Hamilton Mountain is at Southern Washington state located by the Columbia Gorge near Portland. It is part of the Beacon Rock State Park. The trail head is cross from the main Beacon Rock trail. The trail itself is about 4 miles long with about 2000 feet elevation gain. From the top of the mountain, it provides a gorgeous view over the Columbia Gorge, thus many hiker like to hike Hamilton Mountain trail.
We visited Hamilton Mountain on the beautiful Saturday in April. The weather was still chilly but not as windy anymore. We got to the trail head around 7:30 in the morning and the parking lot was about 50% full. When we got there, we realized that the Northwest Pass cannot be used at this trail. Only Discovery Pass is accepted. Without Discovery Pass, each day visit costs $10, which is quite a lot. The Discovery Pass was only $30, thus we chose to just purchase the Discovery Pass.
As we started hiking on the trail, we noticed that the trail was still a bit muddy and wet. We had to choose our footings carefully. After about 2 miles, we reached Rodney Falls. There was huge volume of water flowing down. It was crazy. There was a wooden bridge that crosses the stream and it was completely wet. The stair case that goes up the trail was muddy and wet. We had to held onto the rails to ensure we don't slip.
After few zig zags, we then got to the look out area. It was a beautiful view. It has the panorama view of the Columbia Gorge. We could also see the Bonneville Dam on the far side. It was really cool to see the dam from the above.
As we proceeded further up, there was water on the trail flowing down. We could also see patches of snow on the trail. There was not that much snow but just have to be careful not to slip. It would be good to wear water proof shoes as well.
After about 2 hours, we got to the Hamilton Mountain Summit. As we got to the top, we were a little disappointed because the view was obstructed by the tall bushes. So we couldn't really see Columbia Gorge clearly. On the North side, we could see Table Mountain.
Overall, Hamilton Mountain was a good trail to start the hiking season. It has some elevation gain, but not too strenuous. When we got back down around 11AM, the parking lot was completely full. Thus it is important to get here early, otherwise you will have to park further down the road.
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