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Oregon, Washington

Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area

September 9, 2026 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area

Oregon-Washington

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region

Established 1986

292,500 acres

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/columbiarivergorge

Overview

Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area was created from riverside land that is part of Mt. Hood and Gifford Pinchot National Forests. This river corridor was traditionally used by the Chinook, Warm Springs, and Yakama peoples that were drawn to the annual salmon runs. The gorge stretches 80 miles to the Deschutes River, lined by steep basalt cliffs and many State Parks. The Oregon side is famous for its waterfalls fed by snowy Mt. Hood, the 11,249-foot-tall stratovolcano that rises to the south. The town of Hood River is considered the “Windsurfing Capital of the World” with many options for gear rentals and lessons.

Highlights

Historic Columbia River Highway, Multnomah Falls, Vista House, Dog Mountain, Bonneville Fish Hatchery, Horsetail Falls, Wahclella Falls Trail, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

Must-Do Activity

Two-tiered Multnomah Falls drops 620 feet and is the most famous waterfall on the Historic Columbia River Highway, enough so that a timed permit is now required to park May through early September. As of 2025, a parking permit is also required at Vista House, built in 1918 on a rocky point 693 feet above the Columbia River (see Fees below). To get a break from the traffic, consider parking and hiking. Wahclella Falls Trail is 2.4 miles out-and-back through a slot canyon to a 350-foot-tall two-tiered plunge (which hopefully reopens soon after it suffered extensive damages during December 2025 storms). Eagle Creek Trail goes 1.9 miles one-way to Punch Bowl Falls (honestly, there are so many good hiking options to choose from, so check out this website: https://gorgefriends.org/find-a-hike). Bonneville Fish Hatchery is free and home to Herman the Sturgeon who is 10 feet long, 500 pounds, and more than 80 years old.

Best Trail

Oneonta Trail is 3.2 miles roundtrip with an elevation gain of 425 feet to Ponytail Falls that you can walk behind. An additional 1.8 miles and 300 feet of climbing will take hikers to Triple Falls. At the same trailhead located near Horsetail Falls, the once popular route through Oneonta Gorge slot canyon has been closed due to a dangerous logjam following the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire. Dog Mountain is famous for its spring wildflower bloom, so a $2 parking reservation (or a free shuttle) is required on weekends from April through early June.

Photographic Opportunity

Women’s Forum State Scenic Viewpoint (or Chanticleer Point) is still free, which provides a photographic point looking east that includes Vista House.

Peak Season

Spring

Fees

$5 Northwest Forest Pass (or America the Beautiful pass) required at many U.S. Forest Service trailheads. Crown Point State Scenic Corridor at Vista House requires an annual state park pass or a parking fee of $10 per vehicle for Oregon residents and $12 for non-residents.

Road Conditions

Interstate 84 runs along the Oregon side of the gorge with limited exits and State Route 14 follows the river on the Washington side. Before departing, check for road closures on the Historic Columbia River Highway.

Camping

Wyeth Campground is the only one directly within the National Scenic Area, but there are several campgrounds north and south of the Columbia River in Gifford Pinchot and Mt. Hood National Forests.

Related Sites

Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (Oregon-Washington)

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (Washington)

Mt. Hood National Recreation Area (Oregon)

Deschutes National Forest (Oregon)

Nearest National Park

Mount Rainier

Explore More – When did the Chanticleer Inn burn down, opening Chanticleer Point to be purchased by the Portland Women’s Forum and donated to the state of Oregon in 1962?

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Washington

Mt. Baker National Forest

July 15, 2026 Raven About The Parks 6 Comments

Mt. Baker National Forest

Washington

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region

1,330,316 acres (1,302,215 federal/ 28,101 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/mbs

Overview

Mt. Baker National Forest’s namesake is the 10,781-foot glacier-covered stratovolcano that dominates the skyline of northwest Washington. It is surrounded by the 119,989-acre Mt. Baker Wilderness and the specially designated 8,473-acre Mt. Baker National Recreation Area that allows snowmobiling on the southern slope. About half of this National Forest is designated Wilderness, which also encompasses another active volcano within 566,057-acre Glacier Peak Wilderness. In 1968, part of Mt. Baker National Forest turned into North Cascades National Park and five years later its remaining acres were administratively merged with Snoqualmie National Forest.

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Highlights

Mt. Baker National Recreation Area, Heather Meadows, Glacier Public Service Center, Nooksack Falls, Mountain Loop Scenic Byway, Baker Hot Springs, Boulder River Trail, Bagley Lakes Trails, Fire and Ice Trail, Baker Lake Trail, Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, Shadow of the Sentinels National Recreation Trail

Must-Do Activity

Mt. Baker Scenic Byway (Highway 542) passes Nooksack Falls as it heads east to Artist Point (open after snow melts). Be sure to stop at photogenic Picture Lake and the Heather Meadows Visitor Center, built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). A recreation pass is at most trailheads around nine-mile-long Baker Lake, a reservoir popular with campers and fishermen. On the lake’s east side, boat-in or hike-in Maple Grove Campground provides amazing views of Mt. Baker on a clear day.

Best Trail

Mt. Baker Scenic Byway accesses several trailheads before dead ending in a huge parking lot at Artist Point, surrounded by snowy mountains. Snow often covers the 4.2-mile one-way trail to Lake Ann well into July. The first two miles share a path with the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, dropping 800 feet to a junction with Swift Creek Trail. From there, a 700-foot climb begins to Lake Ann, a popular destination for backpackers within Mt. Baker Wilderness, which in addition to the normal restrictions prohibits campfires and requires all human waste to be packed out. On clear days, the payoff is unsurpassed views of Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan, a 9,131-foot peak in North Cascades National Park reached by continuing up the trail.

Watchable Wildlife

Mountain goats can be seen at high elevations, alongside marmot, pika, and snowshoe hare. Other large mammals include black bears, mountain lions, bobcats, Columbian black-tailed deer, and elk. In 1978, the Skagit Wild and Scenic River System was established along 125 miles of rivers, providing habitat for one of the nation’s largest winter populations of bald eagles. Two types of sea-run trout and five species of salmon are anadromous fish found in the lakes and streams.

Photographic Opportunity

Picture Lake near the Heather Meadows Visitor Center creates wonderful reflections of the surrounding snowy mountains. Plus, it is a good spot for huckleberries in September.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

$5 Northwest Forest Pass (or America the Beautiful pass) required at the end of Mt. Baker Highway and at trailheads around Baker Lake; Washington State Sno-Park permit is required November 1 through April 30 at some sites

Road Conditions

Mt. Baker Highway (542) received the National Forest Scenic Byway designation in 1988. The 57-mile-long paved route from Interstate 5 is open most of the year between Bellingham and Mt. Baker Ski Area, but it is usually closed beyond that from October well into July because of heavy snowfall.

Camping

There are several campgrounds around Baker Lake, including the boat-in or hike-in Maple Grove Campground. Marble Creek and Mineral Park are two free campgrounds on the Cascade River Road. There are no campgrounds in the Heather Meadows area, but at lower elevations on the Mt. Baker Scenic Byway are Douglas-Fir and Silver Fir Campgrounds.

Wilderness Areas

Alpine Lakes Wilderness (also in Wenatchee National Forest)

Boulder River Wilderness

Clearwater Wilderness

Glacier Peak Wilderness (also in Wenatchee National Forest)

Henry M. Jackson Wilderness (also in Wenatchee National Forest)

Mt. Baker Wilderness

Noisy-Diobsud Wilderness

Norse Peak Wilderness

Pasayten Wilderness (also in Okanogan National Forest)

Wild Sky Wilderness

Lake Chelan National Recreation Area (Washington)

Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve (Washington)

Gifford Pinchot National Forest (Washington)

Nearest National Park

North Cascades

Conifer Tree Species

Douglas-fir, western hemlock, mountain hemlock, Pacific silver fir, western redcedar, yellow-cedar, Pacific yew

Flowering Tree Species

bigleaf maple, vine maple, black cottonwood

Explore More – When was this area first protected within the 3,594,240-acre Washington Forest Reserve?

Learn more about this and the 154 other National Forests in our guidebook Out in the Woods

California

Modoc National Forest

April 15, 2026 Raven About The Parks 10 Comments

Modoc National Forest

California

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region

1,979,327 acres (1,663,401 federal/ 315,926 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/modoc

Overview

In the northeast corner of California, Modoc National Forest contains the largest shield volcano in North America: 7,921-foot Medicine Lake Volcano. This region has a long history of volcanism, as seen at Pumice Stone Mountain, Burnt Lava Flow, High Hole Crater, Hot Spot, and Glass Mountain (composed of rhyolite obsidian and glossy dacite). The basalt-topped plateau of Devil’s Garden is home to an 800-acre stand of western juniper. East of Goose Lake, the Warner Mountains rise from 4,300 feet to 9,892-foot Eagle Peak, and are covered by a mixed conifer forest of lodgepole pine, whitebark pine, ponderosa pine, incense-cedar, and red fir.

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Highlights

Sáttítla Highlands National Monument, Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway, Medicine Lake Recreation Area, Glass Mountain, Devil’s Garden Natural Area, Mill Creek Falls, Highgrade National Recreation Trail, Pine Creek Trail

Must-Do Activity

Medicine Lake offers boat ramps, trails, and campgrounds and nearby is Giant Crater, which has the longest known lava tube system in the world at 18 miles (although it is partially collapsed). Located up a dirt road often blocked by snowdrifts late into the summer, Glass Mountain has a crater full of sharp pieces of rhyolite obsidian and glossy dacite. This remote corner of California has some of the darkest skies in the continental U.S., so it is great for stargazing on moonless nights. In the winter, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing are popular activities on groomed trails. The South Warner Mountain Wilderness is traversed by the 21-mile Summit Trail that passes Eagle Peak, the Devil’s Knob, and The Slide. Mill Creek Falls is also in the Warner Mountains, accessed by a 3.4-mile out-and-back trail.

Best Trail

In the Warner Mountains near the border with Oregon’s Fremont National Forest, the 5.5-mile one-way Highgrade National Recreation Trail provides excellent views of Goose Lake. The trailhead is reached by taking paved County Road 9 five miles east from Highway 395 then turning north on the steep and unpaved Del Pratt Spring Road (Forest Road 47N72) for 6.3 miles. The trail quickly leaves the shade of the forest as it steadily climbs 800 feet through a slope covered in woolly mule’s ears flowers to a saddle west of 8,224-foot Mt. Vida. It is possible to summit Mt. Vida from this point, but the trail heads away toward Yellow Mountain following Forest Road 48N10.

Watchable Wildlife

Modoc National Forest borders Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, in addition to Tule Lake, Clear Lake, and Modoc National Wildlife Refuges. These wetlands provide habitat crucial for bird nesting and migration on the Pacific Flyway. The many lava tubes provide habitat for numerous species of bats, in addition to violet-green swallows and bushy-tailed woodrats. Larger mammals include mule deer, pronghorn, badger, skunk, raccoon, pika, jackrabbit, yellow-bellied marmot, coyote, bobcat, and mountain lion. Large birds found here are great horned owl, short-eared owl, and bald eagle (winter resident). Reptiles are abundant, including the western fence lizard, northern sagebrush lizard, western skink, Rocky Mountain rubber boa, gopher snake, desert night, and western rattlesnake.

Photographic Opportunity

Not far up the steep Highgrade National Recreation Trail there are excellent views of Goose Lake to the west.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

$5 per vehicle (or the America the Beautiful Pass) at Medicine Lake

Road Conditions

This area receives abundant winter snowfall, and roads can be blocked by snow into July, which we experienced trying to get to Glass Mountain. The road to Medicine Lake is paved, but almost every other road through the National Monument is unpaved, some requiring a high-clearance vehicle. Giant Crater is a Geologic Special Interest Area that can be accessed two miles off Medicine Lake Road on Forest Road 43N11.

Camping

There are multiple Forest Service campgrounds on Medicine Lake, plus two nearby at Blanche Lake and Bullseye Lake. Dirt roads in Modoc National Forest provide ample dispersed campsites.

Wilderness Areas

South Warner Wilderness

Related Sites

Lava Beds National Monument (California)

Tule Lake National Monument (California)

Sáttítla Highlands National Monument (California)

Butte Valley National Grassland (California)

Nearest National Park

Lassen Volcanic

Conifer Tree Species

ponderosa pine, whitebark pine, red fir, incense-cedar, white fir, lodgepole pine, western white pine, Jeffrey pine, incense-cedar, western juniper

Flowering Tree Species

quaking aspen, curlleaf mountain mahogany, elderberry, sagebrush

Explore More – The Modoc Tribe traditionally lived in this area and the Klamath called them “Moadok Maklaks” that translates as what?

Learn more about this and the 154 other National Forests in our new guidebook Out in the Woods

Arizona, Update

Arizona Trail Day minus-2

March 5, 2026 Raven About The Parks 8 Comments

Since the Arizona National Scenic Trail cannot be done as a thru-hike this year, I took a non-traditional approach and started at Mile 700 in Grand Canyon National Park. Due to last summer’s Dragon Bravo Fire, more than 20 miles of the trail is closed on the North Rim. The six-mile stretch of North Kaibab Trail to Ribbon Falls opened up this week, so I made a reservation to spend the night in Bright Angel Campground. The weather was perfect, the scenery sublime, there were lots of ravens flying around, and (as I read) this time of year there were no bugs so I “cowboy camped” without a tent. What a privilege to get a campsite in such an incredible place listening to the creek. I carried my full backpack the seven miles down to the campground, then stashed most of my gear, refilled my water bottle, and headed six miles to the thigh-deep stream crossing for stunning Ribbon Falls, with an elevation gain of about 1,900 feet from the Colorado River. All told, I descended about 7,000 feet across 23 miles on Wednesday, but my left knee held up really well, either due to all the training or trekking poles. Thursday morning I made the hike out in three hours, impressing myself. I feel ready for the physical challenge of the 800-mile Arizona Trail! I am very grateful to be able to choose to do this hard and rewarding type of activity in my beautiful home state.

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California

Mendocino National Forest

February 11, 2026 Raven About The Parks 4 Comments

Mendocino National Forest

California

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region

1,079,850 acres (911,733 federal/ 168,117 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/mendocino

Overview

Originally called California National Forest in 1908, this area between Interstate 5 and Highway 101 was renamed Mendocino National Forest 24 years later. It stretches north-south along the Coast Range covering parts of six counties north of San Francisco. Similar to Los Padres National Forest, it contains rocky serpentine ridgelines where only specially adapted plants can tolerate the heavy metals in the soil, like Sargent cypress and the shorter McNab cypress. Both species can be found along Frenzel Creek near Little Stoney Campground. In 1953, a Forest Service employee and 14 volunteer firefighters died in the Rattlesnake Fire and a memorial overlooking Rattlesnake Canyon is located off Forest Highway 7 on Alder Springs Road. Mendocino National Forest includes the northern portion of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument (see our full blog post), established in 2015 and administered in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management.

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Highlights

Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, Lake Pillsbury, Thomes Gorge, Hull Mountain, Frenzel Creek, Harvey Peak, Ide’s Cove Trail

Must-Do Activity

There are 18 National Forests in California (the most of any state), but Mendocino is the only one not crossed by a paved highway. It is a wonderful destination for outdoor recreation, both motorized and non-motorized, including Hull Mountain which is popular with hang gliders. Lake Pillsbury is 2,280 acres and offers boat ramps, campgrounds, and a resort, while 35-acre Letts Lake has a campground and access to hiking trails.

Best Trail

As we drove the winding road from Stonyford to the tiny roadside pullout for Deafy Glade Trail, we passed campgrounds full of RVs that were getting ready for a motorcycle event. Our hike took us far from any road noise, as we dropped down to and waded across the frigid South Fork of Stony Creek and then climbed steeply to 5,300 feet in elevation. The trail continued to the summit of 7,056-foot Snow Mountain, but we already had great views of the Rice Valley and decided to turn around at the 4.5-mile point, just inside the official boundary of the Snow Mountain Wilderness. We expected a desolate landscape after reading about recent fires, but about three-quarters of the trees along the trail were still alive and showed only minor charring at their bases.

Watchable Wildlife

Mendocino National Forest protects a biodiverse area home to tule elk, black-tailed deer, river otters, black bears, and mountain lions. Rivers that drain these highlands are used by California coastal chinook salmon and Northern California steelhead. Fishing in the lakes is a popular activity and a chance to see ospreys and bald eagles.

Photographic Opportunity

On Deafy Glade Trail, there were congregations of lady bugs that numbered in the hundreds along the South Fork of Stony Creek.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Fouts Springs Road (Forest Road M10) is a well-maintained gravel road that crosses the National Forest west of Stonyford. That area is popular with motorcycles and OHVs, so keep an eye out for them while driving.

Camping

Mendocino National Forest manages Bear Creek Campground and Lower Nye Dispersed Campground among many others, plus there are countless places for dispersed camping.

Wilderness Areas

Sanhedrin Wilderness

Snow Mountain Wilderness

Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness (also in Six Rivers and Trinity National Forests)

Yuki Wilderness (also run by the Bureau of Land Management)

Lassen National Forest (California)

Point Reyes National Seashore (California)

Nearest National Park

Redwood