Reminder: Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays (Memorial Day/Juneteenth), you need two permits from recreation.gov.  One vehicle permit to park AND one permit for EACH hiker in your party.

During the weekdays, only a NW Forest Pass is required. 

Because I missed prime balsamroot season at Columbia State Park, Dalles Mountain Ranch, Sage Hills and Lewis Butte, I thought I would try a sunrise hike up Dog Mountain. Unfortunately, fog rolled in at 5 am and lifted around 6:15 am when I was on my way down. 

Personally, I would go for one of the previously mentioned hikes over Dog Mountain for wildflowers. Again, unless you missed prime.

Whether you take the "difficult" trail or the "more difficult" trail to the top, you will have to grind out 1.7 or 2.4 miles at approximately 100ft/0.1mi of a forested hike. Pretty intense with absolutely no views or wildflowers. Wildflowers don't start until approximately 2,400ft of elevation.  The hike starts 160 ft of elevation.

I took the "difficult" trail up and the "more difficult" trail down.  Both are well laid out with flat stretches that allow the early spring lactic acid build-up to dispense a little.

If you take the "difficult" trail, you will hear the road traffic and trains from both sides of the gorge throughout the entire hike.

If you take the "more difficult" trail cutting about .7 mi off your total hike, it is through a great trail floor winding through a quiet forest.

Yes, the flowers were spectacular at the top after the steep forested hike. You can extend the flower display by walking the ridge towards Auspurger Mtn. 

No need to go up to the official summit of Dog Mountain.  It is in a forested section with nothing to see.  I did take the forested trail back down from the official Dog Mountain summit to Puppy Point.  I can see this side trail being handy in the summer months for those looking for a workout and want to stay cool.

I was the only car in the lot at 4am. Came back to 5 cars at 7:00am.

Remember to plan ahead for accessing the trail. Like it says above, you need to get permits through rec.gov for parking. I scored permits for parking a day before. They sold out almost instantly. Make sure you have a permit to park at the trailhead. There were notes at the info board that said they will tow your car if you don't have one.

We dispersed camped nearby the night before. There are a ton of pull offs that you can sleep at. Just remember that the train tracks are the most active at night.

We started the hike around 5:15am and finished around 9:35am. We took the "more difficult" trail (left at the fork) up which honestly isn't horrible. It basically shoots straight up the mountain and is free of switchbacks. There are no viewpoints of the gorge on this route, it is all forested and very beautiful. If you take the harder route up and down you cut out about 0.8 miles of the total roundtrip. 

Prepare for the last mile to be very difficult. Both the "difficult" and "more difficult" trails combine here. It's more steep than the entire rest of the trail. 

Wildflowers are completely covering the summit. It's really really beautiful. Once you reach the flat area at the top, Puppy Dog Viewpoint is to the right. Take the trail that goes up to the left and go 0.3 miles to reach the official Dog Mountain viewpoint. The trail continues on essentially infinitely after that. At 7:00ish the view at the very top was covered with fog so we didn't go up there. If you reach the top around 8 or 9 or even later it should be completely clear.

We took the "difficult" trail on the way down. It was a knee saver and honestly a lot easier than the "more difficult" trail. There is one viewpoint of the gorge this way and the rest is forested. There were a lot more people on trail now as the bus was in service. If you have a dog, it might be better to take the "more difficult" trail down so you don't run into as many people. The "more difficult" trail is also wider. 

There were forest service employees stationed at the trailhead when we got back down. They are great to talk to if you have any questions about difficulty! I'm sure they will be present for the rest of the season. 

The hike seemed a lot harder in the hot weather. I recommend to pack light. Bring water park. Small snack. Wear shorts. Bring sunscreen on hot days. Hat/sunglasses. Pack hiking sticks and wear hiking shoes. 

Clear day that started at 8:30. Using the CAT Dog Mountain Bus was a LIFE SAVER. And saved some $. Free parking at the Fairgrounds AND entry to the trail. Love to see it.

Wildflowers are really starting to go wild. The summit isn’t covered in blooms yet, but when you first leave the canopy you are met with a TON of color. I’d think it’ll really get going next week.

Took the ‘more difficult’ route up and the ‘difficult’ route back. The disparity between the two makes that distinction laughable. ‘Difficult’ was far easier and had more wildflower spots, including an area that was akin to a mini-summit with tons of flowers blooming. I would not change my route since the descent was far easier on my knees going back. Done in 5 hours. Would have taken less time but the views were stunning.

Pack trekking poles, snacks, tons of water and be prepared to sweat. The bugs were juuuust starting to be annoying - mainly flys. Apply sunscreen and bug spray to avoid bugs AND burns.

Lucked out and got 1 of 40 permits released on 5/10/23 to hike on Saturday 5/13/23. Arrived at the trailhead around 7:40 am with plenty of parking, but had to remind some folks that permits were required to park in the lot this time of year. Planned an early start because the daytime high temperature was supposed to be 91 degrees F. Took the more difficult trail option up and the less difficult trail option down. The less difficult trail was very nicely maintained, but we enjoyed a little more solitude on the more difficult trail. Either way, after the two trail options converge, the going gets tough for a bit as you climb higher through the forest and closer to the wildflower bonanza. The balsamroot and other flowers towards the top were beautiful and I suspect they will continue to get better over the next 2 weeks. The flowers in the forest understory were great too and were a good excuse for us to stop and take breaks. We reached the summit around 9:30 am and enjoyed partial views of Mt. Hood and Mt. Saint Helens.