Mt. Hood Region

1. Yocum Ridge and Ramona Falls
2. Burnt Lake

Yocum Ridge and Ramona Falls (from lower trailhead)

Length (RT): 17.5 mi Diff. Level: very strenuous Elev. Gain: 3500 ft Season: late July-October

This is definitely one of my all time favorite hikes! You literally climb to the very edge of Mt. Hood and the alpine scenery is awesome. There is an upper trailhead, but the road to it is closed due to washouts. Plan on starting from the lower trailhead which is located in a large gravel parking area at the end of the paved road. Initially, the trail parallels Sandy river through woods and then merges with the washed out road. In 1.2 miles the upper trailhead is reached. When I did this, the high bridge that is normally used to cross Sandy River was partially washed out. Trail crews had installed two wooden bridges a bit downstream marked by a sign. Hopefully they will still be there as the Sandy can be quite swift and difficult to cross when it is swollen with glacial/snow melt. Your best bet is to do this hike or the Bald Mountain loop, which I'll mention about in a minute, in late August/September after most of the snow has melted.

After crossing the Sandy via the wooden bridges, go straight into the woods. The trail curves back up along the Sandy, passing where you would have crossed the river with the high bridge. In a hundred yards, a junction is reached. Both ways will take you to Ramona Falls, Bald Mountain Loop, and Yocum Ridge. I went straight ahead. Before I go any farther, let me say that if you do the Bald Mountain Loop instead of Yocum Ridge, you will be taking the same junction at Ramona Falls and will stay on that trail which will cross a bridgeless Muddy Fork and loop around back across the Muddy Fork via a bridge and return to this particular junction.

After going 1.5 miles past the junction, you will reach the Pacific Crest Trail. Take a sharp left and in a half mile, Ramona Falls (30.9 KB) is reached.  Yocum Ridge climbers will want to take a break as there is some 2800 feet left to gain. Take a right just past the falls and start climbing at a steep grade. Note, if you just want to do Ramona, you can keep straight and loop back to the junction mentioned in the last paragraph. In 0.6 miles an important junction is reached. If you were to keep straight, you would be doing the Bald Mountain loop. However, Yocum Ridge is our destination. Take a right up the Yocum Ridge Trail (4.7 miles long). Although a lot of elevation is gained, the grade is steady so if you are in good shape, it shouldn't be that bad. Initially, the trail goes straight up the crest in woods with rododrendons. About 2 miles up this trail, the first open area is reached with views of Mt. Hood. Here, the trail starts doing a series of switchbacks with some good viewpoints. By now, rododrendrons have been left behind as the terrain has shifted to huckleberry shrubs/bear grass with inserts of pure alpine settings becoming more frequent as you climb.

Finally, glorious alpine meadows are reached around the 3.5 mile mark and the way levels, curving around the side of Yocum Ridge. Enjoy the open hill sides full of blooming wild flowers, and enter a patch of woods for one last time. As you come out, before you is majestic Mt. Hood and an alpine meadow full of flowers (27.6 KB) that abruptly ends at a 1000 ft canyon wall. Note the glacier feeding Sandy River. Have lunch with your feet hanging over the edge. Awesome! I thought this was the endpoint of the hike, but another hiker, who took a photo of me here (22.8 KB), noted that the main trail actually switchbacks back onto the crest of Yocum to the the very edge of Mt. Hood (4.7 miles). After having lunch, go back the way you came just a bit and note a fork going up to your right. It will traverse back up Yocum and ride the crest to the very end. There are superb views up here. There is a camp up here as well. I scrambled up Hood for a bit. The summit of Mt. Hood looks so invitingly close! Apparently, this is a favorite climbers route (30.2 KB).

How to get there:

Take Highway 26 to Zigzag (42 miles from Portland) and turn left onto East Lolo Pass Road. Pay attention! I drove past this by at least 10 miles. Zigzag is not very big at all, but if you pay attention you will not have any problems. In 4.9 miles, turn right onto Road 1825 (paved). In 0.7 miles, turn right across the Sandy River and in another two miles, turn left onto Road 100. Stay on this short road to its end at a large parking area and the lower trailhead. The road to the upper trailhead is closed due to washouts.

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Burnt Lake

Length (RT): 6.0 mi Diff. Level: easy Elev. Gain: 1400 ft Season: June-October

This a good hike for families and would make a good first backpack trip. The trail is well graded and is in good shape. The trailhead is located at the end of Road 1825. Initially, for about a mile or so, the gentle trail parallels a creek on your right. Then it crosses the stream and switchbacks back upstream-once again paralleling the creek for another mile, crossing a couple of tiny tributaries. Look for a short spur trail on your left that will drop down to a view of a nice waterfall downstream just a bit. Around 2 miles, the trail resumes switchbacks again and starts climbing at a moderate grade. Look for views of Yocum Ridge and Mt. Hood. In about 2.75 miles, the way curves around and crosses one of the tributaries crossed earlier. Then the trail hooks around again and at 3.0 miles, it drops to Burnt Lake. Look for spur trails leading to lake. I found a nice lunch spot (15.6 KB) via a spur trail leading off the main trail just as it climbs back up. The lake has a million crawdads in it! I had to keep fending myself from the crustaceans and their pincers. If backpacking, bring a trap and enjoy crawdads for dinner. I also noticed some trout rising as well.

Here, the trail goes back up and away from Burnt Lake, climbing steeply to a junction with the Zigzage Mountain Trail. Take a left and go a short bit up the ridge to views of Burnt Lake below and Mt. Hood. You could go on further to Paradise Park. The other option is to take a right at the junction and hike to the East Zigzag lookout site.

How to get there:

Take Highway 26 to Zigzag (42 miles from Portland) and turn left onto East Lolo Pass Road. Pay attention! I drove past this by at least 10 miles. Zigzag is not very big at all, but if you pay attention you will not have any problems. In 4.9 miles, turn right onto Road 1825 (paved). In 0.7 miles, turn right across the Sandy River and in another two miles, pass the junction with Road 100. Keep straight and pass a campground and stream crossing. Here the road becomes gravel and is rather rough with potholes. At 1.6 miles from the Road 100 junction, park at the road end. Parking is competitive here! There is not much room and the road is rather narrow. You may want to do this during the week if possible.

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