4.0 hr
Overview
The loop up and over Cedar Mountain takes in some of the territory south of Table Mountain in the Columbia River Gorge. Since the closure of the Bonneville Hot Springs Resort & Spa in January 2017, the approach just got much longer and necessitates using the Pacific Crest Trail from the Bonneville Trailhead. Once you are in the Cedar Mountain area, the trails are all unofficial and there are no junction signs. While you're mostly in shady woodland, there's a diversion to Cedar Falls (best seen in the rainy season) and, higher up on Cedar Ridge, there is an excellent viewpoint. You may, of course, extend the loop by continuing to the summit ridge of Table Mountain via the West Way Trail. Note that Foundations Recovery Network, the new owners of the former Bonneville Hot Springs Resort & Spa, are sensitive to the recent and sudden decommissioning of the Dick Thomas Trailhead and are partnering with Bonneville Trails Foundation to develop closer trailhead access. However, those options are not available for the short term, so the Bonneville Trailhead is the only option for now. The hike starts at the Bonneville Trailhead, on the Tamanous Trail. Ta-mah-no-ous is a Native American word translated roughly as "vision quest". Young men proved their readiness to be adults by going on a search for guardian spirits. From the parking lot, you start out on a gravel road, but quickly divert up a wooded path that starts straight uphill (Incidentally, if you continue down the gravel road another 100 yards, you'll see where the nearby train track enters a tunnel). It won't be long before you have a nice viewpoint to the south overlooking the river just east of the Bonneville Dam. There won't be much more in the way of views for a while. It is somewhere in this trail section where the route crosses over the top of the aforementioned tunnel...but you'll be hard-pressed to see where! After a little more than half a mile from the trailhead, you'll come to a junction with the Pacific Crest Trail. Turn left and you'll be heading
Trail Stats
0.0 km
1210 m
0 m
0 m
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Photos
600px-CedarMountainLoopMap
600px-CedarMountainLoopMap
160px-Cedar_Falls%2C_Cedar_Creek
160px-Cedar_Falls%2C_Cedar_Creek
250px-Oaks_on_ridge%2C_Cedar_Mountain
250px-Oaks_on_ridge%2C_Cedar_Mountain
250px-Cedar_Creek_at_the_winter_crossing
250px-Cedar_Creek_at_the_winter_crossing
250px-Vine_maple_%28Acer_circinatum%29
250px-Vine_maple_%28Acer_circinatum%29
250px-Table_Mountain_from_Carpenters_Lake
250px-Table_Mountain_from_Carpenters_Lake
250px-Gillette_Lake%2C_Bonneville_Slide
250px-Gillette_Lake%2C_Bonneville_Slide
400px-Sacajawea_and_Papoose_from_Cedar_Ridge
400px-Sacajawea_and_Papoose_from_Cedar_Ridge