Mt Hood
 

Is Mt Hood worth a drive by?

We originally thought we'd do a loop from Portland, to Mt Hood, up to Columbia River Gorge area, but are now thinking of concentrating our time near Troutdale along the scenic highway to see the falls, with a sidetrip to Mt Hood.

How long would it take to go from Portland to Mt Hood, and backtrack up to Troutdale?

Do you have to get off on sideroads to really see Mt Hood and to get good pictures? My husband thinks it'd be worth a drive there to see it in the morning, then spend the rest of the day seeing falls along the gorge.

thanks!!
sharie

It is kind of cool to drive up to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood (should still be plenty of snow up there in May), but you can certainly see the mountain from Portland quite well. Given how much driving you are doing, I would probably not do it - spend more time in the Gorge or in Portland proper.

IF, and that's a big if much of the year, you sunny skies, you can get good photos easily. the Gorge is really worth the time, even if it's rainy.

Where are you from? If you're from anywhere but the mountainous west, Mt. Hood is well worth it. It is really beautiful, and unlike anything in the east. There is a great Mt. Hood loop which was just discussed on a recent thread. You can visit the gorge and see some great falls and Mt. Hood in one day. People usually go to the gorge first and hope to get to Mt. Hood in the late afternoon. It's awesome at sunset.

You don't have to go off the main loop roads to be impressed by Mt. Hood. Just drive around doing the counterclockwise route and go up to Timberline Lodge, which is simply beautiful.

Here's a url:

http://www.traveloregon.com/Explore-...nic-Byway.aspx

Look up "Mt. Hood loop" and you'll get lots of ideas.

When are you coming?

Hi Orcas,

We're from Cincinnati. We WERE coming this May, but after much advice here and on Trip Advisor about our trip up to the Columbia River Gorge area, we've decided to cut that part out and save it for our next trip out there. We were going to try to come from Yosemite area, to the gorge area and down the entire coast of Oregon in 4 days. Now we're going to concentrate on Southern Oregon.

Thanks for your help. You exactly answered my question about the drive around Mt Hood. sounds so lovely. can't wait to see it...next time.

And thanks, BoomBoom. THe more I'm reading, the more I'm realizing we're going to be faced with lots of rain in Oregon.

Sharie