Look out to the east from Portland and your attention draws to the snows and glaciers of Mt. Hood.  But search a bit to the left and you can notice another bulky mountain with a notch on its northern rim.  This is Larch Mountain one of three shield volcanoes sitting in a line of volcanic vents making up the Boring Lava Field range stretching from Mount Sylvania on the southwest edge of Portland all the way east past Larch Mountain to Beacon Rock standing near Bonneville Dam, almost thirty miles apart in a straight line. 

Larch Mountain sits on the western end of the canyon of the Columbia River Gorge rising just over 4,000 feet above the river running about three straight miles to the north of its peak.  Coming from the east along the river, Larch Mountain is the last significant Cascade peak on the Oregon side of the Gorge before the mountains begin to ease topographically into the northern end of the Willamette Valley.

BASIC GEOLOGY

The Boring Lava Field covers an area of about 1,500 square miles running from Portland to the cascades.  The volcanic vents are considered extinct today, though the lava field itself, is not.  There are more than 80 small volcanic edifices – though more have probably been inundated by silt deposition from the Missoula Flood 21,000-15,000 years ago – and flows in the Portland metro area.  Shield volcanoes include Mount Sylvania, Larch Mountain and Highland Butte.  The field does not connect to the taller volcanoes to the immediate east – i.e. Mt. Hood – with separate sources of magma from the east which are younger in geologic age.  Larch Mountain’s last eruption took place some 1.4 million years ago.

A TRAIL TO MATCH A HIGHWAY

Larch Mountain is the apex of one of the more significant trails in the Gorge, appropriately named, the Larch Mountain Trail.  The trail – 7.4 miles one way – represents a significant goal for many hikers local and far away.  The Larch Mountain Trail became established in 1915 just as the Columbia River Highway premiered giving visitors much easier access than previously.  Early in 1915, the Progressive Business Men’s Club came to sponsor construction of the trail.  Monies pledged and rights-of-way secured to bring more interest to the Gorge as the highway section between Corbett and Multnomah Falls neared completion.  Some of the sponsors included Henry Pittock – publisher of the Oregonian, Julius Meier and Aaron Frank – department store owners, and Amos Benson and his father Simon who personally pledge $3,000 for the project.

project goes forward

The trail project became a goal after a talk to the group on 28 January by Samuel Lancaster, the engineer responsible for the building of the Columbia River Highway in Multnomah County.  At the end of his talk, he recommended the development of a trail up over Multnomah Falls to the top of the peak.  The first stake for the trail became stuck into the ground on 11 April in front of a crowd of 300 people who came upriver on the train for the special day.  Plans included an observatory and log-built lodge atop the summit of Larch Mountain.  The lodge plan included a central fireplace cut into the solid rock atop with space below for sleeping and eating.  A fire lookout was planned, as well.

Interesting to note that the same time Larch Mountain Trail became a reality, the Eagle Creek Trail also became constructed. The Forest Service seems much busier in those days than today.

THE PATH IS BUILT

The trail survey and work began in April 1915 with Ralph S. Shelley from the Forest Service directing the project.  The trail crossed through land belonging to the Bridal Veil Lumber Company and the Crown-Willamette Paper Company.  Both companies worried that a trail would bring more interest to the area and increase the danger of fire.  The chief forester, Thomas Sherrard, was able to talk them into acquiescing noting a trail would help in fighting fires by providing access to men and supplies needed to fight fires.  The right-of-way finally gained acceptance in June-July.

Early in the 1880s a trail existed to the top of Multnomah Falls with a log bridge built in 1883 where today’s Benson Bridge stands.  Four other bridges became added along the trail to the top of Larch Mountain, though two of those are simple log bridge affairs with a side railing to help in the crossing.  Atop the peak, a road eventually was completed running from the highway in between Chanticleer and Crown points.  It took six years to complete the 14-mile seasonally open road which finished in 1939.

DEDICATED ON THE SUMMIT

On 8 August, the trail opened though the official dedication came on 3 October as twenty-six of the Business Club members gathered on top to hear the official pronouncement made by Lancaster.  At the same event, the Trails Club of Oregon gained formal recognition as a society of like-minded outdoors individuals.  The lookout – 85-feet-high, already completed on the summit, unfurled a large American flag in front of the 26 men who had ventured up in three separate parties through the rain the night before.  Lookout soon needed a metal upgrade.  The lookout survived until its removal in 1976.

An article in the Oregonian about the trail dedication mentions the trail being just short of 6.5 miles long and “An able-bodied hiker can climb to the summit in three and one-half to four hours with ease.”  Construction costs came to about $8,000 raised by the Men’s Club, Forest Service and the Bensons.  “… it is now easily possible for sightseeing parties to leave Portland on an O.-W. R. &N. train at 7:50 o’clock A. M., climb to the summit, pass an hour or so there, return to Multnomah Falls in time to get a Portland-bound train at 5:30 the same evening.”

THE TRAIL THEN

A June 1916 story in the Oregon Daily Journal talking about the Larch Mountain trail writes “Don’t make a picnic party out of the ascent of Larch Mountain.”  Going on, “There is nothing difficult or terrifying about the climb if it is under favorable conditions.  The proposition is merely that of covering seven miles of passing fair trail with nearly every step you take being an upward one. … No matter where you start the climb from, you have 4,000 feet to go…”  Then there was the snow on the summit, reported still to be “15 to 18 feet deep” in early June. 

And further, “For nearly one mile near the summit the trail has been covered by fallen logs.  The Bridal Veil Lumber Co.’s logging operations have reached the summit of the ridge and to persons unused to climbing, this scramble over and under huge logs and through brush is heart breaking.  The difficulty at present is a most aggravated one and the majority of persons who have passed through this fallen forest have lost the trail repeatedly.”

The effects of logging on the trail and upon the watersheds of Multnomah and Oneonta Creeks eventually led to the preservation of the north slopes of Larch Mountain – now inside the boundaries of the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness Area – in 1921.  Lands owned by the timber companies became exchanged for other areas at the instigation of Thomas Sherrard, the chief forester for Oregon and the Trails Club.

NO LARCHES BUT PLENTY OF LOGS

Notably, no Larch trees grow on Larch Mountain. The 1959 edition of Multnomah County Geographic Names reports “the tree on Larch Mountain known by lumbermen as the larch is really the noble fir, ‘abies nobilis’, and is not related to the larch in any way.”  Another note from a 1919 article in the Oregonian notes, 1919 “Anyone who wants to see Larch Mountain while it is a larch mountain had better go this year.  The logging operations have stripped the west slope and the spur towards Oneonta creek is also a mass of unsightly stumps and dead trees.  We are informed that logging on the creek will start next year so that the trail will shortly become a track through a sea of stumps and snags.” 

“At the top is a shelter house of the Trails club which anyone is welcome to use.  It contains a heating stove, but has been very much abused by vandals the past winter, and the roof, doors and windows are in bad shape.  There is also a forest service fire lookout, with a ranger located there in a comfortable cabin.”

LARCH MOUNTAIN TRAIL TODAY

As the newspaper article points out, “nearly every step you take being an upward one” holds true when you start out on the trail at the base of Multnomah Falls.  Four thousand vertical feet await your feet.  There is very little rest for the weary on this trail.  Locals use this trail among others in the Gorge to prepare themselves for later climbs among the taller peaks of the Cascades, such as Mt. Hood.

When I was first getting into hiking, I purchased one of the original books compiling hikes in the northern Cascades of Oregon, appropriately named, 70 Hiking Trails:  Northern Oregon Cascades written by Don and Roberta Lowe in 1974.  Today, digitized, with an account you can read the book online.  Naturally, Larch Mountain is the first hike mentioned in the book. 

The hike has not changed much over the years except for major fires in 1991 and 2017.  The first fire ended up closing the Perdition Trail, a very scenic alternative to the higher up Wahkeena Trail linking Multnomah Falls with Wahkeena.  The second fire burned over acres of old growth forests from the crest of Multnomah Falls high up to the crest of Franklin Ridge and down across Multnomah Creek above the confluence of the two forks of the stream.

waterfall beginning

The trail is very scenic for the first few miles.  First, one big switchback takes the path up to cross the Benson Bridge atop the lower Multnomah Falls.  The way then climbs in eleven switchbacks to the top of Multnomah Falls.  This part of the trail gets a lot of activity.  Get on the trail early to avoid the large amount of traffic on the trail starting about 10 am. 

A short side trail leads off to the right to the viewpoint atop the main waterfall which if human traffic allows, is quite spectacular with the Multnomah Falls Lodge and the large parking areas far below.  Waters dance over the edge making their bold leap over the rim.  While the waterfalls are still nice in the summer when most visitors come, in the other seasons when rain is falling or the upper snows are melting, Multnomah and the other waterfalls do not fail to massively impress.

CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS ON THE TRAIL

From the top of Multnomah Falls the trail crosses the creek on a CCC-built bridge entering a canyon replete with three additional waterfalls – Dutchman, Wiesendanger and Ecola – before the intersection with the Wahkeena trail going up to the right.

A lot of the trail saw improvements during the era of the Civilian Conservation Corps of the late 1930s.  An alternative to walking up Multnomah Falls’ switchbacks is to go up Wahkeena Falls instead.  Even with Larch Mountain trail as an official trail, newspaper articles note the alternative route.  Maybe because before the CCC got to work, the original trail leading to the top of Multnomah was not as well built as today?  The loop taking in Multnomah and Wahkeena Falls remains very popular today.  Five miles for the loop which still gains an impressive 2598 vertical feet.

Past the trail intersection, the Larch Mountain trail gets lonelier quickly.  Some of the canyon burned in the 2017 fire but other areas spared.  From the Wahkeena trail intersection, soon you cross on a bridge built after the fire.  Now, you walk up the east bank of the creek for a distance.  A little over a half mile beyond, there is a high-water alternative path.  Even in low water, walking along the lower path, you might get wet feet.

Above the Waterfalls

At 2.6 miles from the Multnomah Lodge is an intersection with the Multnomah Basin Road.  This road is usually closed to the public except for foot traffic.  It leads from the Larch Mountain Road over to the Trail Clubs of Oregon’s lodge at Nesika – worth a side trip simply to take in the view from the observation point just to the east of the lodge.

Another 0.3 miles brings you to a little campsite above the junction of the East and West branches of the Multnomah Creek just past an unmarked junction with the Franklin Ridge trail.  You cross the east branch on a log with side rails nailed on.

The next two miles are a bit tedious especially if the day is warm.  Much of the way goes through forests burnt in 2017.  You cross the creek again a half mile up, now definitely exposed to the sun.  Making matters warmer is the fact you gain elevation now through a long rockslide which heats you up even more while you listen to the occasional whistle of a pika.

getting hotter

Still gaining elevation, you eventually reach trees spare by the 2017 blaze.  You are now entering the northern part of the Larch Mountain crater.  4.7 miles up from the lodge is an intersection with the Multnomah Way trail which gives you options, but for now we simply continue up through the trees.  Just under another half mile, you pass a dry campsite on your right as you reach a forest road coming in from the west – it leads off from the main Larch Mountain Rim.

SHERRARD POINT

The final mile and a quarter ascend along the west rim of the crater.  The views begin to get interesting again, but you really need to walk up the stairs atop Larch Mountain to Sherrard Point for a proper view out over the countryside.  You look straight into the crater with volcanic peaks on the horizon to the north and south.

Sherrard Point gets its name from the chief forester of the Mt. Hood National Forest from 1907 to 1934.  He was very influential is saving much of the forests of the Gorge region to logging operations like Bridal Veil.  He also helped in the development and construction of the trail systems in and around the Gorge.

RETURN

If you are hiking up and back, you can either return the way you came up or hike down the east side of the crater continuing onto the Franklin Ridge path.  This adds an extra mile but gives you views over new ground.  About two miles from the top, you meet the Multnomah Way path again.  This path travels on the rail bed of an old narrow-gauge track used by the Bridal Veil Lumber Company logging efforts in the crater a century ago.

Also note that if you start from Wahkeena Falls instead of Multnomah, the round trip is another mile in length – 15.4 – but you also gain another 1000 feet making it a 5000+ vertical gain day.