Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Mount Hood, seen from the ridge atop Zigzag Mountain. Photographed on Aug. 2, 2018.

You don’t need to hike up Zigzag Mountain to get a good look at Mount Hood, but once you make it all the way to the top, the beautiful view of Oregon’s tallest peak feels like a wonderful and much-needed reward.

Standing at roughly 5,000 feet tall, Zigzag is technically considered a foothill in the shadow of the much taller Cascade Mountains. Several trails wander across the mountain – there's the Horseshoe Ridge Trail, Cast Creek Trail and Burnt Lake Trail, to name a few – but its primary throughway is the Zigzag Mountain Trail (#775), which runs more than 12 miles to the southwestern flank of Mount Hood.



Some hikers consider this a “conditioning hike,” meaning it’s ideal to get your legs into shape for bigger climbs, or to test your mettle after a season of other treks. Neither fully conditioned nor in any particular need of it, I hiked up Zigzag Mountain in the Mount Hood Wilderness last week for the reason most other hikers usually do: to enjoy a trail I’ve never been on, and to get a nice view at the top.

To that end, Zigzag did not disappoint.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Clouds hang in the Willamette Valley, seen from the southeast side of Zigzag Mountain Trail in the Mount Hood National Forest.

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The hike begins at the West Zigzag Trailhead, found not far off U.S. 26 near the Zigzag Ranger Station. The Zigzag Mountain Trail immediately starts uphill, and true to its name, it zig-zags its way up more than a dozen switchbacks before evening out and curling along the ridge of the mountain.

The trail is impressively well-graded throughout, but while you won’t have to kill your legs on any particularly steep hills, the hike climbs almost 3,000 feet of elevation in less than four miles, making it a subtly difficult excursion. Most of the hike is wooded, the trail lined thick with rhododendron bushes and huckleberries – ripe now at the higher elevations as the lower bushes wait for late summer and fall.

I hiked up the mountain on an overcast day, and just as I broke free of the trees, I broke through the clouds near the crest of the ridge. Standing at the edge of a southwest-facing cliff, I watched as the clouds – stretching far out into the Willamette Valley – slowly rolled east and collided with the side of Zigzag Mountain, forced to rise up and over the trees, bathing both me and the mountain in a cool, fresh mist.

Not far from the cliff, the trail winds around a bend and offers a view in the other direction: Looking east through a clearing in the trees is a dead-on look at the west face of Mount Hood. In the heat of midsummer, Hood was mostly free of snow, though glaciers were still large enough to provide a white contrast to the gray volcano. The trail goes on for many miles more, passing by the site of an old fire lookout, and eventually down to junctions with other wilderness trails, but as I sat at the viewpoint and ate a handful of freshly picked huckleberries, a sense of contentedness washed over me. That view was all I needed.

Zigzag might be a good place to get your legs into shape, or to act as an obstacle that tests your endurance, but at the end of the day it’s just a mountain – a place where clouds from the valley break into mist, where huckleberries and rhododendrons grow wild, and where tall cliffs offer awe-inspiring views.

None of those aspects is unique to Zigzag Mountain, but it sure is nice to find them all in one place.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

The sign at the trailhead for the Zigzag Mountain west hike.

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WEST ZIGZAG HIKE

Distance: 9.4 miles

Difficulty: Difficult

Amenities: Small parking area near trailhead

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To get to the West Zigzag Mountain trailhead, take U.S. 26 east out of Portland, and turn left onto East Lolo Pass Road, just past Mount Hood Village. In 0.4 miles, turn right onto East Mountain Drive, staying straight on the gravel road until it dead-ends at a row of boulders. Just before the boulders, the road widens on either side offering a small pull-out where you can park.

The trailhead actually marks the junction of two trails. Straight ahead, beyond the boulders, is the Road 19 Trail (#775B), but you’ll want to take the Zigzag Mountain Trail (#775), which heads immediately uphill.

There are no junctions for about five miles, and if you’re just hiking up to the view of Mount Hood, you won’t need to worry about any. Follow the switchbacks uphill through the lush forest and eventually you’ll emerge at the southwest-facing cliff, followed shortly by the east-facing view of Hood.

If you want another good look at Oregon’s tallest peak, you can keep hiking another mile to the site of an old fire lookout, or keep going to find junctions with other trails that eventually lead to the East Zigzag Mountain peak and up to Paradise Park, one of the most beautiful places on Mount Hood. Otherwise, soak up the gorgeous view, and then head back the way that you came.

--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Clouds hang in the Willamette Valley, seen from the southeast side of Zigzag Mountain Trail in the Mount Hood National Forest.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

A handful of wild huckleberries, picked from the side of the Zigzag Mountain Trail in the Mount Hood National Forest.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Mist hangs in the trees on a cloudy summer day on the Zigzag Mountain Trail in the Mount Hood National Forest.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

A fern leaf curls back naturally, exposing orange sporangia underneath, on the Zigzag Mountain Trail in the Mount Hood National Forest.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Mount Hood, seen from the ridge atop Zigzag Mountain. Photographed on Aug. 2, 2018.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Clouds hang in the Willamette Valley, seen from the southeast side of Zigzag Mountain Trail in the Mount Hood National Forest.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

The Zigzag Mountain Trail runs through the Mount Hood National Forest.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Sunlight casts shadows of rhododendron leaves on the side of the Zigzag Mountain Trail.

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