Family Snow Play
One of our favorite winter activities is to head up Mt. Hood for some snowplay – this includes sledding, snowshoeing, igloo building, angel making and so on. There are countless areas to go in Hoodland but we tend to head out to the snoparks that serve the Barlow Trail and Trillium Lake basin.
We don’t believe in paying to sled – because we’re old-fashioned and cheap – so we park at the Government Camp Maintenance Station Sno-Park and sled on the hill right at the Hemlock trailhead. After some runs on that hill, we head down the trail to a meadow for snow angel making and then to another hill shortly past the junction of the Barlow Trail and Hemlock trail. This is where our Extreme Ergo Sledding took place.
You can continue down the Barlow Trail to Summit Meadows and onto the Trillium Lake Loop, which is very level and great for family snowshoeing.
BUT if you are interested in something more scenic and remote, head over the river to the Old Man Pass area of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. They have a series of scenic and level loops that are groomed and perfect for family snow play. They also have a great sledding hill just off the parking lot.
Travel time wise, getting to Old Man Pass is about as long as getting to Government Camp from Portland. But viva las diferencias…you will find way fewer people at Old Man Pass, and easy to access snow play area for sledding that is right off the parking lot of the Old Man Pass Snopark, and a great family-friendly system with tons of groomed trails for cross country skiing or snowshoing as well as plenty of ungroomed options.
You easily create trail loops that range from any length – only 1 mile to more than 10 miles. If you are feeling ambitious, the Hardtime Loop is 12.7 miles and has a defined viewpoint that offers some wonderful views of Mt. St. Helens. A friend and I did the Hardtime Loop a couple of weeks ago on skis, it was quite something.
Travel Tips: If you head up to Old Man Pass, make sure you have all your gas and food needs covered before you leave Stevenson, WA – this is the closest “major” town. Go prepared for changes in weather conditions – bring chains and a shovel just in case you need to dig the car out.
Oregon Sno Park Passes are valid in WA. You can pick up a Sno-Park pass at REI in Portland, or hit Multnomah Falls on the way on the weekend, on weekdays you can get a pass at the Visitor Center in Stevenson on the way. Enjoy!
