1.9 hr
Overview
While most think of Paradise Park, Cairn Basin or Elk Cove as the most prolific wildflower gardens on the flanks of Mount Hood, the most expansive displays are actually found in the vicinity of Mount Hood Meadows. While the Meadows ski resort has expanded to cover much of the area, the trails remain surprisingly free of reminders that a throng of skiers that crowd the slopes here in winter. The massive display of wildflowers in July and August and series of pretty streams and waterfalls makes this a good destination even when clouds obscure the mountain. Following this route counterclockwise allows you to see the alpine vistas spread before you before you hike through them. The hike begins at the Elk Meadows Trailhead. Hike 0.3 miles through an open forest of silver fir, Douglas-fir, noble fir, Engelmann spruce and western white pine. There’s a huckleberry understory that invites plunder in late summer. Cross one cross-country ski corridor and then another one. An unmarked trail leads left to a parking area for the Meadows Nordic Center. Reach the Elk Meadows-Umbrella Falls Trail Junction, and keep straight. Drop to cross Clark Creek on its handrailed footbridge after passing the Elk Meadows-Clark Creek Trail Junction on the right. Before the bridge, there’s a Wilderness permit box. After crossing the bridge, the trail heads up a bank and enters the Mt. Hood Wilderness. The route then levels and drops to cross two small creeks before heading gradually upward. Cross a creek on a footbridge and, on a level section, reach the Elk Meadows-Newton Creek Trail Junction. Begin the two-mile, 1,000-foot ascent of the Newton Creek Trail, which winds through huckleberries and then passes along the unstable rim above Newton Creek, which like Clark Creek, is formed by meltwater from the Newton Clark Glacier, but is the more unruly of the twin glacial streams. Periodically, it has been the scene of massive floods, as evidenced by vistas over jumbled trees and boulders below the trail. Cross a band of bouldery overflow from
Trail Stats
0.0 km
562 m
0 m
0 m
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Photos
400px-MountHoodMeadowsLoopMap
400px-MountHoodMeadowsLoopMap
160px-Umbrella_Falls%2C_Mt
160px-Umbrella_Falls%2C_Mt
250px-Meadow_on_the_Umbrella_Falls_Trail
250px-Meadow_on_the_Umbrella_Falls_Trail
250px-Towhead_babies%2C_Mt
250px-Towhead_babies%2C_Mt
250px-Upper_Heather_Creek_Falls%2C_Timberline_Trail
250px-Upper_Heather_Creek_Falls%2C_Timberline_Trail
250px-Clark2
250px-Clark2
250px-LambersonSpur
250px-LambersonSpur
400px-ClarkCanyonHood
400px-ClarkCanyonHood
TKO put tools to trail here.png
TKO put tools to trail here.png