33. Fifteenmile Creek Loop

2024 Status

The hike description below is based on my last visit in 2003. I plan to field check in 2024, and will update the hike description, photos and map later in 2024.

Summary

Length                                10 ¾ mile loop

Difficulty                             Difficult

Season                               Late spring to autumn

Elevation range                2,750 – 4,640 feet

Human imprint                  Moderate (mountain bikes, roads, past timber harvest)

Information                       Mount Hood National Forest (Barlow Ranger District)

Primary old growth features

Ponderosa pine old-growth.

Description

Impressive groves of old ponderosa pine still stand east of Mount Hood along the bluffs above Fifteenmile Creek. Douglas-fir, grand fir, and other conifers mingle with burnt-orange pines in the much drier conditions prevailing east of the Cascade crest. The Cedar Creek Trail joins the Fifteenmile Trail in two places forming a scenic loop through the finest forest remaining in the area. This loop is also popular with mountain bikers.

Start downhill on the Fifteenmile Trail (456) from Fifteenmile Campground. Turn right onto the Cedar Creek Trail (457) in about half a mile to cross the creek and climb to the ridge separating Fifteenmile Creek from Cedar Creek. Follow the ridgeline trail northeast coming to an extensive stand of old ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir approximately 1 ½ miles from the trailhead. For the next 2 miles, park-like pines reign over a sparse herb and shrub understory in some places, and overtop dense thickets of younger trees in other spots.

Continue steeply down the spine of the ridge until rejoining the Fifteenmile Trail just across Fifteenmile Creek, about 5 miles from the trailhead. This point can also be reached from the lower trailhead for the Fifteenmile Trail on FR 4421.

Follow the Fifteenmile Trail west up the north bank of Fifteenmile Creek through a scenic canyon for 2 ½ miles. The lower portion of the trail is mostly in scrub white oak for the first mile or so, then in a mixed-age stand with scattered large ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, and grand fir. Some of the larger trees are over 400 years old, and a few big western redcedar hug the stream.

The trail then switchbacks up to a secondary ridgeline where scattered large ponderosa pine grace a relatively open, grassy site. The trail then curves southward and reenters the forest. Turn left onto an old logging road about 8 miles from the trailhead and enter a ponderosa pine plantation. The trail leaves the old roadbed and comes to some cliffs on the edge of a picturesque gorge a mile later. Follow the trail southwest to complete the loop.

30 Years of Change

Last hiked in 2003. I plan to re-hike and update in 2024.

How to get there

From Highway 35 turn northeast onto the Dufur Mill Road (FR 44) about 25 miles south of the town of Hood River (13 ¼ miles north of the Highway 26/Highway 35 junction). Turn right onto FR 4420 in 8 ½ miles, then veer left onto FR 2730 in another 2 miles. The trailhead is on the left in Fifteenmile Campground just under 2 miles later.

Map note

The map below was created in 2003 and accurate at that time. I plan to field check and update the map in 2024.