Mt. Hood National Forest Lost Lake Loop Hike Hike 07
Length: 3.2 miles round the lake Elevation Change: Minimal elevation change Season: Late Spring thru early winter Difficulty: Easy Permit: Entrance Fee Required Features: This hike around Lost Lake is a wonderful feast for the senses.
Whether the sky is clear or cloudy, the lake and the surrounding forest bring a
rich experience to those who hike this trail.
Obviously, a person can hike the trail either clockwise or counterclockwise. This
description will follow the trail from in front of the Lost Lake Lodge and travel
counterclockwise, or to the west. The trail follows closely along the lake shore
and immediately crosses the outlet from the lake parallel to the paved access road.
The trail has its own wooden bridge.
After traveling a brief distance through a picnic area, you enter dense forest with
very large trees. The trail often is a wooden path raised from the ground to keep
the hiker high and dry. At times you can glimpse views out across the lake to Mt Hood
in the distance. Other times you are in swampy areas or again in dense forest.
As you travel around the lake the trail varies in quality. At times it is wheelchair
access able, other times is it not. At times you walk right on the waters edge, other
times you can barely see the lake through the trees.
When you reach the southern most end of the lake, about 2 miles into the hike, you
will intersect Trail #617, which is an access to the Pacific Crest Trail #2000 high
above the lake. It is from this point on that the trail takes on a very high quality
and is wheelchair access able the rest of the distance back to the parking area near
the lodge. From time to time there are little viewpoints built out over the lake
which offer excellent photo opts.
This is an excellent hike for the young and for those more seasoned citizens.
