Hike the Tillamook State Forest!

Late summer, in the weeks following Labor Day, is often one of the best times to get out hiking and camping in Oregon. Summer weekend crowds have typically died down and the days are still relatively long, allowing us to make the most out of the last summery weekends before we don the rain gear once again.

As part of our efforts to highlight and protect Oregon’s Tillamook State Forest, we’d like to make available online some hikes currently contained in the hard-to-find book ’50 Hikes in the Tillamook State Forest,’ published by the Tillamook State Forest Committee of the Columbia Group Sierra Club in 2001.

This month, we’ll focus on trails around Kings Mountain. At 3,226 ft in elevation, Kings Mountain is among the higher points in the Tillamook State Forest, allowing great views of numerous Cascade peaks on a clear day, surrounding forest deserving of protection, and maybe even some late summer wildflowers in the alpine meadows, or elusive elk. Once the winter snows hit, Kings Mountain will be inaccessible until next year.

Very accessible from the Portland area, the Kings Mountain trailhead is located on the north side of Highway 6 near milepost 25. Check out our slide show from the June 2010 Sierra Club outing to the Kings Mountain Jr. loop trail.

Here’s a link to a pdf of the official Oregon Department of Forestry 2-page trail guide for Kings Mountain area trails. (1 MB)

From the Sierra Club’s ’50 Hikes in the Tillamook State Forest’ (pdfs roughly 1MB each)

Hike #9 – Kings Mountain

Hike #10 – Kings Mountain – Coxcomb Ridge

Hike #11 – Kings Mountain – East Ridge

Hike #12 – Kings Mountain Jr.

Enjoy! And if you are inspired to get involved or help us field check some of the hikes in our hike book, please email ivan.maluski@sierraclub.org or visit our forest protection web page for more information on the Sierra Club’s efforts to protect special places like Kings Mountain in the Tillamook State Forest.

You can also sign our petition to Governor Kitzhaber calling for the creation of conservation areas in the Tillamook and other state forests that would be protected from logging and road building.