Hiking Steep Old Growth Rainforest Salmon River Trail – Mount Hood – 4K

My goal of these wilderness trail videos is to 1) show reverence for the beauty of the land, and 2) give YOU actionable trail information that can assist you in planning your own hike here.

This was a day-hike in the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness of the Mount Hood Area, starting at West Salmon River Trailhead and hiking above and beside the National Wild & Scenic River of Salmon River as you walk through a very rocky Old Growth Rainforest. The trail goes on for dozens of miles and is a backpacking route, however if you want to just do a Day Hike I would suggest one of three options - the "Short Route" (about 7.6 miles), the "Medium Route" to Goat Creek Camp (a little over 9 miles) or the "Long Route" to the Trail Junction of Kinzel Lake, Devil's Tooth, and Devil's Peak (about 11.2 miles) each as a good potential turnaround spot for your Out and Back River Hike. The elevation starts around 1600 feet and goes to around 2600 feet, and with the natural machinations of the Old Growth Rainforest Trail you gain about 1200 feet in elevation which I would consider "Moderate". This trail is accessible as early as February in some years, often in the March/April/May Spring range, of course based on the snow levels. The sky was overcast with a high of 50 and low of 34, I arrived a little after sunrise. This was hiked on 5/11/2022 and there were of course NO Mosquitoes. As far as road conditions, it's highway to the turn off for Salmon River which is a paved road with a few bumps along the way until the parking lot gravel area, so it was a very easy and safe driving route. In my opinion, the road most definitely DOES NOT require 4-Wheel Drive, however do watch for road conditions, particularly snow/ice depending on the time of year.