Fall Hikes in the Columbia Gorge

Article by Sean Patrick Hill

As winter approaches, opportunities for hiking in the high country of the Cascades are quickly slipping away. For many avid hikers, the Columbia Gorge makes for excellent year-round hiking and a way to stay in shape until spring. The Gorge has a number of day hikes that can ascend as much as 4,800 feet above the Columbia River. Here are three trails that offer great late-autumn hikes before the snow comes—or even in spring, after it melts off. Two hikes are on the Washington side, and one is easily accessible on the shadier, cooler Oregon side.

Silver Star Mountain

Though accessed from the Gorge, Silver Star lies back a ways from it. The view, however, extends far into the Oregon Cascades, from Mount Hood to Mount Jefferson, and encompasses the high peaks of the Washington Cascades, including St. Helens, Adams and Rainier.

Starting from a pass called Grouse Creek Vista, an old road climbs a forested ridge through springtime avalanche lilies before rising to views of Pyramid Rock. From here, the trail follows the ridge over the deep canyon of Rock Creek, passing summer meadows lush with wildflowers, including explorer’s gentian.

The old road brings you to the peak of 4,390-foot Silver Star, the site of a former fire watchtower. Here the Washington peaks seem breathtakingly close.

Though it is tempting to return the way you came, there is another option. Go back down the peak to the junction, where another old road descends 1.4 miles, passing Sturgeon Rock’s columnar basalt to the Tarbell Trail, a 3.2-mile woodsy descent back to your car. The trail crosses the creek near a small waterfall—a fine place to cool off on a hot day.

Read WTA's hiking guide entry and most recent trip reports here.

Dog Mountain

In springtime, the meadows on the peak of Dog Mountain are a veritable wildflower garden. The trail, unless seriously snowed in, is open year-round. A 6.9-mile loop is an excellent way to explore the mountain.

From the parking area on Highway 14 between mileposts 53 and 54, the scenic trail climbs steeply up switchbacks for 0.5 mile to a junction with the “Old Trail.” Go right up the Dog Mountain Trail for another 2.5-miles to stunning cliff-edge viewpoints and wildflower meadows to the top of the 2,920-foot peak.

To go down an easier way, follow signs for Augspurger Mountain, which connects with the trail of the same name, descending gradually down the mountain through woods full of birdsong for 3.8 miles to the highway.

Read WTA's hiking guide entry and most recent trip reports here.

Nesmith Point

An amazingly quiet trail, free of hikers, the trail from Oregon’s Yeon Park offers old-growth woods, salmonberries, and a view over the Gorge through a natural amphitheater in the cliffs. The view comes at a cost, but it’s worth it.

The trail from Yeon switchbacks steeply, following a gully nearly 3,000 feet to a saddle in the course of 3.3 miles. From the crest, the trail meanders an easier 1.3 miles to Nesmith Point, the site of an old watchtower and a collapsed outhouse at 3,872 feet. There’s even a spring near the trail with cold, clear water spouting from a pipe. Pileated woodpeckers drum in the woods, and blue grouse sneak among the undergrowth near the peak. Return the way you came.

Find more info here.

Photos: Silver Star Mountain by Sean Patrick Hill. Dog Mountain Trail by Jennifer S. Nesmith Point by Sean Patrick Hill.