I was on my way to visit some clients in Portland, Oregon last Sunday, and decided to take a detour off the super highway and see some cool country on the two-laners. I turned off of Interstate 84 at Hood River, Oregon and took Oregon 35 southwest toward Mt. Hood, one of the volcanic peaks in the Cascade Range, that runs from northern California all the way up into southern Canada.

The Cascade Mountain Range was formed by the collision of the Pacific tectonic plate with the North American plate. Where the plates merge is an active volcanic zone, and many of the Cascade Peaks are volcanoes. Here are a few names that you may recognize – Mt. St. Helens that blew up in May of 1980, Mt. Rainier – one of the highest peaks in the continental US, and Mt. Shasta in northern California.

Mt. Hood is the highest peak in Oregon at 11,249 feet (3428.7 meters). It towers over the surrounding terrain that is just above sea level. The mountain is about 50 miles east-southeast of Portland, and can be reached via the above road, or US 26. The volcanic mountain last erupted in 1865 and 1866, so Mt. Hood is considered temporarily dormant. It is a strata volcano similar to Mt. St. Helens which produced a horribly explosive eruption in 1980 – blowing about 1 cubic mile of the mountain away within seconds.

On clear days, Mt. Hood rises prominently over the Portland skyline, and it’s visible from north central Oregon along the Columbia Gorge for well over 100 miles. The mountain still has some permanent (at least for now) glaciers, and you can ski on it all year long.

For the horror movie fans out there, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” was supposedly set in Colorado at the old Stanley Hotel, but the actual hotel used for many of the shots was the Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. The hedge maze and many interior shots were on a set in London, England. The lodge was also used in the 2019 recent sequel, “Dr. Sleep”. “The Shining” movie was based upon Stephen King’s novel of the same name.

Timberline Lodge was built in 1937 as a project of the US Works Progress Administration (the WPA) during the Great Depression. Many of the historic buildings in or near our National Parks were built in that time by the WPA.

So, if you are ever in the Portland, Oregon up to Mt. Hood is definitely worth the time. Hopefully, you enjoyed the quick tour of Mt. Hood. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my page. Have a great day!