By Layla Bellows
The Pacific Northwest might be most famous for its long rainy seasons, but come summer, the region boasts plenty of sunshine, and, as the rest of the country’s temperatures soar into 90 degrees and above, the mountains here have a season of mild highs and comfortable overnight lows. It’s the perfect time to get outdoors and enjoy the beautiful scenery while trying out some of the region’s great hiking.
Oregon’s landscape has everything from the mountain peaks to lava flows and unusual coastal rock formations. If summer simply isn’t summer without a trip to the coast, a visit to
Devils Punch Bowl State Natural Area near Newport, Ore., is a must. The hike to this coastal rock formation is less than a mile, and the payoff is huge: Foamy seawater churns in what appears to be, well, a giant rock bowl formed when, it’s believed, two large underwater caves collapsed. The beaches beyond are also popular for whale watching.
Unusual geological features exist in inland Oregon as well — the
Painted Hills, a portion of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument near Mitchell, Ore., dazzle visitors with crimson shades of clay set against the soft green sage brush covering the rolling hills. Paths have been developed for simple hikes ranging from a quarter to a half mile. The
Newberry National Volcanic Monument also lies in the center of the state; the star of this park is the 17 square-mile caldera at the top of the active Newberry Volcano. The Big Obsidian Flow trail follows the state’s youngest lava flow for less than a mile and is surrounded by glassy obsidian and rocky pumice.
The quintessential Pacific Northwest mountain experience is found within easy distance from Seattle, in the Cascade Mountains. Although the hikes here have steeper grades and are typically several miles long, beginners shouldn’t shy away from them. The Central Cascades have hikes as short as 4.5 miles round trip, and along the way, you’ll see everything from wildflowers to waterfalls, chains of mountain peaks and old-growth forests.
A great spot for beginning hikers is
Barclay Lake. Its well-maintained trail has a mild grade and heads through both regenerating and mature forests before ending at the lake, which sits in the shadow of the rocky northern face of Baring Mountain. For a slightly more challenging hike, visit
Wallace Falls, which connects nine waterfalls, including the 265-foot-high Middle Falls. The grade on this trail is steeper, but benches and picnic tables are located along the path so visitors can sit and catch their breath. In the North Cascades,
Mt. Pilchuck has a trail good for hikers with a moderate level of skill — not so much because of the grade but because trails are sometimes muddy and slippery. The payoff comes at the trail’s end, which has breathtaking views of Mt. Ranier, Puget Sound, Seattle and the Olympic Mountains.