Columbia Hills State Park - Horsethief Butte, Columbia Hills State Park - Crawford Oaks — Monday, May. 26, 2014

Southwest Washington > Columbia River Gorge - WA

A short hike to break up a long drive from Big Muddy navigation race (so fun! so beautiful!) in central Oregon back to Seattle. A relaxing walk through waving fields of grass, and rewarding views of the Columbia, The Dalles, and Mt.Hood. We missed the wildflower peak, but still enjoyed it. Columbia Hills State Park has several trailheads to it. We hiked out of the TH that is the eastern-most on Hwy 14, providing us the opportunity to hike up and around the grassy hillside and look back on the Columbia River and Mt. Hood. If you want to hike up Horsethief Butte, you need park at the other TH shown on the map in the photos I've included. (Plus there's another entrance for camping at Horsethief Lake, and yet another TH at the northern end of where we hiked!) According to trip reports we read here, dogs are not allowed up Horsethief Butte, but they are allowed in the area we hiked. Speaking of the map-- the map at the TH does not include all trails, nor contour lines, or even the creek running through the park! (Ideally, we would have brought a proper one, but the hike was on a whim during a road trip. We took a photo of the map at the TH.) We walked up the gravel road, accompanied by oak trees growing near the creek, passed through a chainlink gate, then encountered a forked intersection that we did not expect. The left fork went uphill to the west, the right fork across the creek to the east. We went to the right, crossed the creek, and soon arrived at another intersection. This was the fork between Vista Loop and Military Road according to the TH map, though it was not signed that way. We again turned right (headed south on Vista Loop) and made our way counter-clockwise around the Vista Loop, passing under power lines twice. There was one more intersection that was the fork between Military Road (headed west, towards the creek) and the continuation of Vista Loop (headed north, with a jog in it)), but they were signed with different names on the trail. We stayed to the left to head back to the creek, crossed it, and returned on the same gravel road we had come up on. Navigating this route really should not be difficult using the TH map, but the trail names are signed differently than the TH map calls them, not all intersections are included or their shape clearly shown, and helpful features such as the creek, power lines, and contour lines are not included. Our route can be seen here-- toggle between satellite view and USA Topo view for the most helpful info, including the creek, powerlines, other intersections, and contours of course. http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/fullscreen/427389286/ We walked the shorter Vista Loop counter-clockwise, but I suggest walking it clockwise so that you can admire the Columbia River and Mt.Hood in front of you while walking the southern part of the loop. While we did not find any ticks on us, we encountered a pup on the trail that had several on her belly. Lame map aside, a rewarding and quickly accessible hike to break up a long drive!