Seven Mile Hill - 4/25/09

[Gray Jay]

We hiked a large loop on Seven Mile Hill, outside The Dalles, going up the western side, pausing for lunch at the ridge top but tucked down out of the fierce northwest wind, and then returning down the east side. Many wildflowers in bloom, with balsamroot at its peak. Lupine is a little behind schedule this spring so it is only blooming on the lower slope.

[OneSpeed]

That is some SERIOUS balsamroot! Where is this place?

[justpeachy]

Beautiful! On Saturday I drove Seven Mile Hill Road (also called Pioneer Road, Military Road, and Old Mosier Road according to Google Maps!) between The Dalles and Mosier. I saw lots of wildflowers, but I thought the land was all private farmland. I didn't know there was public land there to tromp around on or I would have gone exploring. Were you headed cross country or were there actual trails?

[chameleon]

That's a gorgeous balsom root bloom. Hopefully Dog mtn will look that way in a week or two. I've got to start checking some of these other balsom covered slopes such as that out too. You and Just Peachy have found a couple of wonderful spots it seems.
-Zach

[Delfiin]

I was thinking of heading out that direction this weekend, but I can't find anything about a hike or trail in that area. Where did you start? Were you mostly along the road? Fill us in on all the details!

[Jane]

I hiked this area with my friend from Hood River last year - alot of it IS private land, he used discretion or had permission. Alot of it is cross crountry too, no trail. We did a car shuttle, starting from across from The Dalles Discovery Center, and one car at Rowena-McCall.

[Gray Jay]

The area of Seven Mile Hill where we hiked is national Forest Service land. There are not any trails, signs or posted boundaries so you need to know where the private land is to stay legal. I learned about it years ago on a Friends of the Gorge hike. We parked outside the gate of the Wasco County gravel pit on Seven Mile Hill Road and walked up and around the right side of the gravel pit and then up the slopes to the ridge crest, crossed over and back down the other side, crossing the upper part of a canyon on the return. There is now a public easement across private land near the top of the ridge that follows a primitive road going west to link to Tom McCall Point so you can do the hike-through that Jane described. Best to do this one for the first time with someone who knows "what's what." Very long-term plans are to have an actual trail from the Discovery Center to Rowena Plateau.

[kepPNW]

There is now a public easement across private land near the top of the ridge that follows a primitive road going west to link to Tom McCall Point so you can do the hike-through that Jane described.

Anyone have any contacts or information regarding this easement? I was envisioning Jane's route last week, as I was there, and would love to do it without fear of being shot.

[drm]

Note: it's in the Field Guide. But where it says 2.1 miles, I think it is 1.2 miles.

[kepPNW]

There is now a public easement across private land near the top of the ridge that follows a primitive road going west to link to Tom McCall Point so you can do the hike-through that Jane described.

Anyone have any contacts or information regarding this easement? I was envisioning Jane's route last week, as I was there, and would love to do it without fear of being shot.

Note: it's in the Field Guide. But where it says 2.1 miles, I think it is 1.2 miles.

Yeah, noted, the directions in the Field Guide are definitely incorrect. (The last 2.1 mile stretch is exactly 1.0 miles, actually.)

The easement I was wondering about was along the ridgeline on top, from Sevenmile Hill over to Tom McCall Point.