Trillium Lake 2020

Trillium Lake is one of the most popular lake within Mount Hood National Forest. It is not as big as Lost Lake, but still a very popular place for people to enjoy lakeside activities. Trillium Lake also offers a large number of camp sites and day use picnic area for people to enjoy. It is also a popular destination for fishing lovers. Trillium Lake is about 1.5 hours East of Portland, and thus it gets quite crowded during the summer weekend.


We got to Trillium Lake around 9:30 in the morning and the parking lot was not full yet. Like many hiking trails, Trillium Lake requires day use fee or people like us usually acquire Northwest Forest Pass for the whole year.

The hiking trail around Trillium Lake shore is around 2 miles. There are well maintained board walks along the trail so it's suitable for people with all ages. We also saw a small amphitheater along the trail.  As we hiked about 1 mile, we got to a place with a sign indicating the trail ahead has temporarily closed due to lack of maintenance. We did not go forward as we did not want to risk for any injuries.

We then went the opposite direction and saw many people fishing along the shore. Quite a few people caught buckets of fish. Many people were also kayaking and paddle boarding  on the lake.

We also saw many Golden Retrievers enjoying their time running around and swimming in the lake. They are lovely dogs. However, the dog that got most attention is a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy. He was a fluffy chubby puppy. Everyone loved the adorable dog.

As we were leaving at around 11AM, the parking lot was full and many cars simply parked along the side of the road. We also started seeing Labrador Retrievers coming to the lake to enjoy the sunny weather. Trillium Lake has always been our favourite place to visit during the sunny weekend where we just want to relax and not to do any crazy hike. We definitely recommend it for any fun family gathering.

Tamanawas Falls

Tamanawas Falls is located on the East side of National Mount Hood Forest. The hiking trail to this waterfall is often crowded during the summer weekends. The trail is right off the Highway 35 with about 40 parking spaces. The trail is 2 miles long with very little elevation gain. There is also a restroom facility at the trail head for people to use. In addition, as usual, Northwest Pass or equivalent is required to use this trail.


We left Portland around 6:30 in the morning and got to Tamanawas Falls trail head around 8:30. It took about 2 hours to drive to there. When we got there at 8:30 in the morning, there were only 5 cars parked there.

The hiking trail is on soft soil but with a lot of large rocks that we need to step on. Many of these rocks have very smooth surface and can be very slippery, especially near the waterfalls.

Along the trail, we crossed 2 narrow bridges to cross the river. The bridge was very narrow and only allows 1 person to walk through at a time. Since it was not crowded when we went, we did not have to wait for anyone to cross first.

The only elevation gain we encountered is near the very end where we have to climb over this large rocky cliff. This part of the trail was not difficult. However, as mentioned before, some rock surface is quite smooth and slipper. Thus extra caution is advised.

We got to Tamanawas Falls around 10AM. We were overwhelmed by the volume of water coming out of this waterfalls. It was crazy. We were sitting quite far away and could still feel the mist flying over onto our faces. It was a beautiful scenery nonetheless.

While we were there, we saw left over nut shells on the ground and were quite disappointed at people who simply throws away wastes. People should never do that.

As we walk back around 11, we started to see a lot more people on the trail and started to get quite crowded. On the way back, we also saw a tiny little snake on the trail that ran down the hiking trail. Then at the narrow bridge, we actually had to wait to use the narrow bridge because people wanted to take some photos on the bridge.

Furthermore, due to the corona virus outbreak, there were people wearing mask on the hiking trail and people stand far from each other on the trail.

Overall, this was a nice easy hike for family of all ages. We definitely recommend this hiking trail, but make sure to come as early as possible.