Mt. Hood Meadows Resort Loop

Mt. Hood Meadows staff, working with the Forest Service, built eight miles of new summer hiking trails inside the resort's permit boundary in 2019 and 2020. These routes connect the existing Umbrella Falls and Timberline trails, crossing ski runs that bloom wild in summer and threading natural glades and old-growth pockets of mountain hemlock and subalpine fir. This 8.6-mile loop from the Meadows South Lodge is the best self-contained sampler, with its main payoff a scramble out to Picnic Rock on a rugged spur.

From the lodge, the Bear Grass Trail climbs past mountain spiraea, lupine, mariposa lily, and false hellebore under the chairlifts, enters mountain hemlock woods, and drops into a ski glade with impressive old-growth conifers. The trail passes the Bear Grass Cutoff and Umbrella Cutoff junctions, crosses bear-grass-carpeted runs that open wide views to the Hood summit cone, and reaches the Picnic Rock Spur. The spur heads along a forested ridge to a manzanita viewpoint over Hood River Meadows, Lookout Mountain, Gunsight Butte, and Bonney Butte. The main Picnic Rock perch adds Elk Mountain, the Bluegrass Ridge burn, Lamberson Butte, and Newton Pinnacle across the Clark Creek canyon. On the clearest days, Three Sisters and possibly Diamond Peak appear behind Mount Jefferson.

The return threads more ski runs and connects via the Umbrella Cutoff back to the lodge. Because the route shares ground with an operating resort, trail intersections multiply and signage varies; print a current trail map before heading out. Summer only — snow lingers through June most years, and the resort's maintenance schedule determines when trails are passable. No permit required beyond the standard NW Forest Pass.