Mt Hood in spring is a mountain with two personalities. Up top, Timberline is still skiing and the Palmer snowfield is buried. Down in Mt. Hood Village at 1,300 feet, the rhododendrons are blooming, the Salmon River is roaring with melt, and the cabin rates have dropped since ski season. Fall does the same trick in reverse. The shoulder months are our favorite time here, and we are not alone; we just have less company.
What shoulder season means on Hood
Roughly: mid-April through mid-June, and late September through mid-November. The ski areas wind down (except Timberline, which often runs into summer), the lakes are not yet warm or the roads are not yet open, and the summer crowds have not shown up or have gone home. Rates for cabins in Mt. Hood Village are noticeably lower than peak ski weekends or July, and weekday availability is wide open.
The trade is weather. You will get rain some days. You will also get the clearest views of the year, because spring and fall air is crisp and the mountain is freshly white.
Spring, month by month
April. Snow line usually sits around 3,500 to 4,000 feet. Government Camp still has snow on the ground. Down low, the Salmon River Trail, Wildwood Recreation Site, and the Old Salmon River Trail are green, wet, and empty. Timberline is skiing with spring corn by afternoon. Skibowl usually closes early in the month; Meadows often runs into late April or early May.
May. The best-kept secret. Mirror Lake trail typically melts out by late May, though the lake itself may have ice. Trillium Lake Road often opens around Memorial Day. Rhododendrons along Highway 26 peak. Spring skiing at Timberline is at its finest: warm, sunny, shorts and goggles.
June. Higher trails like Tom Dick and Harry Mountain and the lower Timberline Trail begin to open. Snowmelt has waterfalls at full volume; Ramona Falls is at its most dramatic but the Sandy River crossing on the way is dangerous when high. Mosquitoes arrive at Trillium. Rates start climbing toward summer.
Fall, month by month
Late September. Huckleberries are finishing at the higher elevations; look along the Timberline Trail and around Government Camp. Vine maples start turning. Warm days, cold nights, the first dusting on the summit. Trillium Lake is still open and finally quiet.
October. Peak fall color in the lower forest, especially along Highway 35 toward Hood River and on the Salmon River Trail. The first real snow can hit Government Camp mid-month. Trillium Lake Road closes for the season when the snow sticks. Elk are bugling in the Welches meadows.
November. Rain, mostly. Ski areas eye an opening around Thanksgiving depending on the year. Cabin weekends are cheap and cozy. This is fireplace-and-hot-tub month, and honestly there is nothing wrong with that.
Hikes that work in shoulder season
- Salmon River Trail (lower). Year-round. Flat, old growth, river. We covered it in our Salmon River post.
- Wildwood Recreation Site. Paved loops, boardwalks over wetlands, fish viewing window. Opens in spring; check the gate.
- Old Salmon River Trail. Short, mossy, giant trees, a few steps from the road.
- Mirror Lake. Late May through October. Best in June before crowds and in October with color.
- Tamanawas Falls (east side). Usually snow-free by May. Spectacular with spring flow.
- Trillium Lake loop. When the road opens, usually late May, until it closes in fall.
Bring traction devices for any trail above 4,000 feet before June; lingering snow patches on north slopes are icy in the morning.
Things that are closed or limited
Be realistic. Trillium Lake and Frog Lake roads are gated with snow until late spring. Lost Lake Road opens later still, often mid-June. Skibowl's summer Adventure Park does not open until Memorial Day at the earliest. Some restaurants in Government Camp shorten hours between seasons. Bagby Hot Springs road can be snowed in or washed out into May. Check current conditions before driving to any high trailhead.
Why we love it anyway
Lower rates and no lines are nice. But the real reason is the light. Spring snow on the summit against a blue sky with green forest below, or October maples framing a freshly white mountain: this is when Hood looks like the postcards. We wrote about the best photos to take each season and a lot of them are shoulder-season shots. Elk in the Welches meadows at dawn in October. The hot tub at Wildwood Basecamp with steam rising into cold, clear air and nobody else in the neighborhood.
Pack rain gear and a good book, plan one high-elevation thing and one low-elevation thing per day, and let the weather decide which one. Our Mt. Hood things to do page has more, and all of it is better with fewer people around.