Old Salmon River Hike – Mount Hood

The Old Salmon River Trail is a great place to introduce hikers to the beauty of the Pacific Northwest’s lush, mossy forests and scenic rivers.

distance: 5 miles (out and back)
elevation gain: 200 ft.
difficulty: easy
best season: all year, depending on snow levels
drive time from Portland: 1 hour 15 minutes
parking pass: NW Forest Pass
hike description: OregonHikers.org – Old Salmon River

The Hike

This is an easy trail that’s great for a quick getaway, with plenty of lush green eye candy in the form of moss and ferns. It’s also right beside the Salmon River for most of the hike, although there is a short section of road walking when the river cuts off access to the trail. We started at the northern trailhead (the first pullout on the Salmon River Road) and hiked 2.5 miles to the southern trailhead (just before a bridge over the Salmon River), then turned around to head back to the trailhead.

 

A couple of bridges head over small tributary streams.

We took several side trails to get closer to the river.

The forest is incredibly lush here, with many shades of green in the trees, ferns, and moss.

Several sections of the hike are right next to the river, with the trail paralleling it through the forest.

These mushrooms remind me of the growth lines on a tree.

The Green Canyon campground is about 2 miles from the trailhead and since it is closed through the fall and winter, all of the campsites are empty so we sat at a picnic table for our lunch break.

I find this forest is soothing to spend time in, with nurse logs providing life to new growth, and ferns and moss covering the surfaces of the trees and rocks.