Hiking on Mt. Hood Meadows

While closed during the pandemic, crews at Mt. Hood Meadows kept busy by putting in a lot of new trails.   I took the Bear Grass trail, which is one of the easiest new trails.   You can take the ski lift up to the top and then walk the two mile trail back down to the resort.  Along the way you get spectacular views of Mt. Hood, especially on the ski lift chair.  There are also a lot of beautiful wildflowers to see.   There are free guided tours at the mountain several times a day and those are very interesting because you get a lot of information about history, geology and topography.  My guide Clifford even told the story of how the mountains were named.

There are a lot of family friendly and accessible hikes on Mt. Hood, but there are also some that are not designed for beginners.  They see significant elevation gains and have loose volcanic rock and ash along the way.  Whichever trail you choose, wear good hiking shoes, bring plenty of water and lather on the sunblock because even though it’s cooler than spots at lower elevation, you are closer to the sun.