Walking and Hiking From downtown Hood River, Second Street leads to a lively waterfront area where the Hood River meets the Columbia River. A riverfront walking path meanders 1.5 miles from The Hook causeway to the west to the Hood River Bridge at the east. Along the way, the path passes an assortment of sandy beaches and grassy parks on the river. Hundreds of miles of hiking trails weave through the Mt. Hood National Forest that borders much of Hood River County. Near Cascade Locks, the Herman Creek Trail scales the Gorge slopes among splashing creeks, shady bigleaf maple, and plump fir and cedar. It passes through areas impacted by the 2017 Eagle Creek fire, where the sword ferns and fireweed emerging among charred trunks illustrate the rebirth of the forest. Cascade Locks makes the most of its riverfront setting with lovely Marine Park, where walking paths wander along the marina and across a footbridge to Thunder Island. The park’s campground attracts long-distance hikers tackling the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2,650-mile route that extends from Mexico to Canada. It passes right through Cascade Locks and across the Bridge of the Gods. South on Oregon Nisei Veterans World War II Memorial Highway (OR-35), past the town of Mt. Hood, the Oak Ridge Trail switchbacks up a steep west-facing slope to Surveyor’s Ridge and Bald Butte, a 3,779-foot-high grassy knoll blanketed in wildflowers in spring, with blossoming orchards below. Farther south down the highway, a 2.9-mile round-trip hike up Lookout Mountain rewards the effort with views for miles. Thunder Island Dry Creek Falls BROOKE WEEBER / TRAVEL OREGON (2) 18 Visit Hood River Travel Guide
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