Warren Lake to Mount Defiance Hike

Overview

A long drive but a short loop allows you to experience some of the high country features of the Columbia River Gorge: dwarf montane forest, lots of talus, a wilderness lake, and views from the highest point in the Gorge, Mount Defiance. If you have younger children, this can even be an overnight backpack, with a very short hike (less than half a mile) in to Warren Lake to set up camp, and then a loop with lighter packs up to the Mount Defiance summit. Across from the parking pullout, there's an information kiosk at a bermed road. Hike this old track under a shady canopy of Douglas-fir and mountain hemlock, with chinquapin, vine maple, and huckleberry in the understory. The trail drops gently to cross an abandoned logging road, and then swings left to pass a row of wooden bollards at the old Warren Lake Trailhead. A short distance later, you'll arrive at the multi-signed Mitchell Point-Warren Lake Trail Junction. Keep left here to enter the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness and make a level traverse through vanilla leaf, bunchberry, and arnica. Begin a gradual descent to pass a campsite and walk through a lush understory of huckleberry, arnica, and Oregon grape to reach the shore of Warren Lake. There are a handful of campsites at the small lake and ripe huckleberries in August. The trail rises through Douglas-fir woods before reaching a vine maple skirt at the base of a talus slope. Rise steeply. A diversion to the left will give you a view over Warren Lake. Several large cairns mark the route as you continue to ascend. The trail then traverses through stunted trees and offers glimpses of Mount Saint Helens, Mount Rainier, and Mount Adams. Reach the well-marked Mount Defiance-Mitchell Point Trail Junction in an area of lodgepole pines. Make a left here, and rise about a quarter of a mile to the Mount Defiance-Mount Defiance Cutoff Trail North Junction; in 2018, this junction was marked only with temporary signs. To make the loop over the summit of Mount Defiance, stay right here. Cross a talus slope to get anoth

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