Laurance Lake Ridge Hike

Overview

NOTICE: As of Summer 2021, this trailhead is inaccessible due to the closure of the Clear Branch Dam to hikers. The public cannot enter the area as crews perform inspections on the dam. The Laurance Lake High Loop Trail #632 is not actually a loop but a proposal by mountain biker groups. The plan was that the switchbacking Trail #632 would join with Bear Creek Road, which descends to the Clear Branch Road. Riders could then cycle back along Laurance Lake to the Clear Branch Dam Trailhead to complete the loop. The proposal was taken off the table with the addition of acreage to the Mount Hood Wilderness under the 2009 Omnibus Public Land Management Act: this put the Bear Creek Road below the Laurance Rim and the west end of Clear Branch Road into wilderness, and both routes are now decommissioned. The survivor of all this, however, is the switchbacking trail that leads up from Laurance Lake to the rim above. From here, there are expansive views across to the north slopes of Mount Hood as well as plentiful huckleberries in season, a worthy excursion as part of a day at Laurance Lake! Walk along the dam wall, getting a view up the burned slopes of the 2011 Dollar Fire to the now exposed Pinnacle. At the north end of the dam, drop down to your right to a kiosk and the beginning of the Laurance Lake High Loop Trail #632. Traverse up the slope in a shady mixed forest of Douglas-fir, cedar, grand fir, vine maples, and chinquapin. Switchback to the bottom of the talus slope, and then switchback again. Make five switchbacks up to a talus slope with a commanding view of Mount Hood and its north slope glaciers: from left to right Langille, Coe, Ladd, Glisan, and Sandy. Hike up five more switchbacks to another great view of the mountain. Now you’re in ponderosa pine territory. Nine more switchbacks will take you to the rim in a carpet of vanilla leaf and snowberry. Undulate along the ridge crest here in a thinned forest. You may be able to glimpse Mount Adams and Mount Rainier through the trees. Mountain hemlock, west

Trail Stats

Photos

400px-LauranceLakeHighRidgeMap

400px-LauranceLakeHighRidgeMap

250px-On_1612-640%2C_Laurance_Lake_High_Loop

250px-On_1612-640%2C_Laurance_Lake_High_Loop

250px-Heading_up%2C_Laurance_Lake_High_Loop

250px-Heading_up%2C_Laurance_Lake_High_Loop

250px-Trail_kiosk%2C_Laurance_Lake_High_Loop

250px-Trail_kiosk%2C_Laurance_Lake_High_Loop

400px-Laurance_Lake_and_Mt

400px-Laurance_Lake_and_Mt

Tags