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Burnt Lake and Zigzag Mountain is a little Mount Hood hike that has it all: trees, waterfall, lake, exercise, and a great big view of Mount Hood.

I took a couple of out-of-town guests up there on June 24, and we had perfect conditions. It was sunny, warm, a little breeze, no bugs, and we somehow had the whole summit to ourselves. There were a lot of people around the lake, but it was a fun and relaxed scene. There’s great camping there, but we were just up for the day.

The first little bit is super easy, through the woods, crossing a couple of small creeks, and passing a nice waterfall. Then you climb steadily for a but to Burnt Lake (right), where you can stop or just rest, have a snack, and continue on to the viewpoint up on Zigzag (top of this post).

It’s a little over nine miles to do the whole thing, but the lake alone is six miles. And it’s all about an hour and 15 minutes from central Portland, from a trailhead very near Ramona Falls.

It’s all in my book, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Portland; you can buy your very own signed copy of it directly from me, along with several other titles of mine, right here.

Here are some more photos from the day:

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