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Find 30 premier backpacking routes in the Pacific Northwest with this comprehensive guide, complete with maps and essential details.
Whether you’re a hiker looking for new challenges or a seasoned backpacker in search of unique routes, find your favorite scenic escapes in Oregon. Prepare yourself for colorful desert canyonlands, stunning wildflower meadows, glacier-clad mountains, and more! Expert authors Becky Ohlsen and Douglas Lorain present 30 of the best backpacking opportunities in the country. Explore the various landscapes of the Wallowa Mountains. See the peaks of Mount Hood and the Three Sisters in the High Cascades, as well as the gaping chasm of Hells Canyon. Each carefully crafted itinerary offers geographic diversity, beautiful settings, and attainable daily mileage goals.
A trusted guide since 1999, this updated edition provides all the information backpackers need, including trail highlights, total mileage, elevation gain, days on the trail, shuttle distances, and required permits—not to mention professional photographs and detailed maps. Plus, ratings for scenery, solitude, and difficulty help you find the exact adventure you seek. As an added bonus, the authors include recommendations for 14 additional backpacking trips. Whether you have three days or a couple weeks, an adventure filled with spectacular sights and superb vistas awaits.
Inside you’ll find:
- 30 premier backpacking trips, ranging from a few days to more than a week
- Carefully crafted itineraries that offer geographic diversity and attainable mileage goals
- The authors’ ratings for scenery, solitude, and difficulty
- Need-to-know details, such as trail highlights, mileage, elevation gain, and more
- Bonus: author recommendations for 14 additional backpacking trips
“Even if you’re only going to do one hike a year, buy this book; it’s money well-spent.”
— Active Northwest
Becky Ohlsen is an outdoor adventurer, travel writer, and part-time nomad who moved to Portland in 1995. She is also the author of Walking Portland and coauthor of Best Tent Camping: Oregon and One Night Wilderness: Portland. She has written dozens of travel guidebooks, covering destinations including Oregon and Washington. In summer, she spends much of her time exploring the outdoors firsthand, bringing deep field experience to her writing.
Douglas Lorain has explored the Pacific Northwest since 1969 and has hiked more than 30,000 miles throughout the region, along with many thousands more in other western states and Canadian provinces. His extensive backpacking experience informs his work on trails across the American Northwest. He is the author of several guidebooks, including Backpacking Idaho, Backpacking Washington, Backpacking Wyoming, and One Best Hike: Mount Rainier’s Wonderland Trail. Douglas is also a photographer and a recipient of the National Outdoor Book Award.
Map Legend
Featured Trips Summary Chart
Preface
A Word About the Fourth Edition
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Featured Trips
- Oregon Coast
- North Coast: Fort Stevens to Nehalem Bay
- South Coast: Bandon to Port Orford
- Klamath and Siskiyou Mountains
- Rogue River Trail
- Siskiyou–Boundary Trail
- Columbia River Gorge
- Eagle Creek Loop
- High Cascades
- Timberline Trail Loop
- Salmon River Trail
- Jefferson Park Trek
- Mount Jefferson Wilderness Loop
- Three Sisters Loop
- Separation Creek Loop
- Mink Lake Area
- Mount Thielsen Traverse
- Sky Lakes Loop
- Blue Mountains
- Strawberry Mountains Traverse
- Elkhorn Crest Trail
- Wenaha River Traverse
- Wallowa Mountains
- Minam River Loop
- Bear Creek Loop
- Lostine–Minam Loop
- Wallowa River Loop
- Southern Wallowas Traverse
- East Eagle–Imnaha Loop
- Hells Canyon
- Hells Canyon Western Rim Summit Trail
- Snake River Trail
- Hells Canyon Bench High Trail
- Southeastern Oregon
- Steens Mountain Gorges Loop
- Desert Trail: Pueblo Mountains Section
- Fremont National Recreation Trail: Southern Segment
- Honeycombs Loop
Other Backpacking Options
Long-Distance Trails
Index
About the Authors