Summertime in Mount Hood

Summer suggestions for Mount Hood / Hood River

Trillium Lake + Views of Hood.

This intended for anyone spending a few days in the Hood River / Mount Hood area, built on our experience of living there for a month during the Summer of 2020. We love the area, and want to share some of our favorite things to do, highlighting what makes this place so special.

Get Active & Take in the Nature

This is a View of Mount Hood that you would get on the Cooper Spur trail. Views of Hood available on other trails (hiking or biking), lakes, roads, and towns. This one is up and close though.

Hiking

There are so many wonderful hikes. Multnomah Falls is a classic and fairly accessible, positioned right on the drive up from Portland; Coyote Wall Loop is more meaningful, just across the river, and doesn’t require a park pass (follow this one up with Everybody’s); Cooper Spur is epic (pictured above). Here is a stack ranked list of our favorites.

To be sure, all of these are great. I’d recommend cross referencing this list with All Trails for reviews, distance, location, and difficulty. Word to the wise: many of these (not all!) require a Northwest Forest Pass (or an America is Beautiful National Park pass!) to leave on your car dash.

Biking

If biking is more your speed, you can take a guided e-bike tour around the Gorge. Or, if you’re adventurous, rent a mountain bike downtown and head to 7 Streams or elsewhere. Brian’s first time mountain biking was in Hood; it was not his speed.

Lakes

The Lakes are hard to beat. Bask in the sun, float, row, take a quick dip, or fish while taking in the trees, eagles overhead, Views of Hood, and serentiy of the water. Lost Lake and Trillium Lake are two of my favorites. Ideally, you’ll have a sixer of Everybody’s in tow. Unfortunately the lakes are cold, so they are not conducive for swimming.

If you plan in advance, you could order your own raft to take out on the water (if you do this, you should ask me about the Grand Float). Otherwise, you can rent small boats, kayaks, or paddleboards near or at these lakes. FYI: if you do make it to Trillium Lake you will be near the Timberline Lodge (referenced below).

Get Cherries & Tour the Fruit Loop

You can get peaches, cherries, antiques, cider, and Marion berry cinnamon rolls on the Fruit Loop; but no longer can you get stamps.

The Fruit Loop is a collection of orchards, cideries, breweries, wineries, etc. Sadly, they no longer give tote bags for those who make it to 14 spots, which is of course something we did.

If you can only do one thing on the fruit loop, Get Cherries, especially during this time of year. You can do this at Packer Orchards & Bakery, Smileys, Draper Girls, or one of the many other spots. The peaches are also fantastic, along with the blueberries, etc. Beyond the fruits, enjoy cherry pie and cinnamon rolls (Packers has great ones); pick lavender right next to charcuterie and wine at Stave & Stone; antique with delicious ice cream; and drink up at cideries and wineries.

Part of what defines the fruit loop is the drive between all these places (some even bike it). Driving along the 281 harkens to the 1 in North Bay and the roads of Provence; driving along the 35 has — and I say this only half facetiously — some pretty sweet views of Hood (which you catch when driving in the southern direction). All to say, you could easily make a day out of stopping at various stops.

Note: while Grateful Vineyards took our top spot (it’s great!) this is the location of our wedding, so you will get to experience the views, cider, wine, and pizza on Sunday!

Lavender Gardens next to Stave & Stone, and with — if you look closely — Views of Hood

Brewery & Winery Sun, Views, and Vibes

pFriem at Hood River Waterfront Park — a park that allows open containers; to be enjoyed in the sand, walkways or large grassy areas; while spectating the kite surfers braving Swell City.

The Hood River brewery vibe is hard to beat. Across the bridge in White Salmon Washington (10 minute drive) is Everybody’s, one of our favorite spots for their outdoor deck (with Views of Hood), lunch (Nashville chicken sandwich is great), and brews (like the Local Logger Lager). Many a Mountain Mama were consumed during the summer of 2020. Full Sail is the largest name-brand brewery in the area, walking distance from town, and has a deck with beautiful views of the river. pFriem is right up along the water, with the perk that you can pre order lunch and a beer (or two!) to bring to the Hood River Waterfront Park to enjoy while watching the windsurfers get wrecked in Swell City.

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The wineries are also fun. Those listed in the Fruit Loop section are but a small set of the options. Consider both those in Oregon, and Washington (particularly in the Underwood area). Here’s an example of a list (there are several others) covering wineries in the region.

Get on the Gorge — Take a windsurfing lesson!

The Hook is where many kitesurfers take off. Brian’s Windsurfing is right near here with a lagoon area for easier learning. Spectating (from The Hook or Waterfront Park) can also be fun!

Hood River is the windsurfing capital of the world. This is created by the unique conditions of the Columbia River Gorge. The gorge (canyon) acts as a wind tunnel channeling winds from the Pacific while the current goes in the opposite direction creating chop, made larger by the substantial water depth which enables greater wave formations. This dynamic is particularly pronounced in Swell City.

It’s a cool experience to take in the area from the vantage of the River Gorge. If you want to have your hand at windsurfing, I’d recommend Brian’s for rentals, and if you’re new to this, a lesson! I know, his name could be reason alone, but it’s truly an unreal experience: documented here. If you have more time, or are already experienced, kitesurfing is of course the move.

There are other ways to get on the water. Try flyboarding (looks cool, especially if mountain biking wasn’t adventurous enough). There’s also paddleboards, jet skis, and if you want to turn it up to 11 (and you have someone who knows how to sail) you could even hobie cat. Just remember the water is frigid, so swimming is not a viable option.

On the Gorge. Shot on a GoPro.

Explore the town of Hood River

I didn’t have any good photos of downtown Hood River, so instead you get another photo of Orchards + Hood.

Hood River has a quaint downtown with parks, shops, restaurants, and quiet streets to walk through. If you want to start your day with coffee, our favorite is KickStand, but there are several others closer to town. Saturday morning boasts the Farmers Market from 9am — 1pm on Columbia Street. For casual strolling and window shopping, the range of the streets from Columbia down to State between 1st St and 13th are delightful. Notably, there is also a Dutch Bros (drive-through coffee shop) within a close drive.

Another great part of town is Hood River Waterfront Park. It’s large enough to walk around along the grass, you have the option to venture to the sandy beach, and you’ll get to watch all the kitesurfers in the Gorge (including Swell City). There are some nearby coffee shops, breweries, and places for lunch nearby (pFriem included) — some with outdoor patios, and others that let you order to-go to bring to the park.

But wait, there’s more!

This picture has nothing to do with the three activities mentioned in this section. It was shot during our hike to the Ramona Falls.

Timberline Lodge

If you are a Kubrick and/or Shining fan, the hotel that The Shining was filmed at, The Timberline Lodge, is less than an hour from Hood River (even closer if you’re already in the Fruit Loop), and also next to several gem hikes / lakes. You can stroll the grounds, grab lunch or a drink at the bar, and tack on one of the nearby hikes or lakes in the area.

Water rafting

The White Salmon River is 20-minutes away with Class III / IV rapids and surrounded by some stunning nature. There are 4-hour half-day trips that run in the mornings and afternoon with multiple operators. We may even go rafting on one of the days following the wedding (if you’re interested hit us up)!

White Salmon

Cross state boundaries. You may head to White Salmon for Everybody’s, or just for the venture over the Hood River- White Salmon Bridge (there is a toll for this adventure!). It’s a short 10-minute drive from Hood River and once there, you’ll get another (albeit smaller) urban experience. Of course, remember once you leave Oregon and enter Washington, there will once again be sales tax.

The End.