McGee Creek Trail to Timberline Trail, Mt. Hood

[Aimless]

I hiked the McGee Creek Trail up to the Timberline Trail on Tuesday (7/19/16). Because it is a less-known and little used trailhead I thought I'd write a brief trail report to introduce it to OH.org hikers.

The trailhead is located beyond Lolo Pass, if you are coming up from Zigzag. As you reach the pass and the junction with the PCT, you turn right onto what is currently designated as Road 18 (but older maps show as Road 1810). You drive down this road for less than 2 miles to the first road junction on the right. There is a sign posted for McGee Creek trailhead. Turn right and proceed on a narrow, rocky, but passenger car-drivable road for about 0.2 miles to a small parking area.

The McGee Creek trail itself starts out fairly level for maybe 1/4 mile, then starts to climb steadily, occasionally steeply, through mature hemlock forest with rhodies and huckleberry as the understory, for about another mile to a junction with the Timberline Trail, on the back side of Bald Mountain. The tread is in good shape. The trail probably sees almost no maintenance, but there are only a few downed trees, none a problem, and one brief stretch near the top that's been gullied by water. Other than that, the only issue is that the underbrush is encroaching on the narrow trail and if it were wet you'd be receiving a lot of water off it. Incidentally, the trail travels nowhere near to McGee Creek; it runs along the top of a ridgeline well away from the creek.

Once you connect with the Timberline trail, you can turn left and proceed about 3 miles to Cairn Basin, which is what I did. There's a lot of blooming beargrass right now as you get near the junction with the Mazama Trail. Some avalanche lilies, too. I saw at least a couple of dozen hikers on the Timberline Trail. I saw no hikers at all on the McGee Creek Trail. It's a nice alternative access route to get up close to the mountain.

[adamschneider]

I've never heard of anyone actually taking that trail, because both the drive and the hike are longer than from Top Spur. Did you happen to record a GPS track?

[mattisnotfrench]

I've never heard of anyone actually taking that trail, because both the drive and the hike are longer than from Top Spur. Did you happen to record a GPS track?

I did this trail a few years ago just because I'd never heard of anyone doing it. We were going to McNeil Point. I've attached my track.

Track_MCNEIL PT VIA McGee Creek.gpx

(222.18 KiB) Downloaded 247 times

[retired jerry]

I've done it before, like maybe once. Good alternative when Top Spur is super busy. Same distance.

I wonder if your car is safer there? Fewer cars so maybe bad guys don't bother going there? Fewer cars so bad guys prefer there because less likely to be disturbed?

[rainrunner]

That was our 'go to' trail when the kids were young. We would hike up to bald mountain to camp near the cut-off trail on Bald Mountain, there was a very large boulder along the Timberline trail that we would sit on and enjoy the view of Mt Hood.... that rock is no longer there, probably somewhere down in the canyon. We choose this trail head because we felt it was remote enough from the Lolo Pass intersection that there was little chance of car vandalism.
But that is blown now.

The only disadvantage, is that sometimes big rocks fall down on the road leading into the trail head.

[miah66]

I got a pic of the TH sign!

[acorn woodpecker]

Well, now that the cat's out of the bag...

This is my go-to access point to McNeil/Cairn Basin/Bald Mtn. Never seen anyone on the trail and never more than 2-3 vehicles at the trailhead. Once there were some folks dispersed camping at the trailhead, too. Like rain runner, it's a great spot to start with kids and do a little Bald Mtn circuit.

Yes, it's a tad longer than Top Spur. Yes, it's got more elevation gain. Nonetheless, I always felt it was more worth it than Top Spur.

I've always been curious to continue on the old road grade the trail initially follows before it forks to the east and gains the ridge. It might provide access to McGee Creek but is likely a schwack, being an old road now re-vegetated.