Lakes of Mount Hood — and Oregon

Mount Hood and the Mount Hood National Forest are home to an absolute trove of hydrological resources: creeks, streams, rivers, hidden tarns, ponds, and, of course, lakes. Add up all the surface water across the entire national forest, and you get something close to 71,000 acres — about half the size of Lake Tahoe. There’s so much important and pristine water around Mount Hood that I wrote a whole chapter about it in my book.

Bull Run Lake

With the spring sun shining and hints of the coming season in the air, today seems an ideal day to share Portland State University’s new Atlas of Oregon Lakes. The online index, which I read about this morning on Terry Richard’s blog at The Oregonian, contains 215 lakes all over Oregon. The majority of the entries include maps, detailed descriptions, interesting stories and lore, photos, and other great information for either planning a trip or just broadening knowledge.

It’s not comprehensive by any means, but it is fairly extensive and includes some of the gems around Mount Hood: Lost Lake, Bull Run Lake, Trillium Lake, and many others. Another great resource for exploring not only the mountain, but the national forest and the entire state.