2.4 hr
Overview
The Three Corner Rock-Birkenfeld Mountain ridge runs above the headwaters of Hamilton Creek and the forested valley of Rock Creek. Most of the area was scoured by the 1902 Yacolt Burn, and rotting snags from that era can still be seen today. The area is a mix of private and state forest land and was heavily logged before the burn and then in recent decades as conifer stands matured. Thus, most of this hike is along one of the least prepossessing stretches of the Pacific Crest Trail as you pass into and out of clearcuts, including one vast expanse on the northwest slope of Birkenfeld Mountain. While Three Corner Rock offers expansive views, and can be done at the beginning or end of the hike, Birkenfeld Mountain, the highest peak on the ridgeline that extends to Table Mountain, has a forested summit with the best views extending to the east. The Birkenfeld Mountain summit ridge is also a bushwhack, sometimes through tangles of vine maple, so those who are uncomfortable with going off-trail should stay on the PCT. Walk up the Pacific Crest Trail leading from the same side of the road as the parking pullout. A large caution sign warns descending hikers of truck activity on the road. This is secondary Douglas-fir/western hemlock woodland with rotting old-growth stumps. Switchback up as noble and silver firs enter the forest mix, and then switchback again at a view to Mount Adams. Make two more switchbacks before the trail levels and reaches the large signpost at the Pacific Crest-Three Corner Rock Trail Junction. Go right here, and hike up through the huckleberries and bracken before gradually dropping in a forest of young conifers. You’ll pass a “Water Trough” sign lying in the bear-grass: a spur trail here takes you to a leaking galvanized tub fed by a hose spouting spring water. Continuing on the main trail, reach an abandoned 4WD road bed and go right. The road bed becomes extremely rubbly and gullied as you rise to an open windswept ridge with a communication tower on your left and the rocky pyramid of Thre
Trail Stats
0.0 km
708 m
1146 m
0 m
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Photos
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400px-BirkenfeldThreeCornerRockMap
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250px-Huckleberry-bear-grass_woods%2C_Birkenfeld_Ridge%2C_Pacific_Crest_Trail
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250px-Three_Corner_Rock_from_the_comm
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250px-Sunlight_on_the_trail%2C_Pacific_Crest_Trail
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