Maxwell Butte Trail

Great trail, easy to follow for the most part, keep a map handy though. Backpackers, watch out! We had our car broken into (window smashed)— take everything with you or hide it really well!!

Beautiful day for taking photos, and the views were awesome. No mosquitoes and no snow.

Took us about 4 hours out & back. The mosquitoes were only slightly an issue for the first 2 miles or so, but only if you stopped. Almost all of the snow on the trail was melted when we went on 6/18/19. Nice view at the top and nice rocks to sit on to eat snacks or take pictures. :0)

4/28/19 snowshoed up to base of the butte- then the trail stopped, and we put on crampons and climbed the butte. Definitely scary due to the steepness and soft snow, but the reward was an incredible view of sisters and Mount Hood. Epic hike!

Snowshoed 1/13: I rarely handout 5 stars- truly, the view (on a clear sunny day) is as good as it gets! Well-marked trail, steady incline. The last 800 feet were brutal-very very steep. There is a false summit where u can see Mt Washington, Broken Top, Black Butte. If you continue on another half mile you will be rewarded with a 360 of 3F-Jack, Hood and the above mentioned. Jaw-dropping, take your breath away beauty. I could’ve sat there for an hour, shivering, staring at the mountains. It was worth the 2 1/2 hour drive! Parking is easy, I had cell service ( Verizon), bathroom open but no TP ( govt shutdown) and you need a sno-Park permit.

Hiked this on 10/20/18. It's a little confusing where to park, at the paved snow park parking lot or tenths of a mile up the dirt road at the end of the lot that takes you right to the trailhead. there isn't a lot of room at the trailhead, so we chose the paved lot. This is an awesome 10 miler. I did it in late October, so there wasn't much left of the one lake on the route. the first 2.5 miles are an easy gradual incline. Take a break at the lake before doing the second half, it gets steep from there to the summit. The blow down is easy to traverse. It's only for the mile from the lake on, and they are easily stepped over or have well worn paths around. Once you hit the switchbacks on the final mile to the summit the trail narrows, with lots of loose rocks. Our dog did fine on the entire trail. The views from the summit on a clear day are spectacular. To the north you can see as far as St. Helen's, and to the South I believe I could make out a portion of Broken Top through an opening on the East side of Mt. Washington, and every thing in between.

The view from the top is a 5 star. Three fingered Jack is spectacular. Lovely view of Jefferson with lakes and Washington at an interesting angle. Starts with a dense forest of deciduous trees and color changing shrubs and ends with alpine meadows. 2 miles in between are a blowdown corridor that is a hassle to navigate. Worth it for the view. Wear bright colors in the fall as hunters were also on trail.

Hiked this on 8/5/18. It's a really good climb at 2,500 ft. We parked down near the highway and walked the .4 miles to the trailhead, so the total was 10.4 miles. The terrain changes from nice forested path, to rambling over tons of fallen trees, to super dusty silt and rock. The views were obscured mostly by haze today. Otherwise, I could imagine they'd be beautiful. We saw only one other person on the trail, which was great. From the top, you can see Duffy Lake and Mowich Lake. Along the hike is a small lake. I'd rate this hike more of a 3.5 stars due to all the fallen trees in the path, like 50 or more, and when you stopped to rest, you were harassed by flies and near the end of the day mosquitoes. We got beat up a few times trying to find workarounds. I can't deny that it was an awesome workout.

Really cool hike, with epic views. Bring your bug stuff, mosquitos were really bad. Still patches of snow up top (6/17/18) that obscure the trail, but only for a few hundred feet. Dozens of trees blocking the trail make for some good exercise! Try not to beat your own trail at these spots.

Snowshoe a short 2.5 miles into the Mountain View shelter for cozy overnight camping in a rustic(though recently constructed) cabin complete with 6 benches to sleep on and several hammock tie off points . Vault toilet. Wood stove. No firewood stocked at time of this post, but smaller snags in the area provided enough wood to burn for the night. 4 people stayed on Sunday night but it can be packed on Friday and Saturday. Beautiful night sky. Some peaks in sight ( N.sister, Mt. Wash, Three Fingered Jack) but Mountain View might be slightly overstated. Lots of snowshoe hare, coyote and bobcat prints. I snowshoed about 5 miles past the Maxwell Butte warming shelter on the way out, plenty of wood there, but no camping within 300’ allowed. All the waypoint maps were easily found along the route and clearly showed the trail ahead. Family friendly

Really nice hike. The first mile is a nice walk. The subsequent miles have lots of downed trees. You will spend a fair bit of time navigating up and over and around. Then the trail clears out again for the hike to the top. It's billy goat walking and the last half mile is a challenge. Gorgeous views at the top! Mt Jefferson, Three Fingered Jack, Black Butte, Mt Washington and Three Sisters. A bit hazy from the wildfires.

Great hike winter and summer. Summer offers a private lake and great view of many mountains. Winter is just great scenery and you can warm up in the cabin at the top. Better view in the summer!

Great mountain bike trail with little to no foot traffic

Great trail with great camping! Hard hike up a deep channel creek bed. If you use poles make sure they telegraph or you'll end up gripping them below mid center! Trail winds through conifer for the first two miles, then opens into scrub high-alpine where it meets with the PCT. Keep going up to Maxwell into open high-alpine. Great places to camp less than a mile before the trail starts the switchback wind up to the top of Maxwell; alpine meadow overlooking forever or in the bottoms of Maxwell Lake - romantic and TONS of wildlife. Reach the top of Maxwell late day or go up again in the morning and watch the sun do its thing. Fabulous, breathtaking views of Three Finger Jack! Sisters, Jefferson, Hood and sometimes more in the distance. An all-time favorite hike of mine!