Larch Mountain Crater Hike – Columbia River Gorge
Hike through the ancient volcanic crater of Larch Mountain that now contains old-growth forest and boggy meadows, and cap it off with a short walk up the former shield plug to views of five Cascade peaks.
distance: 6.3 miles (loop)
elevation gain: 1,310 ft.
difficulty: moderate
best season: late spring, summer, fall
drive time from Portland: 50 minutes
parking pass: NW Forest Pass
hike description: OregonHikers.org
The Hike
On the drive from Portland to the trailhead, clouds filled the sky and I was excited since cloudy conditions make for better forest photography. But when we reached the trailhead, it was all blue skies above us. We took the side trail to Sherrard Point for the views before we started the hike, and when we reached the top we saw why it was cloudy in Portland but not here – an inversion layer of clouds with views of Mount St. Helens, Rainier, Adams to the north, and Mount Hood and Jefferson to the south.
We began the forested loop hike by heading downhill on the Larch Mountain trail. The forest in this section varies from having tightly spaced trees of the same age with no groundcover, to a more diverse older forest lush with undergrowth.
Deer ferns were abundant, with bright green new growth unfurling.
One of my favorite parts of this hike is all of the rhododendrons. We were there just in time to see them blooming.
This bridge over Multnomah Creek has seen better days but it’s still usable.
At 1.7 miles, we turned right onto the Multnomah Creek Way Trail, which goes through the former crater on Larch Mountain and the source of the springs that become Multnomah Creek (and eventually Multnomah Falls). This is one of the quietest sections of trails in the area. The trail is very much like a creek bed, full of rocks and roots that slowed us down through this section.
When we reached the Oneonta Trail, the rest of the hike was an easy walk on good trail tread. The last 0.3 miles of the hike is along the Larch Mountain Road back to the trailhead.
