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TRIP 3 Saddle Mountain

Distance		6.1 miles, Out-and-back
Elevation Gain		1700 feet
Hiking Time		3½ hours
Optional Map		None needed
Usually Open		March to November
Best Time		Late May to mid-June
Trail Use		No dogs (allowed, but too rocky and rough for most dogs)
Agency		Oregon State Parks, Tillamook Region
Difficulty		Difficult

HIGHLIGHTS Saddle Mountain is undoubtedly the premier destination for pedestrians in the northern Oregon Coast Range. The open slopes near the top of this prominent landmark are home to a wide array of colorful wildflowers, including several rare species found virtually nowhere else in the world. But you don’t have to be a botanist to enjoy this outing. Anyone who likes fine vistas will be thrilled with this hike because it provides the best views in this part of the state.

DIRECTIONS Follow U.S. Highway 26 to near milepost 10, about 65 miles west of downtown Portland. Turn north on the narrow paved road for Saddle Mountain State Park, and drive 7.0 miles to its end at a parking area that serves both the trailhead and a small walk-in campground.

The popular path up Saddle Mountain starts at the east side of the parking lot and climbs gently through a thick forest of red alder and bigleaf maple. Head-high salmonberry bushes crowd the edges of the trail, giving it something of a tunnel-like feeling. After 0.2 mile a side trail leaves the main route to your right. Take the time to do this very worthwhile side trip, as it climbs to a small knoll with terrific views of Saddle Mountain from an angle that really shows how the mountain got its name.

Back on the main trail, you climb a series of irregularly spaced switchbacks through attractive woods of mixed conifers and deciduous trees. In several places you’ll notice where other hikers have cut switchbacks, causing erosion and needlessly trampled vegetation. Please stick to the official route and don’t add to the problem. Geology buffs will be fascinated by a prominent basalt dike a little west of the trail at about the 1-mile point.

Continuing uphill, mostly in the shade of evergreens, you reach the wonderful meadows that cloak the upper slopes of the mountain. From March to September you can always enjoy at least some flowers here. The peak blooming season comes in early June, when a whole array of colors are there to enjoy, including blue larkspur and iris, red paintbrush, yellow buckwheat, and white chickweed.

Saddle Mountain

Shortly before you reach the low point of Saddle Mountain’s saddle, a path drops down a meadowy ridge to your left. A side trip here reveals outstanding views of the open, rounded slopes around the summit of Saddle Mountain, your next goal. To reach that goal, go across a narrow walkway through the mountain’s saddle, and then climb steeply up the final 0.4 mile on a rocky trail with poor footing. You can gain greater stability by hanging onto the intermittent cable handrail on that last trail section.

The view from the often windy summit includes Cascade snow peaks as far north as Washington’s Mt. Rainier, the shimmering Pacific Ocean to the west, and even (with the aid of binoculars) the 125-foot-high Astoria Column on a hill in the town of the same name to the northwest. Return the way you came.