Rogers Peak Loop Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Gilmore Creek Road Trailhead
- End point: Rogers Peak
- Hike Type: Loop
- Distance: 7.1 miles
- Elevation gain: 1065 feet
- High Point: 3,706 feet
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Seasons: Spring into fall
- Family Friendly: No
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: No
Contents |
Hike Description
At 3,706 feet, Rogers Peak is the highest summit in the northern Coast Range of Oregon as well as the high point of Tillamook County. It also has the greatest prominence of any peak in the Coast Range except for Marys Peak. There are no trails here, but roads will take you close. The catch is that it’s on private timberland, but to their credit Hampton Lumber (Hampton Family Forests) allows public access by foot or on horseback. That said, if you want to avoid logging activity or road work, it’s best to do this outing on a weekend. The peak is named after Nelson Rogers, the Oregon State Forester in the 1940s who was tasked with replanting the Tillamook Burn.
After you pass around the gate, you’ll see a Hampton notice on a tree outlining restrictions for public visitors. The road rises to a major junction, which is the close of the loop described here. The shorter way to Rogers Peak is to go right, but for more views of a greater sweep of country stay left on Gilmore Creek Road. Steep drainages of the tributaries of Rogers Creek plunge below you as you get views west to Triangulation Point. Many of these slopes are clearcut, which is what provides the expansive vistas. Young Douglas-fir, western hemlock, and noble fir are growing up on the clearcut hillside. After you cross a creek, the road rises a little to a saddle, where you’ll keep right on Doe Flat Road. Stay on this track as you pass by unlogged forest on the left with some larger noble firs. Some alders fringe the logging road.
At a five-way junction, turn right on what is known as the Standard Grade Road. You’ll soon notice the distinctive double humps of Saddle Mountain to the north with Humbug Mountain to its left. Stay on this main road below a clearcut on the north slope of Rogers Peak. Streams splash down this hillside into culverts. At a major junction, keep right (there’s a gravel pile up the road to your left). Saddle Mountain reappears behind a clearcut knoll. Soon, you’ll come to another junction, where you should go head right and uphill. (Keeping left will take you 0.8 miles down to little Blue Lake, source of the North Fork Wilson River.)
Stay right at the next junction as you head steeply up to soon get views of Mount Saint Helens and Goat Rocks between two prominences on the ridge above the headwaters of the North Fork Wilson. The saddle between these two knolls was logged in 2020. As you get higher, the long rugged north ridge of Kings Mountain appears above the North Fork. Round the nose of a ridge at a small quarry, and you’ll see Rogers Peak’s green toupee above a clearcut spilling down its west slope. Keep right on the main track and walk up towards the summit area. The road turns away from the north knoll on the ridge, which has been left with a small stand of conifers. As you traverse below the ridge, views open up across the clearcut to Mount Adams and Mount Rainier as well as Mount Hood to the east. The road turns into an unlogged forest with larger noble firs and huckleberry and bear-grass along the verge. Keep rising along the summit ridge until the point where the road begins to drop.
Here, an abandoned debris-strewn track leads up to the right. Follow this to its end and then make the short bushwhack to the actual summit, a mossy cluster of rocks with no views. Under one of the rocks, you’ll find summit registers in jars covered by red-painted tin cans.
Return to Rogers Peak Road, and continue downhill, getting a glimpse of Kings Mountain at south end of its long ridge. From a saddle, there’s a great unobstructed view north to (right to left) Saddle Mountain, Humbug Mountain, Onion Peak, West Onion Peak, and Angora Peak. The road rises and then descends, with Neahkahnie Mountain and the Pacific Ocean appearing to the left of Angora Peak. Far to the southwest is the long, low block of Mount Hebo. The road drops steeply with tall trees again on both sides.
At a five-way junction, make a sharp right and walk above the headwaters bowl of Morris Creek. You should be able to see your vehicle across the drainage now. Morris Creek splashes noisily through a culvert, and then the road drops steeply to the road junction above the gate. Turn left to reach your car.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Oregon Department of Forestry: Tillamook State Forest Map & Guide
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Access permitted sunrise to sunset only
- Respect all other Hampton Lumber rules
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Rogers Peak Loop Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Rogers Peak Loop Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Day Hikes in the Pacific Northwest by Don J. Scarmuzzi
More Links
- Rogers Peak (OR) (Summit Post)
- Roger’s Peak (Forest Hiker)
- Rogers Peak, OR | August 2018 (pnwSOTA)
- Rogers Peak (Wikipedia)
Contributors
- bobcat (creator)