About describes the purpose of this site and includes some trail related District history.

Trail Index contains information about hiking trails in the Clackamas River Ranger District of the Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon. If you go to the index be sure to read ABOUT TRAIL INDEX if it’s your first visit.

Get Involved has suggestions for those who would like to advocate for trails in the District.

Hikes describes a series of hikes we have guided in the past.

Maps is a listing of current and historical maps of the district, including topo maps of some of the trails.

Discussion Forums is a place to post trip reports, talk about abandoned or lost trails, or just chat about trail topics.

Historical Items are stories and items of historical interest, including some old documents.

Note: page header is a view on the 4635 road to the Rimrock trail near Trail 703 crossing

VIEW OF MT JEFFERSON FROM NEAR HIGH LAKE by D. Presley

AUGUST 2010 NEWS

Hey, it finally stopped raining!

Be prepared for mosquitoes, flies and bees a little later on.

Please be careful with fire in the woods.

Federal Stimulus monies will finance additional trail work this season. It will be a one time opportunity to catch up on some deferred maintenance. The posting of the new limited use areas will be coming this Summer. Have not heard about road closures yet. Contracts may get the crosscut saw work completed this season on the District’s new and old wildernesses.

The District has lost 22 trails to the various new wildernesses last year. So be aware that allowable uses have changed. The signing and new maps will be a while in coming. Some of these trails are quite popular. Write Senator Wyden and Congressman Blumenauer tell them you want the volunteers who take care of your trails to have permission to use the chainsaw. This is the only way the trails we will be able to keep up with the maintenance required to keep them enjoyable.

There is no Forest Service trail crew in the Clackamas District. Most of the trail maintenance is done by volunteers.

Please report ATV use of hiking trails to the Forest Service to help make them aware of the growing illegal abuse of our trails.

Bad curve on Road 57 at the new bridge between the end of 224 and the Oak Grove Fork crossing.

Please be very cautious driving our forest roads.

Environmental groups will not protect your trails. They often work against them and do pitiful little to mitigate the negative impact on trails their agenda wreaks. Even Oregon’s leading and otherwise venerable hiking club is not protecting your trails. It’s up to you.

The Northwest Forest Conservancy puts a substantial effort towards clearing many trees off the Bagby 544 trail towards Elk Lake, back breaking crosscut saw work. Thanks so much! Join them and help.

Expect sudden changes in weather up high. High evening winds in the Clackamas Gorge. Watch for rocks on Hwy 224 in the mornings.

PLEASE don’t remove plastic flagging, it is probably important. Don’t be a hero. You could ruin someone’s years of research or get someone lost.

OLD BUSINESS

Wilderness expansion will incorporate many of our trails. We will no longer be allowed to clear them yearly with our chainsaws (and our teeth aren’t that sharp). The labor and cost of trail maintenance could rise ten fold. Currently there is little money for this work as it is. There is no reason to expect more. The sale of condos at Government Camp will not be funding crosscut saw crews to keep your trails nice to walk. Expect deterioration. Climb over, under, and around fallen trees: average ten per mile per year. This wilderness expansion is really heartbreaking because we volunteers have worked so hard to recover most of these trails from years of neglect. We will continue to keep the non-wilderness trails nice.

IT CANNOT BE OVER EMPHASIZED HOW MUCH OF A DISASTER THE MOUNT HOOD WILDERNESS BILL WILL BE FOR THE DISTRICT TRAILS. The consequence will be loss of trails and access to all but the most extreme adventurers, a very small minority of users.

Wilderness expansion impacted trails:

502, 502-A, Old Bissell, 506, 507, 521, 517, 518, 510, 512, 515, 516, 521, 702, 704, 703, 705, 715, 727, and a handful of user trails and access trails.

If the Bills pass, we will consider lobbying for abandonment of some of the above trail mileage and work to replace it with mileage outside wilderness that could actually be properly maintained – with modern equipment and available manpower.

OTHER NATIONAL FORESTS further from Portland are harder pressed than Mt Hood in maintaining their trails and hosting their campgrounds. They have smaller local population bases from which to draw volunteers. Consider helping in your favorite away from home Forests.

It is possible that we may lose the roads leading to our more obscure trails. An environmental organization, BARK, is pushing hard to close roads and restrict access. They want us to walk miles of ripped up roads to get to our trails. Anyone who thinks walking ripped up roads is neat needs to spend a day doing so. Trail lovers need to pay attention and have their voices heard.

For those of you who have requested old trail maps, we have made a few of interest available in the About section of the site.

IT IS TIME TO COMMEND the Forest Service for a hundred years of managing the Roaring River drainage. Before the Forest Service establishment, the Roaring River country was severely burned out. Extensive trails were built. It was planted and seeded and protected. Now it is cherished by wilderness fans. The new thinning projects elsewhere in the District have also been quite a boon letting in just enough light to liven things up while making it easier to get around and appreciate the new settings.

There have been more unusual COUGAR ENCOUNTERS in the region so please be careful. Cougars have not been hunted with help from dogs for some time and are becoming impudent. Their habits are changing with respect to humans. Watch behind you from time to time. Cougars do not like to think you know they are following. When sitting, oppose one another and watch each others back. Cougars are attracted to sitting figures because they appear to them to be manageable prey. When a cougar advances on you, DO NOT RUN, assault the cougar with anything you’ve got. They are averse to being injured. A side arm is a prudent companion in the woods. Young cougars can work in pairs and are particularly stupid. Cougars like thick cover with a thin tree canopy.

ATV DAMAGE to trails, theft of signs, car theft, car burning, and damage to vegetation — particularly around water — can be reported to the Forest Service. Doing so helps them document the dimensions of various problems which is the first step towards addressing them.

CONDITIONS

Hiking in the Clackamas District is generally not like taking a walk in the Gorge or on Mount Hood. Our District is rough, steep, remote, and unforgiving. The trails are often faint, there are few signs, and help is far away. It’s wilder than wilderness. Don’t underestimate it. Be prepared. Cell phones cannot be relied upon.

DO NOT rely on internet trip planners to navigate the woods. DO NOT try to cross the District during the Winter, late Fall, or early Spring unless you know exactly what you are doing and have your Common Sense pulled up tight. Use Highway 26 or 22. That’s what they’re for.

You can call 503 261 9246, then 3-1, to hear the mountain WEATHER FORECAST (National Weather Service).

Please encourage your ATV riding friends to respect our hiking trails by staying off of them. Point out to them that ATV damage to trails, vegetation, and water quality will likely lead to restrictions.

ROADS

• WATCH FOR LOG TRUCKS! There are thinning projects active in the Forest. Headlights are a good idea in the woods. Keep right on outside curves.
• Road 57 new bridge is OPEN.
• Road 63 is OPEN
• Road 7010 has a SLUMP difficult for cars to traverse about seven miles up.
• 4610 Road (the Abbot Road) also remains IMPASSABLE except by X-treme four wheel drive action between the old 790 trailhead and the 791 Salmon Butte trailhead. NOT A THROUGH ROUTE ANYMORE.

SECURITY

It is surprising how many people leave valuables in their cars. Break-ins are common along the highway and routine at Bagby Hot Springs.

Enjoy the woods. Be safe and prepared.

EMERGENCIES

• Most loggers and equipment operators have radios for emergencies. PGE staff are very present along the Oak Grove Fork of the Clackamas River and have radios. Most Forest Service staff also have radios.
• Cell phones may work between SiSi and Olallie Butte this year (Verizon).
• Cell phones work at the dam at Timothy Lake. There is also reception at the powerlines on the 42 Road.

WISH LIST

• We could use some pictures and enhanced descriptions of our Bull of the Woods Wilderness trails to add to our trail pages. Write us: trailadvocate@hotmail.com if interested in helping with some content.
• GPS downloads onto TopoZone or similar maps of all District trails.
• An interpreter of celestial observation data from 1855 to determine points on the ground today.
• A bridge over the Roaring River at the Trail 517 crossing.
• A replacement of the shelter burned at Cache Meadow.
• A trail machine.
• Grants to restore certain sections of trail.
• Hello philanthropists?