Best Easy Access Newt Sight Seeing?

[BassMasterK]

We have some visitors coming from Japan and one of their sons is a huge bird and amphibian fan. He specifically asked if we could go someplace where he could see newts. I have backpacked at lakes that have a bunch but we need to keep the trip to something with easy access, think Mirror Lake or less. They are only here for a couple of days so a massive hike would not work well with all the other site seeing they want to do.

I was hoping to find something in the Mt Hood area with some views for the rest of the folks, but I haven't spent much time recently at the easier access lakes. Does anyone have a suggestion for a spot where we would be pretty much guaranteed to see some? Timeframe is end of August.

[pcg]

Nothing is a guarantee and this isn't near Mt. Hood, but if they're going to visit the coast you might check out Hebo Lake. No hiking necessary and years ago our family always saw massive amounts of rough-skinned newts there.

[justpeachy]

I remember seeing newts at Burnt Lake once.

[Waffle Stomper]

I've seen them at Lost Lake too, and if you don't see them, it's still a nice destination.

[Thuja]

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[BassMasterK]

Thank you all for the suggestions. This is very helpful! It sounds like we may have missed their main season but we can give it a shot and see if we can get lucky.

[greenjello85]

Frog lake has a fair amount of newts. You can drive right up to the lake but there's a trail around it.

[teachpdx]

Soapstone Lake, on the way out to the Coast. Combine it with a trip to the beach... it's a one mile hike in, and I saw dozens of newts only a few weeks ago.

[BassMasterK]

I want to thank everyone again for the suggestions. As it turned out, my friends stay was a day shorter than either of us realized until they were actually here so we had to ditch the lake visit. However, on the trip to Multnomah Falls and the gorge lookouts, we stopped at Dalton Point which was almost completely deserted. We were walking along and low and behold, we came across the largest salamander I have ever seen. It was roughly 12" long, bigger than the two Northwest Barking Salamanders I have seen in NorCal. Doing some research I'm wondering if they are all part of the same family, or even the same?

Our friend's son was in heaven checking it out. It literally was the highlight of the trip for him. My wife took some video but if she has a picture I'll see if I can upload it.

[BassMasterK]

Soapstone Lake, on the way out to the Coast. Combine it with a trip to the beach... it's a one mile hike in, and I saw dozens of newts only a few weeks ago.

I wasn't even aware of that lake and it is in a great location. I'll definitely check that one out. My own son would love to do some newt sight seeing.