Umbrella Falls Loop Hike

Overview

This family-friendly loop in the vicinity of Hood River Meadows on the slopes below the Mt. Hood Meadows ski area offers a display of wildflowers in July and August as well as a visit to two popular waterfalls, Umbrella and Sahale Falls. It's a fine choice even when the upper slopes of Mount Hood are concealed by clouds. The route is described as an anticlockwise loop from the Elk Meadows Trailhead. Since these trails are outside the Mt. Hood Wilderness, note that you'll be sharing the trails with mountain bikers. 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 junction with the Umbrella Falls Trail, and go left. Immediately begin climbing around a rocky bluff where there are some impressive mountain hemlocks, passing under the first of several chairlifts that crisscross the area. In summer, lupine, golden pea, aster, subalpine daisy, and paintbrush bloom here. You'll get a view of Hood River Meadows spreading out below. Switchback on an old road bed, and then resume the trail, which here can be riddled with mountain beaver burrows. Pass under a ski lift, getting a view up to Mount Hood, and then cross three small creeks, where you can look for Cascade frogs, blooming orchids, and monkey flower. Cross another ski run, pass the junction with Mt. Hood Meadows' Umbrella Cutoff Trail #4, and descend to another creek where groundsel, heliotrope, and false hellebore bloom. Reach the junction with the trail to Sahale Falls at the 1.7 mile mark. You'll return to this junction to complete the loop, but first keep straight, and at 2.0 miles, reach graceful Umbrella Falls. The footbridge across the East Fork makes for a nice lunch spot. Kids will have fun exploring the slow, clear pool below

Trail Stats

Photos

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400px-UmbrellaFallsMap

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250px-HoodRiverMeadows

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250px-SahalieFalls

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250px-Lupine

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400px-UmbrellaFalls

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