6.5 miles of hiking • 2250' elevation gain •
My girlfriend's brother was in town visiting so we went on a fairly mellow hike after showing him the highlights of the gorge. We had to be out in hood river to meet up with some friends anyway, so we wanted a mellow hike with outstanding views nearby.
Oak Ridge Trail to Bald Butte seemed like a good idea given other recent trip reports and the state of the wild flowers. We had AMAZING weather. flowers are probably a bit past their peak.
It was getting late as we got to surveyor's ridge trail, so we opted to not head north to bald butte. We heard there was a viewpoint heading south and we found it about a mile down the trail. Amazing view of Hood, but trees blocked the view to the North.
This should probably be added to PH's field guide as the existing map and description don't detail this viewpoint and option. Bald Butte apparently can get crowded as you can drive most of the way there.
There is a great place to camp in a small meadow about 3/4 mile south of the oak ridge trail intersection.
The only water i saw on the whole route is close to the bottom of oak ridge trail in a tiny muddy stream. The dogs enjoyed this.
It's already getting really dry just east of hood river!
This trail is open to equestrian and mountain bike use, and we saw many of each.
