This is a short hike, but one I could recommend as a great place to bring dinner and a camera, and poke around in the early evening. There's a lot to see crammed in this butte, which is why the climbers like it. I walked the trail as the light was fading and scrambled around the rocks to get views and find flowers and pretty rock.

The trailhead is large and tidy, with a restroom, but it was overflowing to the road during the day. Climbers with crash pads and helmets and gear galore were wandering to and fro when I passed during the day, but by evening, it was pretty peaceful except for those of us carrying cameras to catch the evening light.

The balsamroot is still blooming- I swear I was greeted by the exact same plant 4 years ago- but I missed the fragrant parsley that I remember from the last time.

There are signs posted by a supposed cultural resources sensitive area, but I'm thinking the resource was removed for its own protection; otherwise, the sign is an invitation to vandals and thieves, right? People aren't supposed to climb there, so perhaps it has sacred importance.

After setting up camp at Horsethief Lake CG, we spent 3 hours exploring the Horsethief Butte area. Arrow-leaf balsam root, shooting stars, yellow desert parsley, Oregon grape, Big Root cucumber, prairie stars, fiddleneck, cushion fleabane, and Panicled-Death-camas were some of the many wildflowers blooming. We saw 2 young men who were carrying "crash pads" on their backs. They said they climb 10-15 feet using no ropes and lay these pads on the ground to catch their fall. We saw an osprey flying overhead.

My wife & I spent a couple of nights last week in Hood River. On the way down on Wed we stopped for lunch at the Horsethief Butte trailhead, then hiked the road up Eightmile Creek past the falls to where it switchbacks out of the canyon. It was a little cloudy as we started hiking, but became quite sunny as we walked. There were quite a few wildflowers in bloom, especially Gray's Desert Parsley. The Balsamroot was just beginning. On Thurs we went over to Catherine Creek. We had a very leisurely walk on the Universal Access Trail and had lunch at the bench overlooking Catherine Creek Falls. It was cloudy bright as we began, but by lunchtime it was only partly cloudy. There were lots of wildflowers, especially Smooth Desert Parsley & a saxifrage (we weren't sure if it was integrifolia or oregana). After lunch we walked up Catherine Creek as far as the arch. There were also quite a few grass widows, yellow bells, etc. On the way home on Fri we stopped at the Rowena Plateau. It was nice & sunny, but we were too early for the Balsamroot & Columbia Desert Parsley, but too late for the Grass Widows, so after about an hour we drove down to the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in the Dalles and had lunch overlooking the river. After lunch we crossed over to the Washington side and hiked up Horsethief Butte. There was lots of nice Gray's Desert Parsley here as well along with some Baslamroot in bloom. This was a nice leisurely 3 days with no ticks, little wind, and lots of sun & wildflowers.

After setting up camp at Maryhill SP, we had time to walk the trails at Horsethief Butte. Wildflowers are beginning to bloom. We saw grass widows, shooting wars, gold stars, and prairie stars.