1.5 hr
Overview
The Mirror Lake Trail is one of those trails which suffers from an abundance of love, due in large part to its convenient location right off of Highway 26. The attention is well-deserved: The always well-graded route takes you past a picture-postcard view of Mount Hood from Mirror Lake and then enters the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness to ascend to the magnificent vistas from rugged Tom Dick and Harry Mountain. Most hikers go far as as the westernmost prominence on the ridge (Harry), but the new location of the Mirror Lake Trailhead near Ski Bowl West also makes a loop more palatable as hikers will no longer have to hike down Highway 26 to reach their vehicles. From the plaza at the parking area, find the paved ADA trail that leads down a slope behind the restrooms. Six winding switchbacks descend to a wide footbridge over Camp Creek, where the paved section ends. You're in a secondary forest of Douglas-fir, western hemlock, silver fir, noble fir, and western red-cedar. Before Camp Creek, a pole-and-rail barrier prevents shortcutting at a switchback. After Camp Creek, you're on a wide machine-built trail. Cross two footbridges over seasonally dry gullies. The next bridge crosses the creek that drains the Comerford Lakes. Rise gradually to cross more footbridges over trickling creeks that feed small bogs below. Rhododendrons enter the understory, and you'll see springboard notches on rotting stumps. The trail undulates along, passing over more bridges, and soon crosses Mirror Lake Creek. Cross an old logging road, and then bend sharp left to rise steeply and intersect the old tread which came up from the U.S. 26 trailhead. Whole trees have been felled over this path to decommission it. Switchback on the narrower old tread, and pass a vine maple-verged patch of talus. Walk on another old logging road for a few yards, pass through a devil's club thicket, and switchback up twice to where a new pole-and-rail fence prevents cutting corners. Reach the Mirror Lake-Mirror Lake Shore Trail North Junction, and g
Trail Stats
0.0 km
445 m
0 m
0 m
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Photos
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250px-MirrorLakeAlpenglow
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500px-HoodZigzagPanSmall