Red Mountain Add-on Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Indian Racetrack-Racetrack Shortcut Trail Junction
- End Point: Red Mountain Lookout
- Trail Log:
- Hike Type: In and out
- Distance: 1.6 miles
- Elevation gain: 705 feet
- High Point: 4,965 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: Summer into Fall
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: No
Contents |
Description
This short add-on hike is done from the Indian Racetrack in the Indian Heaven Wilderness. The mountain is red. It was originally a shield volcano that spewed lava up to 170,000 years ago, but a few thousand years later cinder cones developed along its flanks and gave the mountain its current shape. The views range up the spine of Indian Heaven to Rainier, Adams, and St. Helens as well as south to the Oregon Cascades. The lookout here, the last in the Mt. Adams Ranger District, was severely damaged in a windstorm in December 2006 and was repaired over the next four years. You cannot enter the lookout (unless someone lets you in) and the road to the lookout is closed to the public to prevent vandalism.
From the Indian Racetrack-Racetrack Shortcut Trail Junction in the Racetrack Meadow, head south into mountain hemlock/silver fir woods, soon passing an interesting four-trunked silver fir and then a very large tree of the same species. There’s a short, steep section and then a level traverse. The trail hooks to the right up a pumice slope with great views back to snow-covered Mount Adams. Juniper and pinemat manzanita as well as lodgepole pine, mountain hemlock, noble fir and western white pine grow here. Pass a wilderness sign and head very steeply up the pumice to Road 6048 and a wilderness permit box. Go right on the road, which switchbacks up to the Red Mountain Lookout. The views from here are spectacular: Mount Hood, Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, Mount Saint Helens and the spine of Indian Heaven from Berry Mountain to Bird Mountain and Lemei Rock.
Return the way you came to the junction in the Indian Racetrack Meadow and thence back to your trailhead.
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Self-issued wilderness permit
- No entry to the lookout cabin
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Green Trails Maps: Wind River, WA #397
- Indian Heaven (USFS)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Mt. Adams Wilderness, Indian Heaven Wilderness, Trapper Creek Wilderness
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Mt. Adams Ranger District
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Red Mountain Add-on Hike
- Snow in Bigfoot's Backyard - Red Mountain/PCT Loop: 11-22-14
- New Years Eve in Heaven: Snowcamping on Red Mountain: 12/31
- Red Mountain via Indian Racetrack via PCT - 8/24/2014
- Red Mtn / Indian Race Track Loop 13-Apr-2014
- Red Mountain Lookout ski trip
- Icy Indian Racetrack and Red Mtn add-on: 11-29-13
- Red Mountain Lookout
- Indian Heaven (Red Mtn) 31-Aug-2011
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Red Mountain Add-on Hike
Guidebooks that cover this destination
- PDX Hiking 365 by Matt Reeder
- Skamania 231: A Scrambler's Guide by Kelly Wagner
- Washington's South Cascades Volcanic Landscapes by Marge & Ted Mueller
- 33 Hiking Trails: Southern Washington Cascades by Don & Roberta Lowe
- Indian Heaven Back Country by Mel Hansen
- Day Hiking: South Cascades by Dan A. Nelson & Alan L. Bauer
- Take a Hike: Portland by Barbara I. Bond
More Links
- Trail #171 Indian Race Track (USFS)
- Indian Heaven Wilderness (USFS)
- "Gifford Pinchot National Forest completes Red Mountain Lookout restoration" (OregonLive)
Page Contributors
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