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When to hike the Timberline Trail - an early season guide


At this time of year I see quite a few posts asking when they can hike the Timberline Trail. In addition to my own experience, I went back through the Timberline survey and came with these broad recommendations:
(a) Before July - expect extensive snow, consider this to require specialized skills and equipment. Be prepared for long and difficult snow traverses.
(b) First two weeks of July - still some snow, microspikes are likely to still be needed. Some longer stretches of now, especially on the north and east sections.
(c) After mid July - generally snow free

Of course this will depend on the snowpack and the spring and early summer temperatures that will impact the rate of snow melt. I have written a little more about this here: hikeit.info/2025/04/13/when-to…

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How's the snow looking on Mount Hood


As we are already talking about hiking the Timberline Trail this summer - I thought it was a good time to start looking at the snowpack and when the likely start of the hiking season may be. Of course there are many factors that can impact this. Currently we are running at about 111% of average with a storm or two predicted over the next week or so. How this will melt in the rest of spring or early summer - still to early to tell. But given this it leads to a pretty typical mid to late July time before the trail is snow free for most hikers.
There is a little more analysis of this here - hikeit.info/.../how-is-the-sno…
I'll keep updating this as the spring progresses.

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Welcome to the Timberline Trail Group


The Timberline Trail group is focused on the 41 mile trail that circumnavigates Mount Hood in Oregon.