Maxwell Butte Trail is a 9.8 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Cascadia, Oregon that features a great forest setting and is rated as difficult. The trail is primarily used for hiking, nature trips, and snowshoeing and is best used from November until March. 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
March 24, 2021Beautiful warm sunny day. Fresh snow last night made for good conditions in the morning. As the temperature increased the snow got mushy and slick. Beautiful views at the top. Only saw a few people on the trail today. Well marked trails.
March 21, 2021March 14, 2021Hiked today. Snow depth at base of the trail is 2-3+ feet deep. Packed snow for the first mile. After mile 1.5 at the crossroads I had to switch to snowshoes and blaze a trail. No hint of anyone passed this point when I went. Snow depth passed 1.5 is much much deeper.
February 20, 2021Super deep snow today, had to blaze the trail! Very beautiful!
February 8, 2021Sooooooooo much snow. Trail is very well made for the first 3.5 miles. I didn’t even need spikes until about 3 miles in. And then I went straight to snow shoes. At about the 3.5-4 miles mark is where there was no more trail, we started to make our way up but we’re running out of day light. A beautiful trail and forest, and if you veer off a little bit there’s a nice frozen lake. Didn’t see another person on the trail!
January 24, 2021Great trail, great weather, terrible snow! We carried our snowshoes all the way to the top of Maxwell Butte today, and wore our microspikes the whole way. The snow is rock hard all the way to the top. The final stretch to the top was super steep, but we were able to switchback our way back down, which felt much safer. The view from the top is fantastic, luckily we started just after sunrise because this hike took us most of the day.
January 23, 2021what a beautiful day! the trail was a sheet of ice for the first half. we used our snowshoes but micro spikes would have been best. ran out of time and turned around a mile from summit. heard snowshoes are needed higher up.
January 23, 2021Great trail, great weather, terrible snow! We carried our snowshoes all the way to the top of Maxwell Butte today, and wore our microspikes the whole way. The snow is rock hard all the way to the top. The final stretch to the top was super steep, but we were able to switchback our way back down, which felt much safer. The view from the top is fantastic, luckily we started just after sunrise because this hike took us most of the day.
January 23, 2021Great endurance hike and amazing view from the summit. Trail is currently packed and kind of icy all the way to twin lakes. After that trail has little ice because it is less traveled. The final 1/2 mile or so is a brutal climb and no real trail showing you just have to use GPS and go for it. The views at the top are amazing. I did not have to use my snowshoes but if you have micro spikes they will help in the icy areas.
January 18, 2021Great view at the summit of Maxwell Butte. Intense climb up on the last quarter mile and worth it!
January 8, 2021It requires snowshoes. After twin lakes you have to make your own trail with snowshoes.
January 3, 2021Icy
December 27, 2020December 27, 2020December 19, 2020deep snow
December 13, 2020awesome
December 8, 2020November 30, 2020We did part of this as a snowshoe hike 11/29/2020 and there was plenty of snow. The trail was packed down and easy to follow. We went in about three miles to a lake that was frozen over with snow. The trail up to that point was through the forest without any views. The bathroom at the trailhead was open. It was not crowded but there were people there to cut down Christmas trees and we passed a few people on the trail. A sno pass is required. We found you could buy an annual pass online for $20 and print out a temporary pass but you couldn't print out a day pass.
November 28, 2020one amazing snowshoe with great views and plenty of snow.
November 27, 2020October 28, 2020August 5, 20208/4/20: We enjoyed this hike for the serenity. We only saw one group of hikers in 10 miles. It is a decent physical challenge and the top has great views of Jack and Jefferson, especially from the rocks. You can see Duffy, Mowich and Santiam Lakes too as well as the Sisters and Hoodoo Ski Area. There were mosquitoes for sure especially close to the lake area. Overall a great day of hiking especially if you are local and looking for something different.
August 4, 2020Not sure if Anne and I went on the same hike. The bugs were brutal, especially on the lower half. What views? You're in the forest the whole time until you reach the top, and then finally you're able to see all of the mountains that you should have climbed instead. Boring.
August 2, 2020AWESOME VIEWS! I’ve hiked all over Central Oregon and the views from the top of Maxwell Butte are hard to beat. Definitely an under-rated hike. Only ran in to three people on the trail. Do it! P.S. Bugs were not bad at all.
June 4, 2020Got a little off trail in the snow but managed to contour back. Trail in hikable condition with some blowdowns throughout the first half of the trail. Fantastic views of the central cascades, especially three fingered Jack.
