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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Magnificent Mount Hood: Recreational opportunities abound

A side trail at the Wildwood Recreation Site provides an underwater view of a salmon spawning stream where Salmon fingerlings can be seen and occasionally an adult will be seen migrating upstream coming from the ocean. (Timberline Lodge Mount Hood, Oregon)
A side trail at the Wildwood Recreation Site provides an underwater view of a salmon spawning stream where Salmon fingerlings can be seen and occasionally an adult will be seen migrating upstream coming from the ocean. (Timberline Lodge Mount Hood, Oregon)
Mike Brodwater

Mount Hood dominates the landscape of northwest Oregon.

The 11,245-foot dormant volcano is one of several permanently white sentinels that divide Washington and Oregon into Eastern and Western, along with fellow volcanoes Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, and Mount St. Helens.

Hood is considered dormant, but as St. Helens demonstrated, these volcanoes can become active. Two hundred years ago when the first pioneers settled in the area, ash and flowing lava erupted from the Hood. It has been dormant since and has become an outstanding recreational location.

This territory is definitely Portland’s playground. There are numerous campsites, RV parks, motels, restaurants, golf courses and condos to ensure a comfortable get-away. Plus, small gateway towns leading up to the mountain offer full services for visiting tourists. Beside the stunning scenery, the area’s big draw is outdoor recreation.

Snow sports

Hood offers the longest North American ski and snowboard season. Yep, you can put on shorts, T-shirt and sunglasses in July and August and ski all day. It’s the only place in the lower 48 states that offers that length of service. In the winter the terrain has 3,690 vertical feet and in the summer the vertical drop is 2,616. In the winter there are five high speed quads, one triple and one double. The lifts can provide service to 9,869 people per hour.

Timberline Lodge

Timberline Lodge, located at the 6,000 foot level on the snowy, steep slope of Mount Hood, is a good reason to travel there even if you don’t ski. More than 1 million visitors each year make the drive to this historic hotel, making it one of the most popular sites in Oregon. Driving the paved road leading up to the hotel is jaw-droppingly spectacular. Hood’s bright white slopes dominate the horizon even as the road climbs closer to the top. The same route used to be a toll road that the wagon trains on the Oregon Trail had to cross before reaching their final destination in the Willamette Valley.

The lodge is a historic treasure. It was built during the Depression, with federal funds from the Works Progress Administration. However, much of the finish work was done and paid for by the state of Oregon. Using local rock and timber materials, hundreds of skilled and unskilled laborers finished the job in 1937. The lodge represents the best WPA project in Oregon.

Migrating salmon

An easy and wheelchair-accessible hike is near the small town of Welches. Developed and managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the Wildwood Recreation Site offers 550 acres of paved and wooden boardwalks along the Salmon River. There are interpretive signs throughout the park explaining the interesting life cycle of salmon.

There is an underwater viewing window where fingerling salmon can be seen, and sometimes a returning adult coho salmon swimming upstream. Other salmon (chinook and winter steelhead) may be seen spawning in the main river. This Pacific Northwest natural event of these large fish somehow struggling back to the same location where they were hatched after spending their life in the ocean is a fascinating experience.