Wygant Peak Hike

Dog and Wind Mountains from the Wygant Trail (Tom Kloster)

The trip begins in the imposing shadow of Mitchell Point (Tom Kloster)

Pearhip rose (Rosa woodsii), Wygant Trail (bobcat)

One of Basil Clark's Chetwoot Loop signs along the way (Tom Kloster)

Oaks and balsam root above Perham Creek, Wygant Trail (bobcat)

The view west to distant Table Mountain from the Wygant Trail (Tom Kloster)

Orange honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa), Wygant Trail (bobcat)

Above the Upper Viewpoint, Wygant Trail (bobcat)

Start point: Mitchell Point Trailhead
End Point: Wygant Peak and Wygant Meadow
Trail Log:
Hike Type: Out and Back
Distance: 9.2 miles
Elevation gain: 2365 feet
High point: 2,214 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Seasons: all
Family Friendly: No
Backpackable: No
Crowded: Never

Falling

Poison-Oak

Ticks

This varied hike to Wygant Peak packs a lot of scenery into the four miles up to the summit, but it also happens to be in the heart of poison oak country. If you are especially sensitive to poison oak, consider doing this hike from October through early April, when the plants are still leafless and dormant. Long pants are essential during the growing season, and a pair of trekking poles will be invaluable in navigating (or pummeling) the stuff! When the trail was first created, there were numerous open vistas at various points, including the summit, but the coniferous forest grew up, and the trail deteriorated over time. Note, however, that Trailkeepers of Oregon crews have begun actively maintaining the tread, and the route is clear and easily followed compared to the past. The trip can be tailored to your ability or time constraints as there are several good turnaround points at views over the Columbia River Gorge. Also, there are 35 well-graded switchbacks, so the elevation gain never feels too onerous. The trail runs mostly through state park land, but the summit ridge at viewless Wygant Peak is in the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness. You can continue down from the peak a short distance to Wygant Meadow, which offers a sunny lunch spot and views west to Mount Defiance and Table Mountain.

The trip begins at the Mitchell Point Trailhead, located at Exit 58 on Interstate 84 eastbound. Take the entry drive downhill, and bear left on an abandoned section of the Historic Columbia River Highway. Pass two wooden bollards and an open gate at a Wygant Trail sign. The trail follows the old highway under a shady maple/Douglas-fir canopy for a quarter mile before a short segment veers off the highway grade to the left, crossing Mitchell Creek on stepping stones. It then curves back to follow another abandoned highway stretch, this one cloaked with poison oak and invasive herb-Robert. A viewpoint above the freeway offers a vista to Dog Mountain, Cook Hill, and Chemawa Hill straight across the Columbia. After nearly a half-mile along this second piece of historic road, a trail sign points you off the road grade for good as you turn left into a dramatic, cliff-lined draw.

Cross a small creek, and make five switchbacks up before the trail levels in leafy Douglas-fir forest with an understory of vine maple, cascara, hazel, dogwood, thimbleberry, wild rose, and Oregon grape. Pass the lower junction with the Chetwood Loop. The Chetwoot trail was a rustic path built by Portlander Basil Clark and other volunteers in the late 1970s and used to provide a loop alternative for your return, but the trail is now abandoned because of slides and blowdown ("Chetwoot" is Chinook jargon for "bear" and commemorates an encounter that Clark and his fellow volunteers had in the area.). A few yards farther, a sign declares there's a viewpoint to the right and the "Perham Creek Bridge" to the left. The viewpoint offers a vista across the river from an oak-shaded meadow. Continue on the main trail down into the steep-sided Perham Creek canyon, passing across hanging meadows that bloom with balsamroot in the spring. Soon, you will enter the shady, green oasis formed by the creek.

Pass some remains of the Perham Creek Bridge and then a Salmon Spawning Survey sign. Cross Perham Creek on a stable log. Then hike into a powerline corridor and, at a 'Trail' sign, head up to the left (The now overgrown trail leading right takes you through the brush to the Lower Wygant Viewpoint on a flat, moss-covered bluff that provides views from Mitchell Point on the east to Table Mountain in the west.). Back at the main trail, continue up to reach the powerlines again. From a pylon, there's an excellent view to Mitchell Point and Mitchell Spur. Enter the woods, and switchback up six times, passing two disintegrating old cabled viewpoints that do not offer sweeping vistas anymore. Traverse up to a switchback where a short spur leads out to the Middle Wygant Viewpoint, which offers a panorama that includes Drano Lake, Dog Mountain, Cook Hill, Underwood Mountain, the snowy summit of Mount Adams, and Mitchell Point. Then reach the west junction with the abandoned Chetwoot Loop. Above the junction is a carved Basil Clark sign for the Wygant Trail. It's also worth walking down the abandoned trail a short distance to the wonderful hanging meadow that blooms with rosy plectritis, cluster lilies, gold stars, and lupine in the spring.

From the junction, traverse along a rock face blooming with larkspur, alumroot, plectritis, and Sitka mist maidens. A limited viewpoint affords a view to Wind Mountain. Poison oak still crowds the trail as you ascend four switchbacks to the fine Upper Wygant Viewpoint, 0.6 miles from the upper junction with the Chetwood Loop Trail. You can see more of Mount Adams from here, while to the west Indian Point on the Oregon side of the Gorge and Greenleaf Peak and Table Mountain on the Washington side are visible.

Beyond the upper viewpoint, the trail ascends 18 switchbacks over the final 1.6 miles. Trailkeepers of Oregon constructed a log and rock crib at the next switchback, and two switchbacks later, you'll get another view downriver. You'll traverse through vine maple thickets with an understory of Oregon grape and vanilla leaf. Another switchback at a hanging meadow also gives west-facing vistas. Higher up, at an opening, Augspurger Mountain becomes visible behind Dog Mountain. A couple of switchbacks later, there's still another window to the Gorge. A final set of six switchbacks takes you to the summit ridge, where you enter the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness. Drop through a carpet of starry Solomon-plume, and then rise to the small cairn at Wygant Peak's now forested summit.

A well-defined trail drops about a quarter mile from the summit area through a carpet of Solomon-plume to a large meadow on the southwest face of the peak. Here, you'll get views west across forested Viento Creek to the summit of Viento Ridge and Mount Defiance. Indian Point can also be distinguished high above the river. Table Mountain and Greenleaf Peak are visible on the Washington side of the Columbia. The meadow blooms with showy phlox, chickweed, desert-parsley, wild strawberry, and chocolate lily in the spring.

Maps

Maps: Hike Finder
Green Trails Maps: Hood River, OR #430
Green Trails Maps: Columbia River Gorge - West #428S
Geo-Graphics: Trails of the Columbia Gorge
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service/Bureau of Land Management: Columbia River Gorge
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Hood River Ranger District
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Mt. Hood National Forest
National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map: Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area

Fees, Regulations, etc.

Day use only: 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Restrooms, picnic table, interpretive signs at trailhead

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Guidebooks that cover this hike

Afoot & Afield: Portland/Vancouver by Douglas Lorain
100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington by William L. Sullivan
Day Hiking: Columbia River Gorge by Craig Romano
Hiking the Columbia River Gorge by Russ Schneider; revised by Jim Yuskavitch
Day Hike! Columbia Gorge by Seabury Blair, Jr.
70 Virtual Hikes of the Columbia River Gorge by Northwest Hiker
Columbia Gorge Hikes: 42 Scenic Hikes by Don & Roberta Lowe
35 Hiking Trails: Columbia River Gorge by Don & Roberta Lowe
Short Trips and Trails: The Columbia Gorge by Oral Bullard & Don Lowe
Oregon's Columbia River Gorge: Camping & Hiking by Tom Stienstra & Sean Patrick Hill
Oregon Hiking by Sean Patrick Hill
Oregon State Parks: A Complete Recreation Guide by Jan Bannan

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Splintercat (creator)

Wygant Peak Hike

Wygant Peak Hike

From Oregon Hikers Field Guide

Contents

Hike Description

Maps

Fees, Regulations, etc.

Trip Reports

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