Recommended Mt Hood day hike in March

Trip recommendations, current conditions, and other trail related Q&A
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palettblad
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Recommended Mt Hood day hike in March

Post by palettblad » January 30th, 2023, 5:25 am

Hi all,

I'm visiting Portland for a conference in mid-March this year (I live in Sweden), and I would love to take the chance to go out to Mt Hood Forest Park and do a day hike. I've googled a lot and found this site https://www.travel-experience-live.com/ ... st-oregon/. I like the looks of the Tom, Dick and Harry Mountain Trail, but imagine it will be covered in snow at that time of the year...

So I'm looking for recommendations on hikes of around 9-10 miles (elevation may vary, I'm a rather experienced hiker), that are not covered in snow in mid-March. Maybe I'm asking for too much, but it would be amazing to do a day hike before the conference starts.

Best regards,
Julia

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teachpdx
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Re: Recommended Mt Hood day hike in March

Post by teachpdx » January 30th, 2023, 8:29 am

For mid-March you'll likely need to stick to lower elevations and in the valleys to avoid snow. One of my favorites around that time of year is Salmon River, which can be done as linked below or keep going to add more miles.
https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guid ... River_Hike

Another one is the 'other' Eagle Creek.
https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guid ... erry)_Hike

Unfortunately not much in the way of views on these hikes, but great for experiencing the forest.

Tom, Dick, and Harry is a very popular snowshoe destination and has fantastic views in clear weather. It can also be done in boots (with spikes) if it hasn't snowed in awhile and the snowpack has consolidated. It's quite easy to find a snowshoe rental if you want to make the trek up TD&H.

Long story short, if your hiking day is forecast to be cloudy/rainy, choose one of the valley hikes above. If it will be clear and sunny, go up TD&H on snowshoes for the views.
instagram: @remyodyssey

justpeachy
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Re: Recommended Mt Hood day hike in March

Post by justpeachy » January 30th, 2023, 8:37 am

March is spring in Portland, but up on Mt. Hood it's still very much winter. Snow doesn't melt up there until June or July most years.

You might be better off visiting the Columbia River Gorge, where there are a lot of low-elevation trails accessible in March. A popular and scenic trail is Eagle Creek (different from the Eagle Creek mentioned by teachpdx above). You won't see any mountains, but you'll see waterfalls and spectacular scenery. It does get busy and crowded on weekends, though.

https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guid ... Falls_Hike

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teachpdx
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Re: Recommended Mt Hood day hike in March

Post by teachpdx » January 30th, 2023, 10:47 am

I certainly debated on initially recommending the Gorge due to season, but it's so stupidly crowded. The options around Mt. Hood are certainly limited in March, but there are enough trail miles available to avoid massive crowds without donning snowshoes.

I haven't hiked anywhere in the Gorge west of Hood River in nearly 20 years (since Boy Scout days) because it's simply overrun with humanity. But if you are fine with encountering other people every few minutes and zero solitude, the Gorge does have some fantastic scenery with dozens of route possibilities in March.

Another early season recommendation would be the Coldwater Lake area around Mt. St. Helens, the lake was created by the 1980 eruption and the landscape is otherworldly... if we end up with a below average snowpack it should be pretty close to snow-free by mid-March.

https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guid ... _Loop_Hike
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Aimless
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Re: Recommended Mt Hood day hike in March

Post by Aimless » January 30th, 2023, 10:59 am

Just to emphasize what has been said in other replies, in past decades, before snow depth info began to be collected via telemetry from permanent measurement stations, the state government would send all its hydrologists out with long poles to collect snow depth measurements so that dam operators would know how much water to expect when it all melted. Traditionally April 1st was always considered the date when the Cascades had accumulated their deepest snowpack of the year, so those measurements were considered the most accurate for forecasting. So, mid-March is just about the time when Mt Hood's trails are the most snow-covered of the entire year. For snow-free hiking at that time you'll probably need to stay below 2500 ft of elevation, but that changes from year to year and from one location to another. :)

palettblad
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Re: Recommended Mt Hood day hike in March

Post by palettblad » January 31st, 2023, 3:24 am

Thank you so much everyone for your replies! I realise I was a bit optimistic hoping for snow-free trails. I might go to the the Gorge (it won't be during the weekend so it might be less crowded), or go towards the coast instead and find a hike there. Anyway I'm really eager to do a hike in Oregon, the landscape looks truly amazing.

squidvicious
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Re: Recommended Mt Hood day hike in March

Post by squidvicious » January 31st, 2023, 9:53 am

Hiking / running in the gorge around Multnomah Falls is my regular morning fitness routine. Ie, I have been there in the last twenty years, and I get plenty of solitude. Of course you can go there, especially on a weekday morning in the off season--with the only caveat that you may be running into spring breakers then, so it's maybe not fully off season. If you want to do that, just try to hit it as early as you can, ideally arriving by 8 or so, and if you're doing the Multnomah-Wahkeena loop start from Multnomah Falls since that's the part that's going to get the most crowded as the day goes on.

If you do want to head towards the mountain though, as suggested Salmon River should be a solid option for driveable roads and bootable trails. There's actually two options, the one linked above and a shorter section
https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guid ... River_Hike

Wherever you wind up going, even the lower trails, just make sure to check conditions before you head out. Even just a little ways into the gorge can be very different conditions than in town. I'm reminded of the group of spring break kids from Texas several years back who were completely unprepared for snow in March. Despite finding a lot of it at Multnomah Falls they pressed on anyway until it was too difficult to backtrack. One wound up breaking through a snow bridge and sliding down in to the creek, and they all had to be rescued. Don't do that.

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Charley
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Re: Recommended Mt Hood day hike in March

Post by Charley » January 31st, 2023, 12:31 pm

palettblad wrote:
January 31st, 2023, 3:24 am
I might go to the the Gorge (it won't be during the weekend so it might be less crowded)...
I regularly visit the Gorge on weekdays and it's not that crowded, at least to my taste.
Believe it or not, I barely ever ride a mountain bike.

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oldandslow
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Re: Recommended Mt Hood day hike in March

Post by oldandslow » February 13th, 2023, 3:50 pm

If you don't mind driving about 2 1/2 hours each way you could go to Smith Rock for hiking. No problem with snow and a nice drive over Mt. Hood. You can look it up on the internet--It is mostly known for rock climbing but has some very nice trails of varying difficulty
On the other hand you could do the Columbia Gorge by car rather than going on a long hike. My grandmother was born in Sweden and moved to the US with her family as a young girl. In about 1928 my grandfather took the family on a grand tour of Europe. When I asked my grandmother many years later what she saw that she liked best on the trip, she told me it was the train ride down the Columbia Gorge on the way home. If you were to tour the Gorge by car, you could continue on to do the Mt. Hood loop and stop at Timberline lodge. On a nice day Timberline Lodge offers wonderful views of Mt. Hood and the Cascades to the south. Probably not a good time of the year to walk around in the snow.

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oldandslow
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Re: Recommended Mt Hood day hike in March

Post by oldandslow » February 15th, 2023, 9:02 am

For a March day hike you should check out Silver Falls State Park--not a bad drive, lots of nice waterfalls and well-maintained trails.

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