Timberline Trail

Timberline Trail
View of the north side of Mount Hood from the Timberline Trail
Length	40.7 mi (65.5 km)
Location	Mount Hood, Oregon, United States
Use	Hiking
Elevation
Elevation change	9,000 feet (2,700 m)
Highest point	Lamberson Spur, 7,300 ft (2,200 m)
Lowest point	Sandy River 3,240 feet (990 m)
Hiking details
Season	Summer to early Fall
Months	Mid-July through early October
Hazards	stream crossings

Timberline Trail is a hiking trail around Mount Hood in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is in mostly wilderness but also goes near Timberline Lodge, Cloud Cap Inn (the oldest building on Mt. Hood), and Mount Hood Meadows ski area.

The Timberline Trail was constructed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the majority of their work taking place in the summer of 1934 at a cost of $10,000. Sections of the trail have changed due to damage caused by landslides and washouts since then.

In September 1938 a group of hikers completed the entire trail (36 miles at the time) in 47 hours, making local news and increasing awareness of the trail.

The trail, Forest Service trail #600, shares eleven miles (18 km) with the Pacific Crest Trail and alternates above and below the timberline. The trail is rerouted periodically due to washouts and to avoid sensitive high altitude and alpine meadows. It has a handful of informal campsites for backpackers, although camping is permitted anywhere outside the meadows and at least 200 feet (61 m) from water bodies. There are several hazardous stream crossings, especially on the west side and at landslide-prone Eliot Branch near Cloud Cap which closed the trail there in 2007. The trail has several significant vertical ascents and descents totaling 9,000 feet (2,700 m), mostly at canyon crossings. The trail is accessible from Timberline Lodge, which has Forest Service permitted parking (which you can purchase at Timberline Lodge) for backpackers, and numerous connecting trails.

The hike is typically completed in three to five days, but some ambitious hikers complete it in one or two days.

Risks associated with hiking along the Timberline Trail include hypothermia, falling, and drowning. Areas of special concern are the Sandy River crossing, where a hiker drowned in 2004, the Eliot Creek, which washed out and closed a section of the trail in 2007, and the Muddy Fork section, which washed out in 2007 and has deteriorated to a point where it is "barely passable" according to a United States Forest Service sign. The Sandy River can be crossed on log bridges that are erected seasonally.