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Mount Hood National Forest Lakes

  • Writer: Tina McLain
    Tina McLain
  • Oct 31, 2022
  • 7 min read

Updated: Jun 3

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


Shellrock Lake
Shellrock Lake

Mount Hood National Forest is located in Oregon. It includes one cascade mountain - Mount Hood. The national forest is broken into four ranger districts: Barlow Ranger District, Clackamas River Ranger District, Hood River Ranger District, and Zigzag Ranger District. The National Forest also manages the Colombia River Gorge National Scenic Area. 


Barlow Ranger District includes Badger Creek Wilderness and Lower White River Wilderness.


Hood River Ranger District includes part of Mount Hood Wilderness, Mark O Hatfield Wilderness and Colombia River Gorge National Scenic Area


Clackamas River Ranger District includes Roaring River Wilderness, Clackamas Wilderness, Bull of the Woods Wilderness, and Olallie Lake Scenic Area.


Zigzag Ranger District includes part of Mount Hood Wilderness, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, and Bull Run Watershed Management Unit (closed to public entry).


A Mount Hood Climbing permit is now required above 9500 ft in Mount Hood Wilderness. Most wilderness areas have a free self-issue permit at the start of trailheads where required.


From my research, I have listed 127 lakes. Places like the Olallie Scenic Area has an abundance of lakes, ponds, and tiny bodies of water. So I marked the distinguishable ones. My list is as complete as I could get it, but I’m sure I’m still missing a few.


How I classify lakes

I am not very picky about the criteria I use for marking a body of water as a lake. I use the word “lake” loosely and as an all encompassing word. It includes lakes, reservoirs, glacier tarns, ponds, seasonal bodies of water, etc. 


I also mark lakes that don’t have names and I title them Lake:Coordinates (ex. Lake 44.7875, -121.8075). While I list all lakes alphabetically I keep unnamed lakes together at the bottom of my spreadsheets and don’t list them under L for lake.


My main requirement is that I’m able to see a body of water on a satellite map, or the appearance of there having been one if it seems dry. I add it to my list to explore and check out. 

Disclaimer

Not all lakes are accessible to the public. I try to note when certain ones aren’t accessible such as due to a fire closer, not available to public access, or if off trail if not legal to access.


As such it is your responsibility to double check legalities of accessing different areas of federal land since legalities can change. 


I also didn’t list any lakes in Bull Run Watershed since it is not open to public entry. 


Even though I am a large proponent of ethically and responsibly exploring off trail, it’s important to do so only when legal and in places that aren’t heavy usage. Some lakes are inaccessible due to terrain, having to access through private property, and other such limitations. So it might not be possible to access each lakes edge. 


For more information on bushwhacking and recreating responsibly check out my disclaimer page.

How it all began

I’ve always enjoyed hiking to lakes or stopping by a new one on a drive through the forest. So after a couple years of just going out to drive, seeing something new on the map and trying to get there (most of the the time it was a lake), I felt inspired to find a list of lakes and slowly work on exploring them. But I ran into a bit of an issue, there was no “complete list of lakes” for Mount Hood National Forest. Sometimes I’d find partial lists, but they still didn’t have useful information like coordinates. So after finding pieces of the puzzle like a mount hood lakes list from the national forest with only map locations I started researching online and still ran into the same issue.


So between my paper maps, CalTopo, and other resources I scoured maps and satellite maps to find all the lakes I could in national forest and created my own list. After finding the lakes, I’d then scour the internet for any information I could find on them. There were a lot that had no information about them online. So the list below is the result of many many hours of research. Once I visit a lake I include ALL the information I wanted before visiting it so hopefully this will be a resource for others that I wish I’d had.

My goal

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 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.


There are multiple ways to explore the lakes list:

  • By name - in alphabetical order or by ranger district

  • Spreadsheet - with all pertinent information

  • Map


Progress: 28%

Below are all the lakes in Mount Hood National Forest. I made two tabs where you can either look for a lake in alphabetical order or by ranger district. 


Lakes

List of Lakes (alphabetically)

*Olallie Scenic Area

List of Lakes (by ranger district or wilderness area)

Barlow Ranger District

  • Badger

  • Boulder

  • Jean

  • Little Boulder

  • Oval

  • Spinning

Clackamas River Ranger District

Bull of the Woods Wilderness

  • Beth

  • Big Slide

  • Big Slide, upper

  • Dickey

  • Ercrema

  • Lenore

  • Pansy

  • Silver King

  • Twin, lower

  • Twin, upper

  • Welcome (2 lakes)

  • West

  • Lake 44.8938, -122.0797

Olallie Lake Scenic Area

Hood River Ranger District

Zigzag Ranger District


Resources

Spreadsheet & CalTopo Map

I created a spreadsheet with all the location information I wanted when I initially started looking for lakes in Mount Hood National Forest.

I haven't put in any trail or distance information unless it's one I've been to so that it's as accurate as possible. I linked the list below.


The Google Maps further down the page is easier to access and use to navigate to posts and get basic information. I also have a map of the lakes in CalTopo which is a better platform for planning routes and printing maps which I linked below as well.


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:

Stocked Lakes

Here are the links to the Forest Service lakes list (which doesn't have coordinates and then links to different ODFW and stocked lakes lists.


Map


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

Orange - Lakes I haven't been to due to fire closures

Green - Outside forest service boundary


My Wild Adventure is not responsible for your safety, any possible injury, or anything that happens if you choose to follow anything on this website. Maps are not intended to be used for navigational purposes, but to give an overview of the route taken. By going outdoors you are solely responsible to know your strengths and limitations, be aware of current conditions and proceed with the appropriate caution. My Wild Adventure is not responsible for your choices and the outcome. Reference my disclaimer for more information on being responsible outdoors.


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