Join us on the Dog Mountain hike, one of the best wildflower hikes in the Pacific Northwest. In today’s video, we’ll share the best of the Dog Mountain hike and how to see the wildflowers yourself.
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Dog Mountain is on the Washington side of the Columbia River, a little over an hour’s drive east of Portland. This is one of the more challenging hikes in the Columbia River Gorge since it has so much climb.
Dog Mountain is in an interesting ecosystem transition zone between the plants and animals west of the Cascades and those east of the Cascades, so you’ll find a mix of both here on the same hike. Often turning a corner on the hike will reveal a totally different landscape.
Given this mix, there’s a healthy population of poison oak, so look out for it on your hike and try not to touch it! Signs posted at the entrance also warned about the possibility of ticks and rattlesnakes. Luckily we didn’t see any of those!
After switchbacking up through these alternating landscapes, the trail suddenly emerges from the trees and the whole Columbia River is before you beneath fields of wildflowers.
The whole approach to the summit is epic, with sweeping views that feel like being on top of the world. But one bizarre twist about Dog Mountain is that the summit itself is very unexpected. Watch the video to find out why!
Dog Mountain is best known for its fields of yellow Balsamroot, a wildflower in the sunflower family, but there are also beautiful purple lupine, bright red paintbrush, and trailing phlox, among many other wildflower species.
As we climbed, we caught glimpses of Mount St Helens and Mount Hood in the distance.
There are a couple of options for the hike down from Dog Mountain. We took the intersecting Augspurger Trail on the way down, to make a longer but more gradual loop. The whole hike was about 7 1/2 miles. Here is the reference we used for that route: www.oregonhikers.org/field_gu...
Bryan was on call this weekend, so he needed to be somewhere with cell phone reception. We found that to be no problem. It might help to be way out in the open on the mountain!
We did encounter a lot of biting flies on the hike, so just be aware of them! They're not really a problem if you keep moving, but if you stop too much to take pictures, they'll descend!
Permits are required on weekends and Memorial Day to hike Dog Mountain during the anticipated peak wildflower season. In 2022, the dates were April 23 - June 12th. They’re not expensive, but they’re limited. Here is the permit reservation link:
www.recreation.gov/ticket/fac...
To park, you’ll also need an America the Beautiful pass, a Northwest Forest pass, or pay a per-vehicle fee on site. Check out the Forest Service website for up-to-date information on parking and trail conditions: www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/crgns...