Twin Lakes Trail #495, OR

Overview
This trail is in the Mount Hood Wilderness Area. Lower Twin Lake is a short hike from the parking lot. The lake is a great place to take a swim or to take a loop hike. The Upper Twin Lake is a less-visited lake with a cliff-edge viewpoint of Mount Hood and the Historic Barlow Creek Valley. Expect ripe huckleberries in the late summer and the blooms of rhododendrons and bear grass in the early summer.


Hike
This trail begins at the Pacific Crest Trail #2000, travels past Upper and Lower Twin Lakes, and ends at the Pacific Crest Trail #2000. Twin Lake Trail is heavily used by horses and hikers, especially the segment from south of the Pacific Crest Trail junction to Lower Twin Lake. The tread is wide and relatively smooth with some long moderate grades to Lower Twin Lake. Tread becomes narrower and rockier from lower to Upper Twin Lake. The grade is steeper for short distances in places. The section of trail from Upper Twin Lake to #2000 is also a narrow, rocky tread with some short steep grades, but mostly level with long, gradual grades. This trail passes through new and old growth forests, and the trail is lined with beargrass and huckleberries. Nice views of Mt. Hood are seen from Upper Twin Lake and the trail from Upper Twin Lake north toward PCT. The trail around each lake is flat with the lakes being fully visible.

2019-01-21 HAZ_Hikebot