Yellowjacket Viewpoint Hike

Overview

Most hikers use the 2.3 mile climb up the Oak Ridge Trail to reach Bald Butte and its wildflower meadows with expansive views. On this shorter hike, you'll turn south, instead of north, on the Surveyors Ridge Trail to a little-visited viewpoint above the Yellowjacket Creek drainage. While from here the only visible snow-capped peak is Mount Hood, you can see across the Hood River Valley to Mount Defiance, and the rocky viewpoint has a wildflower display all of its own. Obviously, you can also make the Yellowjacket Viewpoint an addition to the Bald Butte Hike, turning the excursion into 10.6 miles round-trip for the day. The hike begins on Hood River County property and travels on Oak Ridge Trail #688A through a former clearcut with young ponderosa pines, oaks and shrubs, such as serviceberry and flowering currant. Cross a road and switchback up three times in woods, make a traverse and switchback again. There’s another switchback at a meadow and then four more switchbacks in oak-fringed meadows. The trail enters Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, and oak woodland. Keep rising, and enter an open area with a view of Mount Hood. Balsamroot and Columbia desert parsley bloom here in the spring. There are several short switchbacks as you continue up the slope and enter mixed forest again. Pass a wooden gate and a fence line, and then switchback five more times into an open area with another full-on view of Mount Hood. Traverse up and switchback three more times in a forest of Douglas-fir, grand fir, and ponderosa pine with a carpet of Oregon grape. You will see the gray-green clumps of mistletoe on some of the branches. The trail crosses the 640 spur road, and reaches the Surveyors Ridge-Oak Ridge Trail Junction. Make a right here: it's only 1.2 miles to the Yellowjacket Viewpoint. The trail slowly rises in Douglas-fir, grand fir, and silver fir woods. In mid-spring, trilliums and toothwort begin to bloom along the path. These woods are dry, with quite a few diseased trees and lots of blowdown. The trail keeps winding u

Trail Stats

Photos

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