8.3 hr
Overview
NOTICE: This trail is closed until further notice because of damage from the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire. Please check the list of Columbia Gorge trail closures before you plan for a hike. So you think you want to climb mountains, huh? This climb is a good stamina builder, and it's often used by mountain climbers in training. You'll have some great views along the way, and you'll burn a few carbs too. The destination is an old lookout site atop the red cinder cone of a Boring volcano, intruded into Columbia River Basalts less than a million years ago. The Nesmith volcano was sheared in half by the Bretz (Missoula) Floods at the end of the last Ice Age, resulting in an unstable lower slope that gives rise to frequent, and sometimes massive, landslides. Along the way to the viewpoint, you'll get views to Cascade peaks and Gorge features across the river in Washington, encounter some small groves of impressive old growth, and come close to the boundary of the Bull Run Watershed Management Area, which is closed to the public. This hike starts in the John B Yeon State Park parking lot. This place might be the highest-theft lot in the Gorge. Leave your valuable things at home! You'll start up the trail, pass an old water tank, switchback, and come to a trail junction, all in the first 50 steps. Take the right trail fork, marked as the Nesmith Point Trail #428. The first mile of the trail doesn't climb too steeply. The trail makes a wide sweeping curve, but you'll notice a shortcut, known as the Mazama Cutoff, that heads up: stick to the official trail to keep the erosion down. The trail swings back to a rushing creek, and the former trail junction with the Gorge Trail #400, headed west. This trail was completely wiped out by a 1996 landslide and now overgrown with slide alder. The hike then continues up the Nesmith Point Trail and here we really mean up! Switchbacks are the norm, and they're pretty steep. However, you'll earn several viewpoints as rewards for your climbing, including views of Mount Adams, Mount Sain
Trail Stats
15.8 km
1195 m
1180 m
0 m
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Photos
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TKO put tools to trail here.png
TKO put tools to trail here.png