2.6 hr
Overview
NOTICE: Trails in this area were affected by the 2020 Lionshead Fire. Please check current closures in the Mt. Hood National Forest before planning an outing. Officially at 7,215 feet, Olallie Butte is the highest summit between Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson along the Cascade crest. It is a shield volcano and looks relatively symmetrical from most western viewpoints. Hike to the summit, however, and get views of spectacular volcanic formations exposed by glacial erosion on the Butte’s northeast and southeast slopes. There are 360 degree views from the peak, which can catch warm but fierce easterlies in the summer. The Cascade Range from Mount Rainier to Broken Top is usually in view even on a relatively hazy day as are the sparkling jewels of the Olallie Lakes below to the west. Bear in mind that much of the trail, which is sporadically maintained, is on Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs land, so you hike here at your own risk. Across FR 4220 from the parking area, head up Spur Road 019. Ten yards before a Forest Service sign admonishing you to “Hike at your own risk,” find a trail leading right on a rubbly tread. Hike up in young woods of lodgepole pine, mountain hemlock, and western white pine, and reach the unsigned Pacific Crest-Olallie Butte Trail Junction (There is a Pacific Crest Trail logo sign a few yards down the trail to your left). Continue straight here. Pikas squeak on a talus slope behind a screen of trees to your left. The track is loose and stoney as it leads up through an understory of huckleberry, pinemat manzanita, boxwood, and grouseberry. Enter more mature forest and make two short switchbacks to wind up in montane woods with noble fir and silver fir making their appearance. Cross a narrow talus slope and ascend three switchbacks on a more solid tread. Pass the boundary sign for the Warm Springs Reservation, and negotiate another switchback at the foot of a talus slope. There’s a gentle traverse up through a huckleberry carpet, then another switchback and another traverse. Make thr
Trail Stats
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783 m
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Photos
400px-OlallieButteMap
400px-OlallieButteMap
160px-Natural_arch%2C_Olallie_Butte
160px-Natural_arch%2C_Olallie_Butte
250px-Lookout%2C_Olallie_Butte
250px-Lookout%2C_Olallie_Butte
250px-Forest_inventory_sign%2C_Olallie_Butte
250px-Forest_inventory_sign%2C_Olallie_Butte
250px-View_to_Mt
250px-View_to_Mt
400px-Olallie_and_Monon_Lakes_from_Olallie_Butte
400px-Olallie_and_Monon_Lakes_from_Olallie_Butte