New to Vancouver Washington area looking for backpacking and camping places

[LglyBlindPacker]

Hey everyone,
Just moved to the Vancouver Washington area just North of Portland Oregon and trying to find places to hammock camp and backpack. I have been told there are a lot of places nearby, but when I check about camping, I find hiking is allowed but camping is not! Don't get me wrong, I love hiking, but I love hanging around camp way more!! Any recommendations close to the area, say no more than an hours drive?
Also, I plan on taking every other weekend to hike a section of the Washington PCT, I will be starting at the Bridge of the Gods, any advice on places to stop off, or things to watch out for? I only plan on hiking around 20 miles at a time.
Thanks!

[RichardDavies]

Hello and welcome to the Vancouver/Portland area!!

I'm not sure where you've been looking, but yes, there are lots of places where you can hammock camp around here. In fact, when I arrive at camp, I generally find my challenge is finding an area where the trees are far enough apart and the trunks small enough in diameter to allow for a good hang--i.e. too many big trees!

Some good places to start you off:

• Siouxon Creek
• Twin Lakes on Mt. Hood (or any other number of trails on Mt. Hood)
• Salmon River Trail
• Indian Heaven Wilderness (Blue Lake and Placid Lake are good destinations)

OregonHikers.org has a wealth of information on hiking and backpacking trails.

And if you're interested in car camping, as far as I know, most if not all campgrounds around here allow hammocks.

If you need any more specific info, just let me know and I'll be glad to help.

[Hike Monkey]

In addition to Oregon Hikers, the WTA is a great source for trails. The Mt St Helen's area has great camping. The Columbia Gorge had some great hikes but with the recent fire a lot of that is messed up. There is a bunch of trails by Mt Hood and Mt Jefferson area. Not to mention Bend is only about 3 hours from you. You really are in a great area for outdoor stuff.

[leiavoia]

Get this book and thank me later.

If you are only day hiking, then get this book.

[RichardDavies]

Get this book and thank me later.

I also own that book and agree it's a great resource, although there's plenty of free information available online too if you don't want to buy a book.


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[IRONFISH45]

Be really careful in the Columbia Gorge, things are really dangerous AROUND the burned area. Not just the burned over area, the surrounding area also, the geologists are really "twitchy" about the stability.

I have hiked the gorge all my life, lived in Bridal Vale and on the side of Larch Mountain, I have never observed the area so unstable.

[LglyBlindPacker]

Thanks everyone! I will give the suggestions a try.

[bghiker]

Welcome to the area!

+1 on Oregon Hikers, Washington Trails Association, and 60 hikes within 60 miles. The Oregon side of the Gorge that was affected by the fire is closed now and will be for the foreseeable future. Some of those trails may never reopen. The trails on the Washington side of the Gorge are still open. Your hiking/camping options will be limited until spring depending on how comfortable you are in the snow. After the snow melts out, there are a ton of places to hike and its pretty easy to find a trail to have all to yourself...Although it will be interesting to see where the displaced Gorge Hikers will go. Some of the trails that were not so crowded in years past may not be that way this year.

Siouxon Creek is nice and usually accessible all year. It also has lots of campsites.

North Siouxon Creek to Black Hole Falls is a great day hike. Though it is inaccessible if the snow level is down to around 2500-3000 feet due to the road in going over a mountain. It is also a little hard to find so you usually see very few fellow hikers there.

Indian Heaven is beautiful but often referred to as "Mosquito Heaven" It was also affected by fire this past summer but there are no closures that I am aware of. There will be a lot of snow there until spring.

A lot of the trails on the south side of Mt St Helens are marked for snowshoeing and fairly well used. You can also summit the mountain year round via the worm flows route (I actually prefer it in winter) from Marble Mountain Sno-Park. Some of the areas up there are open to snow machines during the winter and while they are not allowed on the hiking/snowshoeing trails, they can still cause a noise nuisance.

Another note...There are a myriad of agencies that manage the land in this area. National Forest Service, BLM, WA DNR, WA State Parks, and OR State Parks to mention a few. Of course all of them have different passes and permits. Most of the trailheads in this area can be used with either the Discover pass for WA or one of the federal passes (NW forest pass, interagency annual/senior/access pass).

Hopefully some of this was useful. I can't emphasize enough the wealth of knowledge available at Oregonhikers.org There isn't much hammock specific info there but there is a comprehensive list of trails with descriptions, directions, trip reports, and pass requirements...plus the people there are almost as nice as the ones here :-)

Happy hiking!

[OlTrailDog]

Have you invested in a good hiking umbrella?