Tours and Tickets to Experience Mt. Hood National Forest

There are plenty of ways to experience Mt. Hood National Forest. Looking at ratings and reviews previously given by customers, these are the best tours available right now:

• Mt Hood Day Trip from Portland to Multnomah Falls and Hood River

• Columbia River Gorge Waterfalls & Mt Hood Tour from Portland, OR

• Mount Hood & Columbia River Gorge Air Tour by Envi Adventures

• Mt. Hood & Multnomah Falls Air Tour by Envi Adventures

• Mt. Hood Winter Wonderland Snowshoe Adventure

There's no fee to visit much of Mt. Hood National Forest, but you will need to budget for transportation and parking fees. Some areas require recreation passes, priced at US$5 per vehicle, and there are fees to climb Mt. Hood Peak. Tours that visit the area start at around US$140 and typically include round-trip transportation from Portland.

There are many winter activities available in Mt. Hood National Forest. Mt. Hood itself is a particularly popular skiing and snowboarding destination, with good snowpack and a notably long season. Other popular activities include snowshoeing and inner tubing, including illuminated nighttime “cosmic tubing”.

Mt. Hood National Forest has around 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) of hiking trails. Popular options include the trail into Bagby Hot Springs, a popular soaking spot near a tributary of the Clackamas River, and the Bull of the Woods Trail, which offers great views of the Cascade Mountains.

There are a few ways to get to Mt. Hood National Forest from Portland. You can take I-84 east along the Columbia River and then head south on Highway 13, or you can take Highway 224 past the town of Estacada and into the forest. The journey takes around 1-5 hours.

Mt. Hood National Forest is rich in wildlife—an array of birds and mammals live in the woods. Some of the many creatures found in the forest include coyotes, deer, elk, raccoons, and even bears (though they are rarely spotted). Birds range from owls to bald eagles.