Wizard Way Hike

Overview

The Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Area began an ambitious trails project in 2019 which extended into the “COVID summer” of 2020. By the summer of 2021, the trails had opened to the general public, with most of them below the Timberline Trail and connecting with that trail and the Forest Service’s Umbrella Falls Trail. However, two steep trails were also constructed up through the high alpine zone of the ski area, these being Lower Wizard Way and Middle Wizard Way. The terminus of the latter, a rough and sometimes indistinct route, is atop a bluff above the ski area’s highest chair lift and below the zone ski mountaineers call Super Bowl. You can continue even higher, another mile (one way) and 1,350 feet, until you reach an altitude of 9,000 feet and the very northwest corner of the Mt. Hood Meadows permit area. Make sure you print out your own copy of the Mt. Hood Meadows Summer Trails map before you leave home. In the field, the trails, which all have names, will be marked with numbers only. From the parking area, walk to the right of the South Lodge building. Just past the Stadium Express chairlift, you’ll see a large map of the summer hiking trails. Follow a gravel track towards Mount Hood, keeping straight at the Blue chairlift and then bearing right on Trail #1 (the Bear Grass Trail). You’ll cross a lush slope of mountain spiraea, willow, lupine, bird’s-foot trefoil, subalpine daisy, mariposa lily, and false hellebore among copses of mountain hemlock and subalpine fir. After it passes under a chairlift, the trail crosses a slope of bear-grass, fireweed, and huckleberry to enter mountain hemlock woods. Cross a gravel road, and begin a looping descent in and out of a ski glade, noting some impressive old-growth hemlocks and subalpine firs. When you reach the junction with the Bear Grass Cutoff Trail #2, head left up the slope. Pass into mountain hemlock woods, and switchback up a total of four times. You'll cross a couple of ski runs to get views to Mount Hood’s southeast face. Keep winding up to pass below a c

Trail Stats

Photos

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