Saddle Mountain | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 3,288 ft (1,002 m) NAVD 88 [1] |
Prominence | 2,323 ft (708 m) [2] |
Listing | Oregon county high points |
Coordinates | 45°58′09″N123°41′07″W / 45.969079028°N 123.685336856°W [1] |
Geography | |
Parent range | Northern Oregon Coast Range |
Topo map | USGS Saddle Mountain |
Climbing | |
First ascent | 1841 by James Dwight Dana [3] |
Easiest route | Trailhead from state park |
Saddle Mountain is the tallest mountain in Clatsop County in the U.S. state of Oregon. [2] Part of the Oregon Coast Range, Saddle Mountain is in Saddle Mountain State Natural Area in the northwest corner of Oregon. The peak is listed on Oregon's Register of Natural Heritage Resources. [4]
Saddle Mountain was created around 15 million years ago in the Miocene epoch when lava flows poured down the old Columbia River valley. When the lava encountered the water at the Astoria Sea, great steam explosions and thermal shocks occurred to create a large pile of basalt rocks. The mountain consists of this volcanic breccia, which is a rock made up of broken basalt fragments that are fused together in a fine-grained matrix. [5]
In modern time, the mountain has been viewed and described by a variety of European and American explorers. Beginning in 1788, these explorers included British captain John Meares, Lewis and Clark in 1805, and the Wilkes Expedition in 1841. [5] Meares named the peak Mont de la Selle in 1788. [5]
The hike to the taller of the two peaks is a 6-mile (9.7 km) round trip consisting of challenging terrain. Elevation gain is 1,603 feet (489 m) and leads to a 360-degree view to the Pacific Ocean, Cascade Mountain peaks such as Mount Hood, Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and other peaks in the Coast Range. The lower peak—elevation 3,200 feet (980 m)— to the east and south does not have trail access. The trail is steep at times along rock outcroppings, but does offer views that include wildflowers in bloom in the springtime. [6] Beside the trailhead is a picnic area and a primitive walk-in campground. [7]
Saddle Mountain is 7 miles (11 km) off U.S. Route 26 about 65 miles (105 km) west of Portland. The access road to the mountain and state park is paved. The area contains dense forests of spruce and hemlock, and some ancient lava flows. [8]
Mount Jefferson is a stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, part of the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Oregon. The second highest mountain in Oregon, it is situated within Linn County, Jefferson County, and Marion County and forms part of the Mount Jefferson Wilderness. Due to the ruggedness of its surroundings, the mountain is one of the hardest volcanoes to reach in the Cascades. It is also a popular tourist destination despite its remoteness, with recreational activities including hiking, backpacking, mountaineering, and photography. Vegetation at Mount Jefferson is dominated by Douglas fir, silver fir, mountain hemlock, ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, and several cedar species. Carnivores, insectivores, bats, rodents, deer, birds, and various other species inhabit the area.
Mount Thielsen, is an extinct shield volcano in the Oregon High Cascades, near Mount Bailey. Because eruptive activity ceased 250,000 years ago, glaciers have heavily eroded the volcano's structure, creating precipitous slopes and a horn-like peak. The spire-like shape of Thielsen attracts lightning strikes and creates fulgurite, an unusual mineral. The prominent horn forms a centerpiece for the Mount Thielsen Wilderness, a reserve for recreational activities such as skiing and hiking. Thielsen is one of Oregon's Matterhorns.
Mount Bailey is a relatively young tephra cone and shield volcano in the Cascade Range, located on the opposite side of Diamond Lake from Mount Thielsen in southern Oregon, United States. Bailey consists of a 2,000-foot (610 m)-high main cone on top of an old basaltic andesite shield volcano. With a volume of 8 to 9 km3, Mount Bailey is slightly smaller than neighboring Diamond Peak. Mount Bailey is a popular destination for recreational activities. Well known in the Pacific Northwest region as a haven for skiing in the winter months, the mountain's transportation, instead of a conventional chairlift, is provided by snowcats—treaded, tractor-like vehicles that can ascend Bailey's steep, snow-covered slopes and carry skiers to the higher reaches of the mountain. In the summer months, a 5-mile (8 km) hiking trail gives foot access to Bailey's summit. Mount Bailey is one of Oregon's Matterhorns.
Three Fingered Jack is a summit of a shield volcano of the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Oregon. Formed during the Pleistocene epoch, the mountain consists mainly of basaltic andesite lava and was heavily glaciated in the past. While other Oregon volcanoes that were heavily glaciated—such as Mount Washington and Mount Thielsen—display eroded volcanic necks, Three Fingered Jack's present summit is a comparatively narrow ridge of loose tephra supported by a dike only 10 feet (3.0 m) thick on a generally north–south axis. Glaciation exposed radiating dikes and plugs that support this summit. The volcano has long been inactive and is highly eroded.
Mount Washington is a deeply eroded volcano in the Cascade Range of Oregon. It lies within Deschutes and Linn counties and is surrounded by the Mount Washington Wilderness area.
Mount McLoughlin is a dormant steep-sided stratovolcano, or composite volcano, in the Cascade Range of southern Oregon and within the United States Sky Lakes Wilderness. It is one of the volcanic peaks in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, within the High Cascades sector. A prominent landmark for the Rogue River Valley, the mountain is north of Mount Shasta, and south-southeast of Crater Lake. It was named around 1838 after John McLoughlin, a Chief Factor for the Hudson's Bay Company. Mount McLouglin's prominence has made it a landmark to Native American populations for thousands of years.
Cape Lookout is a sharp rocky promontory along the Pacific Ocean coast of northwestern Oregon in the United States. It is located in southwestern Tillamook County, approximately 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Tillamook, just south of Netarts Bay. The promontory extends 1.5 miles (2.4 km) perpendicular to the coast, and is approximately 0.5 miles (0.80 km) wide at its base, tapering as it extends outward from the coast. Cape Lookout State Park is located on the north side of the promontory, which is part of the Siuslaw National Forest. Cape Lookout Road travels past the base of the cape. Cape Lookout is a member of Tillamook's Three Capes Scenic Drive.
Indian Heaven is a volcanic field in Skamania County in the state of Washington, in the United States. Midway between Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams, the field dates from the Pleistocene to the early Holocene epoch. It trends north to south and is dominated by six small shield volcanoes; these shields are topped by small spatter and cinder cones, and the field includes a number of subglacial volcanoes and tuyas. The northernmost peak in the field is Sawtooth Mountain and the southernmost is Red Mountain; its highest point is Lemei Rock at an elevation of 5,925 feet (1,806 m).
Pilot Butte is a lava dome that was created from an extinct volcano located in Bend, Oregon. It is a cinder cone butte which rises nearly 500 feet (150 m) above the surrounding plains. Bend is one of six cities in the United States to have a volcano within its boundaries. The other examples are Mount Tabor in Portland, Oregon, Jackson Volcano in Jackson, Mississippi, Diamond Head in Honolulu, Glassford Hill in Prescott Valley and Pilot Knob in Austin, Texas.
Broken Top is a glacially eroded complex stratovolcano. It lies in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, part of the extensive Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located southeast of the Three Sisters peaks, the volcano, residing within the Three Sisters Wilderness, is 20 miles (32 km) west of Bend, Oregon in Deschutes County. Eruptive activity stopped roughly 100,000 years ago, and erosion by glaciers has since reduced the volcano's cone to where its contents are exposed. There are two named glaciers on the peak, Bend and Crook Glacier.
Larch Mountain is an extinct volcano near Portland, Oregon. The name is misleading, as no western larch can be found there. It received that name when early lumbermen sold the noble fir wood as larch. The peak can be reached between May and November on paved Larch Mountain Road, 16 mi (26 km) east of Corbett, Oregon, although the road is closed during the winter and spring months. The road leading to Larch Mountain from the Historic Columbia River Highway is 14 miles long, which closed at milepost 10 from Nov. through late May or early June due to snow.
Black Butte is an extinct stratovolcano in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located in Jefferson County, it is part of Deschutes National Forest. Black Butte forms part of the Cascade volcanic arc. The butte lies just south of the Metolius Springs, which merge to form the headwaters of the Metolius River. The Metolius River's basin sustains a wide array of plant life, large and small mammals, and more than 80 bird species.
The Spectrum Range, formerly gazetted as the Spectrum Mountains and the Rainbow Mountains, is a small mountain range in Cassiar Land District of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. Located at the southern end of the Tahltan Highland, it borders the Skeena Mountains in the east and the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the west. The Spectrum Range is surrounded by the Arctic Lake Plateau in the southwest and the Kitsu Plateau in the northwest, both of which contain volcanic features such as cinder cones. It lies at the southern end of the Mount Edziza volcanic complex which includes the two neighbouring plateaus as well as Mount Edziza and the Big Raven Plateau to the north. The mountain range is drained on all sides by streams within the Stikine River watershed and, unlike Mount Edziza to the north, contains relatively small separate glaciers. Mount Edziza Provincial Park is the main protected area surrounding the Spectrum Range.
Diamond Peak is a volcano in Klamath and Lane counties of central Oregon in the United States. It is a shield volcano, though it might also be considered a modest stratocone. Diamond Peak forms part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, a segment of the Cascade Range in western North America extending from southern British Columbia through Oregon to Northern California. Reaching an elevation of 8,748 feet (2,666 m), the mountain is located near Willamette Pass in the Diamond Peak Wilderness within the Deschutes and Willamette national forests. Surrounded by coniferous forest and visible in the skyline from foothills near Eugene, Diamond Peak offers a few climbing routes and can be scrambled. Diamond Peak is one of Oregon's Matterhorns.
West Crater is a small lava dome with associated lava flows in southern Washington, United States. Located in Skamania County, it rises to an elevation of 4,131 feet (1,259 m), and forms part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It is also part of the Marble Mountain-Trout Creek Hill volcanic field, a little-known Quaternary volcanic field in the southern Cascades of Washington state. The area can be hiked, and can be accessed by roads in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
Yamsay Mountain is a large shield volcano in the Cascade Range of south-central Oregon, located about 35 miles (56 km) east of Crater Lake on the border between Klamath County and Lake County. It is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc but is located in a mountain range 30 to 50 miles behind the main Cascade volcanic front. The best known members of this enigmatic arc are the massive shields of Newberry Volcano, about 55 miles (89 km) farther north in Oregon, and Medicine Lake Volcano, about 80 miles (130 km) south in Northern California. Yamsay is the second highest volcano in the eastern arc, almost 300 feet (90 m) higher than Newberry and Medicine Lake.
Pelican Butte is a steep-sided shield volcano in the Cascade Range of southern Oregon. It is located 28 miles (45 km) due south of Crater Lake and 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Mount McLoughlin. Ice age glaciers carved a large cirque into the northeast flank of the mountain. Several proposals have been made over the last few decades for ski area development on the northeast flanks of the volcano, but there are no current plans to develop a ski area on the mountain.
Rogers Peak is the highest mountain in Tillamook County, Oregon. Located in the Tillamook State Forest, the peak is also the highest peak in the Northern Oregon Coast Range, which is the northern section of the Oregon Coast Range.
Brown Mountain is a small cinder cone on top of a shield volcano located in Cascade Volcanic Arc in Klamath and Jackson counties, Oregon. Most of the mountain, including its peak, is in western Klamath County, but its western flanks trail off into eastern Jackson County. It is 7,344 feet (2,238 m) above sea level, but is overshadowed by nearby 9,495-foot (2,894 m) Mount McLoughlin.
Hager Mountain is a volcanic peak in Oregon in the northwest corner of the Basin and Range Province in the United States. The mountain is located south of the small unincorporated community of Silver Lake in south-central Oregon, and it is in the Fremont–Winema National Forest. On the summit, there is a fire lookout operated during the summer and fall by the United States Forest Service. There are several hiking trails that lead to the lookout station.