Laurance Lake High Ridge Hike is a 7.6 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Mount Hood Parkdale, Oregon that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, running, and nature trips and is best used from June until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
FIRE CLOSURE: From Sep 25, 2020 - May 15, 2021 there are closures in this park or area due to wildfire. For more information, please visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/mthood/alerts-notices/?aid=62187
February 2, 2021Road was closed about 2 miles from the start of the trailhead but there’s plenty of room to park near the gate. Lot’s of snow on the ground at the moment.
January 23, 2021January 17, 2021Road closed 2.3 miles from the campground (plenty of space to park), so adds about 1.7 miles hiking each direction (3.4 total added) if you go straight to the dam along the east side of the lake. Beautiful views of the mountain & lake & forest, not too strenuous, only saw 3 other groups on the whole trip. No snow as we hiked up the south face, but once we crossed the peak to the northern edge of the ridge, there was packed/rained-on snow the rest of the way... dog loved it. There were two small/medium fallen trees blocking the path, didn't slow us down much. Enjoy!
January 2, 2021Rainy, no crowd may be because if the weather and had bit of snow. Mountain view was blocked due to fog and rain, but still a good hike. Had little snow in the parking lot. Didnt needed chains but good to carry just in case. micro-spikes was not necessary.
December 14, 2020Absolutely gorgeous. Drive was a bit icy and a little Snow at the bottom
November 29, 2020Beautiful! But the road to get there had huge potholes and road was very icy as trees cover all sunlight. Lots of snow at the top!
November 28, 2020Second half had 4-12” snow. Great view at the top
November 2, 2020Hiked 11/01 morning. We were the only ones in the parking lot when we got there at around 1030am, lot was full at 1ish. Pretty easy hike, didn’t seem like much of an incline because of the switchbacks. Nice views of the Washington peaks through the trees on the way up, and an unobstructed view of Hood at the top. Not very exciting hike. Mix of cool shaded areas and wide open heated sun. My husband thought the switchbacks were kind of boring, I didn’t mind! Hike went by very quickly, 20min pace. Frosted ground at the top (crunchy, not icy).
October 31, 2020Easy 90 mins hike uphill, 75 back. Too bad that the trail ends where the red line ends and ötös not possible to make the circle.
October 24, 2020It was overcast, but well worth it.
October 7, 2020October 7, 2020October 5, 2020Great workout. The view at the end is amazing. I think the better view is on the switch backs with the lake tho. Other than that, not much for photography.
October 4, 2020The switch backs make the climb easy. There are no blazes or markings but the trail is easily visible, there are some areas with a little overgrowth but nothing too obstructive. The end of the trail does have a beautiful lookout over Mt. Hood. Along the ridge, if you look north on a clear day you can see Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier through the trees. Hiked on a Sunday and saw less than 20 people on the out and back trail. If social distancing is a big concern for you, I would maybe not use this trail, there is not a lot of room on the switch backs to move to the side.
September 29, 2020Nice trail. Soft pine needle covered trail leading to a vista of mt hood.
September 8, 2020This was a great hike with gradual switchbacks. We camped at Laurence lake, so we just had to walk from camp to the trail head that stars across the dam. The hike was shaded and the views of mount hood and lake Laurance were amazing. We even got a distant view of mt Adams and St. Helens (I’m pretty sure) about 2/3 into the hike. We did this on Saturday and started at 10am and surprisingly only saw 30ish people on the trail. We came back down and had a swim in the lake. Would do this hike again for sure!
September 8, 2020Did this hike on a Tuesday and we only saw a few people on the way back down. Was a great hike with amazing views of Mt Hood and glimpses of the volcanoes to the north up near the top. Wasn't too difficult either, our dog loved it, would highly recommend!
September 4, 2020I really enjoyed this hike! Park near the dam and cross it to find the trail on the right. Like everyone said, the 19 switchbacks are well-graded. It's a good workout, but not a leg killer. The trail is in good shape, but a little rocky in places. Good views of Mt Hood on the way up. After the climb, you continue along the top of the ridge and turn left when you reach an old road. There's one more viewpoint down there a little way. If you pop through the thick trees right after that point, you can see the big washout. Careful with the edges and don't take dogs or kids to that point. It was too late for all the huckleberries up there unfortunately, and our views were limited with the fire smoke today. But my husband caught a nice cutthroat trout in the lake when we were done! The trail was not crowded, but the camping at the lake certainly was. It was a good day.
September 3, 2020Nice and quiet.
August 30, 2020August 28, 2020Although the trailhead is not clearly marked (and walking across the dam feels strange as there aren’t any signs), the trail itself is well maintained once you reach it. There are quite a few rocky patches, along with several vista points with views of Mt. Hood. The majority of the trail is also shaded.
August 25, 2020August 24, 2020Nice hike. You get a glimpse of Adams in the distance at the top and another view of Hood. But best views are on the switchbacks.
August 24, 2020Very nice trail. Today 8/23 the weather is perfect. Plenty of packing when arrived at 10 am. $ 5 fee.
