Snowshoe Routes: Oregon by Shea Andersen

Author:Shea Andersen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mountaineers Books

View of Three Fingered Jack from the summit of Potato Hill

To get to the trailhead, drive 80 miles east from Eugene on Highway 126; take the turns for Highway 20 and continue toward the Santiam Pass summit. The Potato Hill Sno-Park is located a mile from that junction. It’s not much of a sno-park, really, just a wide spot in a sometimes busy—and in the winter, usually treacherous—road. Above the plowed area you will find plenty of room to lace up the snowshoes.

From the sno-park walk up Jack Pine Road for less than half a mile. Reach your first junction, which should be well signed and may very well have a map. Depending on the weather and your interests, you can either go straight up the road and head for the summit of Potato Hill, or turn right and first cover the forested section of the trail. Most days I head right, or eastward, and uphill because I’m eager for the good views up above. The summit of Potato Hill is another mile and a half up Jack Pine Road. Along the way, watch for a good view of Mount Washington to the south. Pass a second junction for the Hash Brown Loop a half mile from the first one. Go straight ahead toward the top. You’ll have to come back down to the junction to complete the loop.

The road may peter out before you reach the summit of Potato Hill. A large expanse of young replanted conifers just below the true summit should allow fine views if you’ve no interest in the bona fide summit. From there, head back to that second junction, which will drop you down through the old burn and into the older forests of the Santiam Pass area. This portion of the loop meanders for another 2.3 miles through the woods before reconnecting with Jack Pine Road. The entire trail is well marked with blue diamonds on the trees, but if you’re the first one here after a heavy snow you can count on doing some woodsy routefinding.

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