4.4 hr
Overview
Table Mountain is one of the outstanding features of the Columbia River Gorge, its sheared 800-foot south face revealing layers of Yakima basalt over mud flow sediments up to 22 million years old. The south ridge of Table Mountain features the eroded remains of basalt dikes, craggy pinnacles that protrude above the forest canopy. One such prominence is Sacaquawea and Papoose Rocks, known to rock climbers as the "Rabbit Ears." The great Bonneville Landslide, which temporarily dammed the Columbia River and formed what the indigenous people called the "Bridge of the Gods," contains much of Table Mountain and Greenleaf Peak. Originally, geologists thought the landslide was about 800 years old, but recent evidence suggests that it could be associated with the last great Cascadia earthquake in the year 1700. The hike described uses the West Table Mountain, a.k.a. the West Way Trail, to ascend to the summit ridge. On the return, you'll explore the less visited north ridge of Table Mountain, taking in vistas that include the Cascade peaks in Washington and more wildflower meadows. When you reach the Pacific Crest Trail below South Birkenfeld Mountain, you begin your long walk back. Note that, as of January 2017, this hike became considerably longer and more difficult with the sale of the Bonneville Hot Springs Resort & Spa and the decommissioning of the Dick Thomas Trailhead there. Foundations Recovery Network (the new owners of the former resort) are sensitive to these recent and sudden changes and are partnering with Bonneville Trails Foundation to develop other trailhead access. However, those options are not available for the short term, so the Bonneville Trailhead is the only option for now. The hike starts on the Tamanous Trail. Ta-mah-no-ous is a Native American word translated roughly as "vision quest". Young men proved their readiness to be adults by going on a search for guardian spirits. From the parking lot, you start out on a gravel road, but quickly divert up a wooded path that starts straight uphill (
Trail Stats
0.0 km
1325 m
0 m
0 m
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Photos
400px-TableMountainNorthRidgeBonnevilleMap
400px-TableMountainNorthRidgeBonnevilleMap
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250px-Trail_on_talus_and_S
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250px-Steam_donkey_carriage%2C_below_Birkenfeld_Mountain%2C_PCT
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250px-Phlox_meadow%2C_North_Ridge%2C_Table_Mountain
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250px-Smooth-leaf_douglasia_%28Androsace_laevigata_var
250px-Table_Mountain_above_Gillette_Lake%2C_Bonneville_Slide
250px-Table_Mountain_above_Gillette_Lake%2C_Bonneville_Slide
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250px-Gillette_Lake%2C_Bonneville_Slide
400px-Looking_off_the_edge%2C_Table_Mountain
400px-Looking_off_the_edge%2C_Table_Mountain