Mount Hood National Forest
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mount Hood National Forest is located 20 miles (32 km) east of the city of Portland, Oregon, and the northern Willamette River valley. The Forest extends south from the Columbia River Gorge across more than 60 miles (97 km) of forested mountains, lakes and streams to the Olallie Scenic Area, a high lake basin under the slopes of Mount Jefferson. The Forest encompasses some 1,067,043 acres (4,318.17 km²).[1] Forest headquarters are located in Sandy, Oregon.
Visitors to the Forest can enjoy fishing, camping, boating and hiking in the summer, hunting in the fall, and skiing and other snow sports in the winter. Berry-picking and mushroom collection are popular, and for many area residents, a trip in December to cut the family's Christmas tree is a long-standing tradition.[1]
The Forest started as the Cascade Range Forest Reserve, which was established in 1893. It was then divided into several National Forests in 1908, when the northern portion was merged with the Bull Run Reserve (city watershed) and named Oregon National Forest. The name was changed again to Mount Hood National Forest in 1924.[1]
Popular destinations in the Forest include[1]
- Timberline Lodge, built in 1937 high on Mount Hood
- Lost Lake
- Burnt Lake
- Trillium Lake
- Timothy Lake
- Rock Creek Reservoir
- the Old Oregon Trail, including Barlow Road
There are 189,200 acres (766 km²) of designated wilderness on the Forest. The largest is the Mount Hood Wilderness, which includes the mountain's peak and upper slopes. Others are Badger Creek, Salmon-Huckleberry, Hatfield, and Bull of the Woods. Olallie Scenic Area is a lightly-roaded lake basin that provides a primitive recreational experience.[1]
Bark, a nonprofit organization dedicated to stopping commercial logging on Mount Hood, offers free hikes in the Mount Hood National Forest on the second Sunday of every month.
Mount Hood National Forest is one of the most-visited National Forests in the U.S. with over four million annual visitors. Less than five percent camp in the forest. The forest contains 170 developed recreation sites.[2]
In descending order of land area the forest is located in parts of Clackamas, Hood River, Wasco, Multnomah, Marion, and Jefferson counties. [3]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e About Us. Mt. Hood National Forest. U.S. Forest Service.
- ^ Michael Milstein (September 20, 2007). Rethinking camping—A Forest Service plan could dramatically change Mount Hood's offerings. OregonLive.com. The Oregonian. Retrieved on 2007-10-06.
- ^ Table 6 - NFS Acreage by State, Congressional District and County - United States Forest Service - September 30, 2007
[edit] External links
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