Mount Hood National Forest Lakes

A list of lakes in Mount Hood National Forest with links to the posts of the ones I've been to.

Shellrock Lake

My goal is to visit all the accessible lakes I can find in the Mount Hood National Forest. I just want to get outside and this gives me a long list of something to work toward. This isn’t about being able to say “I’ve been to this many lakes.” It’s about actually getting to go to each individual lake, the challenge of researching and then hiking to them. Lakes are rather numerous in the Mount Hood National Forest.

I really enjoy hiking to anything with a view, lake or waterfall. But it isn’t just about the view, lake or waterfall. It’s also about the journey on the way there. Some of the coolest things I’ve found or seen have been on the way to “the cool place,” you just have to have your eyes open on the way to the end goal to see them. Some of my favorite things to see on trails are wildflowers, small plants, butterflies and chipmunks. I guess what I’m trying to get at is it isn’t just about checking off the lake, it’s about the whole experience from the planning, to the hiking, to the lake, to the checking it off. It’s the whole thing that I enjoy and I’m excited about.

Recently I read something that I thought was a good reminder. When you’re hiking down a trail, turn around every once in a while because sometimes an epic view is behind you. That is a good reminder to look around, be curious and observant when hiking. I know for myself it’s so easy to get lost just following the trail in a rhythm and lost in my thoughts that I sometimes become unaware of the little things around me.

Below is the whole list of lakes I’m planning on going to.

Progress: 28%

Lakes

List of Lakes (alphabetically)

• Anvil

• Averill*

• Badger

• Bear

• Beth

• Big Slide

• Big Slide Upper

• Black

• Boulder big

• Boulder little

• Brown, north

• Brown, south

• Buck

• Bump*

• Burnt

• Cast

• Catalpa

• Cigar*

• Clackamas

• Clear (near Government Camp)

• Clear (near Estacada)

• Cottonwood Meadows

• Cougar

• Cripple Creek

• Cub*

• Davey*

• David*

• Devils

• Dickey

• Dinger

• Dollar

• Donna*

• Double Peak*

• Dumbbell

• Dunlap

• El*

• Elk

• Enid

• Ercrama

• Finley*

• First*

• Fish*

• Fork*

• Frazier

• Frog (reservoir)

• Frog

• Frying Pan Lake

• Gifford*

• Gifford lower*

• Giebler/Giebeler

• Green

• Harriet

• Head*

• Helen

• Hicks

• Hidden

• Hideaway

• High

• Horseshoe*

• Huxley

• Indian*

• Indian, south*

• Jean

• Jeni

• Joyce

• Kinzel

• Laurance

• Lenore

• Lily Pad

• Little Crater

• Lost

• Lower*

• Memaloose

• Middle*

• Mirror

• Monon

• Mud

• Nekbobets*

• North

• Olallie*

• Ottertail

• Oval

• Pansy

• Perry

• Plaza

• Pyramid

• Rainey

• Red*

• Rimrock*

• Ripplebrook

• Rock lower

• Rock middle

• Rock upper

• Round

• Salmon

• Scout

• Serene

• Sheep*

• Shellrock

• Shining

• Si*

• Silver King

• Skookum

• Spinning*

• Spinning

• Sportsman

• Summit

• Surprise (near fish creek drainage)

• Surprise (near Olallie)

• Suzi

• Teacup

• Timber

• Timber*

• Timothy

• Top*

• Triangle*

• Trillium

• Twin lower (Near Government Camp)

• Twin upper (Near Government Camp)

• Twin lower (Near Detroit)

• Twin upper (Near Detroit)

• Tumala

• Upper*

• Veda

• View*

• Wahtum

• Wall*

• Warren

• Welcome

• West

• Williams

• Wind

• Lake 44.78758, -121.80658*

• Lake 44.79788, -121.82402*

• Lake 44.81887, -121.82389*

• Lake 44.8505, -121.7745*

• Lake 44.8938, -122.0797

*Olallie Scenic Area

List of Lakes (by ranger district or wilderness area)

Resources

Forest Service

The best place to find information about trails, roads, closures, and each ranger district is from the forest service website.

Here are a few shortcut links to important pages on the Forest Service website:

• Road Tables

• Alerts and Notices

• Offices and Contact Information

Stocked Lakes

PDF of my lakes list with coordinate and other resources

Maps

Yellow – Lakes I have been to (and I have a post about) Red – Lakes I haven’t been to yet or don’t have a post about

This map doesn’t link to any posts on my website it only shows the locations of all the different lakes.

For exploring the map in more detail I’d recommend clicking on the link in the top right corner of the map above that says “Open in CalTopo.” It will make it easier to explore the map and the lakes in more detail. All lakes are assigned to folders by ranger districts and there are folders specifically for wilderness's. On the left sidebar on the CalTopo website you can click on a lake name and it will show you were it is on the map. Under the lakes I’ve been to there will be the URL for the corresponding post on my website. You can copy and paste the link into your search engine to see the post.