Parking is at the Retreat Center, the lower lot and campground are closed (gate is closed). There is a porta-potty next to the parking lot but don't expect it to be sanitary (it at least had tp). I hiked the Old Growth Trail first (walking back down the road to that leads to the retreat and then at the sign / service road head north, just east of the road. The trail is marked pretty well. It'll take you for a loop back to the parking lot.
After that I then hiked the Meadow Trail and Monastery (Fire) Trail. The Meadow Trail is basically a gravel road up a hill for most of the first half until you get to the meadows up top. Overall, there was a little snow on the ground and the ground was very saturated. Towards the top of the Meadow Trail the trail was quite muddy and sloppy. Some snow on the ground didn't help either.
Once I made it to the intersection of the Monastery Trail, there is a very nice viewpoint of Mt Hood. And there is a picnic table with a view to take a rest and soak it in. The Monastery Trail is marked but I think it would be easy to make some missteps. Luckily, someone had hiked up the trail so I followed their tracks as I hiked down.
It was a nice afternoon and I enjoyed the scenery. No animals were scene but I saw deer, rabbit, raccoon (?), fox (?) and maybe turkey tracks in the snow.
Comments