seen from Cloud Cap Inn, above Cloud Cap Saddle Campground, reachable by a gravel road.
Glaciers of northeast Mount Hood seen from Cooper Spur Shelter.
Mount Adams (right) and distant Mount Rainier (left) in Washington, seen near Cooper Spur Shelter on the Timberline Trail on the flanks of Mt. Hood.
Mount Jefferson (on right, second highest mountain in Oregon) and the distant Three Sisters, seen from Mt. Hood’s Timberline Trail. These are all stratovolcanos that formed in the Cascade Volcanic Arc in the Cascade Range.
Newton Creek Falls along the Timberline Trail.
Day 5: Sunrise on Mount Hood seen from Clark Creek.
Heather Canyon Falls, on Mount Hood’s Timberline Trail.
See Mount Jefferson, the second highest mountain in Oregon, from Mt. Hood’s Timberline Trail near Timberline Lodge.
Images on this page are favorites gleaned from Tom’s PhotoShelter gallery “2024 Aug: OR: Mt. Hood loop backpack.” All were shot on my lightweight, pocketable camera: the 11-ounce RX100 version VI (24–200mm f/2.8-4.5 equivalent lens) — read Tom’s “RX100M6 review.”