Zigzag Overlook Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Timberline Lodge Trailhead
- Ending Point: Zigzag Overlook
- Trail Log: Trail Log
- Distance: 4.4 miles round-trip
- Elevation gain: 400 feet
- High Point: 6000 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: Summer and early Fall
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: Yes - follows the Timberline Trail
- Crowded: Yes, especially summer weekends
Contents |
Description
The Zigzag Overlook from Timberline Lodge Hike is a fairly easy hike that gives you a good feel for the alpine areas of Mount Hood. This is a nice hike for visitors to Timberline Lodge that aren't into a major hike. For a longer hike see Paradise Park from Timberline Lodge Hike.
There is a maze of nature trails surrounding Timberline Lodge. Pick any on the east side of the lodge, and climb uphill to the generally well-signed Timberline Trail (no. 600), which is also the Pacific Crest Trail (no. 2000) along this stretch. Turn left, and pass above the lodge and under chairlifts as the trail gradually descends through meadows. Though the cliffs of Mount Hood are ever-present above, the view also includes Mount Jefferson and the Three Sisters, to the south.
At 1.2 miles, the trail makes a brief descent into rocky Little Zigzag Canyon, an easy, bridgeless crossing. For the next mile, the trail descends into forest, passing the Hidden Lake Trail (#779) on the left. There is a campsite (but no drinking water) below the trail just before this junction. There's another campsite (with no drinking water) below the trail in another 0.1 mile.
The Timberline Trail then curves across a series off sloping meadows before suddenly reaching Zigzag Overlook, the lip of gaping Zigzag Canyon at 2.2 miles. The view includes the meadows of Paradise Park, across the canyon, and rugged Mississippi Head, the mesa-like formation at the head of the canyon.
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- Splintercat (Tom Kloster) (primary)
- User:Retiredjerry