Dog Mountain again. It was veryyyyy windy! Balsamroot was looking fabulous.

The hills are alive with the sound of balsamroot. Flowers look at peak bloom to me. Seems a bit early this year.

Partly cloudy day and managed to go up ahead of some forecasted cloudy weather in coming days. Been doing this one for years and still look forward to the flowers every time.

I go up/down the regular "Difficult" way, not taking Augsperger's as I don't mind the steepness and was able to run some stretches going back down in trail runners.

This was done on a Friday afternoon, so no Dog Mountain specific permit needed (I still have the annual NW Forest Pass), but keep in mind the specific permit is required on weekends and Memorial Day now. Search online for details. Car park fairly packed, but no problem getting a spot rolling in around 400 PM. 

Top can get windy, so might be good to pack a jacket.

Start: 410 PM

Top: 540 PM

End: 645 PM

Ran-hiked on 5/6/25 and flowers are near peak! I shared my top 9 tips for hiking Dog Mtn. plus photos from my May 6th trip here: www.itsangiemarie.com/blog/dog-mountain-hike-tips

Parking lot was full when we arrived around 10:30am on Monday. We were able to snag a spot as someone (sunrise hiker perhaps) was leaving. You can purchase a NW day pass at the trailhead. We chose a weekday to avoid the mass crowds and permits on a weekend in wildflower season, but there were still plenty of folks out on the trail!
The trail is unrelenting in steepness, but the dirt path is well-worn and easy to follow. Most of the distance is through the forest. One quick view at puppy dog point, then back to the forest.
Balsam, lupine, paintbrush, flox were all out at the meadow. Incredible views! High effort and high reward.
We stopped before the actual summit and just soaked in the views.
There aren’t tons of places to sit along the meadow, and it’s tempting to leave the trail to get pics among the flowers, however you can see places where folks have trampled a bit off-trail.
The steepness can make the descent a bit slippery, so I encourage using poles and shoes with good tread. Enjoy!

Went on Friday May 2nd, 2025. Arrived to the trailhead at about 230pm and parking lot was 80-ish% full. Got back down around 645pm. There were already signs around the area advertising the shuttle and reminding about permits required on the weekend

This hike is brutal. Steep hiking most of the way up with little relief. Early on you’ll get to a fork in the road and see a sign that says difficult one way and more difficult the other way. We took the difficult route at the same time another couple took the other way. We arrived at the meet up point where the trail connects at the same time.

When you make to the second “puppy” overlook you could happily call it here. But! I would encourage you go all the way, some more good views to be had. Fear not many of the wildflowers are out, but the lupines aren’t quite ready yet.