Buried Forest Overlook Hike

Overview

Between 1760 and 1810, Mount Hood unleashed the Old Maid eruptions, whose massive pyroclastic flows issuing from Crater Rock coursed down the valleys of the Sandy, Zigzag, and White rivers, burying forests and jamming up the waterways themselves. Geologists believe the flows down the White River happened early in this period, but we are still seeing the results today, as the unstable deposits in the upper valley threaten Highway 35 during big rainstorms. A short hike takes you from Timberline Lodge to a lateral moraine which offers views to the exposed remnants of a mountain hemlock forest in a steep, exposed valley that looked quite different before 1760. Start out northeast from Timberline Lodge, where there are a confusing number of trails. Head up the steps across from the main parking lot, and go right after 20 yards. At a second junction, go right again for the Timberline Trail, Mountaineer Loop Trail, and the Silcox Hut. Cross a small creek and head up on a rubbly tread among mountain hemlock, subalpine fir, and whitebark pine. In late summer the Newberry’s fleeceflower is turning red on the pumice slopes. Reach the four-way Timberline-Mountaineer Trail East Junction, and head right. Cross a gravel road and walk on open pumice slopes with expansive views; this is the highest point of the hike. The trail drops into a small canyon with a waterfall up above. After crossing a creek, you'll enter the Richard L. Kohnstamm Memorial Area, part of the Mount Hood Wilderness. After half a mile, the trail drops down the east side of the Salmon River Canyon and reaches the edge of a lateral moraine, where a viewpoint looks into the White River Canyon. From here, you can look down and see the exposed remains of mountain hemlocks buried under debris flows from Mt. Hood’s Old Maid eruptive period about 250 years ago. The remains of about a dozen trees, some with patches of bark intact, attest to a pyroclastic flow that snapped them off and then buried them alive, with subsequent river action exposing them over the de

Trail Stats

Photos

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250px-WhiteRiverCanyon5

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