Red Mountain Add-on Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Indian Racetrack-Racetrack Shortcut Trail Junction
- End point: Red Mountain Lookout
- Hike type: In and out
- Distance: 1.6 miles
- Elevation gain: 705 feet
- High point: 4,965 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: Summer into fall
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: No
Contents |
Description
This short add-on hike is done from the Indian Racetrack in the Indian Heaven Wilderness. The mountain is red. It was originally a shield volcano that spewed lava up to 170,000 years ago, but a few thousand years later cinder cones developed along its flanks and gave the mountain its current shape. The views range up the spine of Indian Heaven to Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount Saint Helens as well as south to the Oregon Cascades. The lookout here, the last in the Mt. Adams Ranger District, was severely damaged in a windstorm in December 2006 and was repaired over the next four years. You cannot enter the lookout (unless someone lets you in) and the road to the lookout is closed to the public to prevent vandalism. For a complete nine-mile loop that includes Red Mountain, see the Red Mountain Loop Hike.
From the Indian Racetrack-Racetrack Shortcut Trail Junction in the Racetrack Meadow, head south into mountain hemlock/silver fir woods, soon passing an interesting four-trunked silver fir and then a very large tree of the same species. There’s a short, steep section and then a level traverse. The trail hooks to the right up a pumice slope with great views back to snow-covered Mount Adams. Common juniper and pinemat manzanita grow in mats under lodgepole pine, mountain hemlock, noble fir and western white pine. You'll pass a wilderness sign and head very steeply up the pumice to Road 6048 and a wilderness permit box. Go right on the road, which switchbacks up to the Red Mountain Lookout. Below the lookout are a garage, shed, and solar panel array. The views from here are spectacular: Mount Hood, Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, Mount Saint Helens and the spine of Indian Heaven from Berry Mountain to Bird Mountain, East Crater and Lemei Rock.
Return the way you came to the junction in the Indian Racetrack Meadow and thence back to your trailhead.
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Self-issued wilderness permit
- No entry to the lookout cabin
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Green Trails Maps: Wind River, WA #397
- Indian Heaven (USFS)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Mt. Adams Wilderness, Indian Heaven Wilderness, Trapper Creek Wilderness
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Mt. Adams Ranger District
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Red Mountain Add-on Hike
- Indian Heaven Cascade Crest
- Indian Heaven, land of fire and ice - 10/27/19
- Indian Heaven: Red Mountain, Racetrack, East Crater
- Snow in Bigfoot's Backyard - Red Mountain/PCT Loop: 11-22-14
- New Years Eve in Heaven: Snowcamping on Red Mountain: 12/31
- Red Mountain via Indian Racetrack via PCT - 8/24/2014
- Red Mtn / Indian Race Track Loop 13-Apr-2014
- Red Mountain Lookout ski trip
- Icy Indian Racetrack and Red Mtn add-on: 11-29-13
- Red Mountain Lookout
- Indian Heaven (Red Mtn) 31-Aug-2011
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Red Mountain Add-on Hike
Guidebooks that cover this destination
- PDX Hiking 365 by Matt Reeder
- Off the Beaten Trail by Matt Reeder
- Hiking Washington's Fire Lookouts by Amber Casali
- Skamania 231: A Scrambler's Guide by Kelly Wagner
- Washington's South Cascades Volcanic Landscapes by Marge & Ted Mueller
- 33 Hiking Trails: Southern Washington Cascades by Don & Roberta Lowe
- Indian Heaven Back Country by Mel Hansen
- Day Hiking: South Cascades by Dan A. Nelson & Alan L. Bauer
- Take a Hike: Portland by Barbara I. Bond
More Links
- Trail #171 Indian Race Track (USFS)
- Wilderness: Indian Heaven (USFS)
- "Gifford Pinchot National Forest completes Red Mountain Lookout restoration" (OregonLive)
Page Contributors
- bobcat (creator)