Mount Defiance
From Portland Hikers Field Guide
- Hikes to this location:
- Defiance-Starvation Loop Hike (TH | <-- --> | LOG)
- Mount Defiance from Columbia River Hike (TH | <-- --> | LOG)
- Mount Defiance from Wahtum Lake Road Hike (TH | <-- --> | LOG)
- Latitude: 45.64873
- Longitude: -121.72229
- Maps: Portland Hikers Maps Google Earth
- Elevation: 4960 feet
Contents |
Description
Mount Defiance is a six million year old shield volcano, similar to Larch Mountain and Lost Lake Butte. The summit is considered the highest point on the Columbia River Gorge and the hike from the Gorge to the top is widely viewed as one of the most difficult hikes in the region.
Mt. Defiance, like other peaks in the region, once hosted a fire lookout. The foundation can still be found. A more recent use of the summit are the radio towers clustered at the top.
The foreground might be cluttered, but the distant views are amazing. Views from the top include five stratovolcanoes, Mount Rainier, Mount Saint Helens, Mount Adams, Mount Jefferson and, of course, Mount Hood. There are lesser peaks, as well, Larch Mountain, Chinidere Mountain and Tomlike Mountain, among others. The view extends from the Eastern Oregon grasslands to the Coast Range Mountains.
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Guidebooks that cover this destination
- Day Hike! Columbia Gorge, by Seabury Blair, Jr.
- Afoot and Afield Portland/Vancouver, by Douglas Lorain
- 35 Hiking Trails, Columbia River Gorge, by Don & Roberta Lowe
- Columbia River Gorge, 42 Scenic Hikes, by Don & Roberta Lowe
- Hiking the Columbia River Gorge - 1st and 2nd Editions, by Russ Schneider
- 100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon - 3rd Edition, by William L Sullivan
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- Stevefromdodge (outline)