Old Skyline Trail Loop Hike

Overview

The Oregon Skyline Trail, a precursor to the Pacific Crest Trail, was originally designed to run from Mount Hood to Crater Lake. In the 1930s, extensions took the trail to the Columbia River Gorge and the California border. One such section north from Lost Lake is unmaintained but still hikeable (see the Lake Branch Hike). Another section is a reroute away from the shore of Lost Lake that runs from north to south crossing the Lost Lake Butte Trail. This section of the Old Skyline Trail offers a shady respite from the hubbub at the lake itself. The return part of the loop can take you back to the Old Skyline North Trailhead via the east shore of Lost Lake and the Lake Branch Trail. The Old Skyline North Trailhead can be used to access any part of the Lost Lake area if you don’t want to pay the entrance fee to the Lost Lake Resort. This hike can be combined with other short hikes in the area, including the Lost Lake Butte Hike, the Lost Lake Loop Hike, the Lake Branch Hike, and the Lost Lake Old Growth Loop Hike. Walk back to the junction from the parking pullout, and look to your right for a post marking the north end of this section of the Old Skyline Trail #655. The trail initially runs along the edge of a regenerating clearcut where rhododendrons and bear-grass bloom in early summer. After crossing a gravel road, you’ll enter an unlogged forest of Douglas-fir and western hemlock with a few silver firs. Huckleberries dominate the understory. You can see the tents in the campground’s C Loop below. Keep straight at the junction with the Lost Lake Butte Trail #616, and hike into younger conifers with a bear-grass/rhododendron understory. Two short switchbacks begin a gradual descent leading past a spur trail to the Lost Lake Horse Camp. Then you’ll come to the end of the Old Skyline Trail on Jones Creek Road. Keep straight to cross the road and follow gravel FR 1340-620. You’ll pass a couple of dispersed campsites before noting a signboard on the right for a short spur that leads to the Huckleberry Mountain

Trail Stats

Photos

350px-OldSkylineLoopMap2

350px-OldSkylineLoopMap2

250px-Rhododendron_bloom%2C_Lake_Branch_Trail%2C_Lost_Lake

250px-Rhododendron_bloom%2C_Lake_Branch_Trail%2C_Lost_Lake

250px-Sawtooth_Mountain_from_the_east_shore%2C_Lost_Lake

250px-Sawtooth_Mountain_from_the_east_shore%2C_Lost_Lake

250px-Skunk-cabbage_bog%2C_Huckleberry_Mountain_Trail%2C_Lost_Lake

250px-Skunk-cabbage_bog%2C_Huckleberry_Mountain_Trail%2C_Lost_Lake

400px-Rhododendrons%2C_Old_Skyline_Trail%2C_Lost_Lake

400px-Rhododendrons%2C_Old_Skyline_Trail%2C_Lost_Lake

Tags