This page has a listing of popular ONC day tours and ski trails. This info is for personal use and as a resource for leaders. If you find an error or have an update, please submit it on our contact form.
Links
- State ONC Nordic Trails Link There are a number of links to, mostly USFS, documents on various ski locations across the state.
- Central Oregon Nordic Club Trails Link This is a really nice set of maps from our sister club in Central Oregon.
- Recommended Trails A web listing from our friends at Otto’s in Sandy
- Snowshoeing and Cross-Country Skiing from WA State Parks – Don’t forget the Discover Pass!
- Best of the Northwest A web guide to Washington cross-country and back country ski areas
Guide Books & Short Guides
- Cross Country Ski Routes Oregon Written by the late Klindt Vielbig who was an ONC member for many years. Klindt skied and documented just about every possible tour in Oregon. You can spend hours perusing all the tours. But a couple of words of caution. This was last published in 1994 so it can be out of date and it is also no longer published so I’d grab a used copy while you still can.
- Best Groomed Cross Country Ski Trails in Oregon – Not quite as detailed as Klindt’s book but covers the whole state and has clear descriptions and maps for each tour. In spite of the mention of the word “groomed”, the author does cover groomed as well as a few backcountry ski routes.
- Backcountry Ski! Oregon: Classic Descents for Skiers & Snowboarders, Including Southwest Washington – As the title indicates this is focused on Tele/AT routes but it should inspire you to get out there and XCD
- Day Tours Around Mt. Hood – 2017 REI talk by Scott Diamond highlighting 8 popular tours on Mt. Hood
- Favorite XC Ski Trails of SW Washington – Presented at Snowvana 2022 by Ken Wenzel
Maps
In addition to the maps listed here the State ONC site (listed above) has links to a number of maps.
- Mt. Hood Winter Trails by Mark Wiggs – A nice map which covers all the cross country ski trails on Mt. Hood. Only issue I have is the advanced trails are shown in black and they can be hard to read.
- Forest Service Mt. Hood Maps – Link to a number of trail maps
- ONC Trails Database on CalTopo – Courtesy of Scott Diamond. A collection of GPS tracks and Sno-Parks (in .gpx format) for most of the places the club does day tours. You can get CalTopo for your mobile phone or you can download all the tracks from the CalTopo website and import them into your favorite mapping application. Contact Scott Diamond if you need help on how to use this.
- Government Camp Area Ski Trails Map A geo-referenced pdf map which will work with Avenza Maps app.
- Ochoco Mountains ski trails maps and GPS files. See README for info on content and other resources. Also note corrections on slideset.
- Ski trails and some gpx tracks for Gifford-Pinchot National Forest (includes Marble Mtn., Kalama, Old Man Pass, Pineside, and Sno King)
Day Tour Planning Packets
This section is focused on tour leaders but if you are looking for a personal tour you may peruse this to get ideas. The starting point is Day Tours which provides a brief description of the most popular day tours we lead. The table below has a collection of PowerPoint files for a number of day tours Scott Diamond has lead. Feel free to steal/edit these for any tour you lead.
| NAME | LEVEL | STATS | LINK | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pocket Creek Loop | BEG/INT | 5.9mi ~200ft |
rev03 |
I love this loop. Warm up by heading out on pocket creek road and have fun skiing back on the tie trail |
| Pocket Creek – Teacup | BEG/INT | ~9mi ~200ft |
rev04 |
Another Pocket Creek tour. This time take the tie trail out of Pocket creek to Teacup and then take Pocket creek road back in – the “Corner Pocket”. |
| West Leg Rd | INT | 11mi, 1,800 ft | rev01 |
Ski up West Leg road to Timberline, have hot chocolate and zoom back down |
| Still Creek | INT | 13mi, -2000 ft | rev02 |
Car shuttle to take rarely skied Still creek road from Trillium to Rhododendren |
| Trillum & Mud Creek Loop | INT | 5-11 mi 200ft |
rev02 |
One of the most popular beginner tours on Hood. With the exception of the initial drop, this is an easy tour which still allows skiing a long distance. |
| Government Camp Encirclement | INT | 12mi ~400ft |
rev06 |
Have a ski adventure without leaving Government camp. This tour connects together a number of fun trails. |
| Bennett Pass Loop | INT | ~9mi ~1500ft |
rev04 |
Out across the terrrible traverse and then drop to pocket creek trail for a long, exciting tour |
| Twin Lakes | INT | 10.7mi-300ft | rev02 |
The quintisential Mount Hood Intermediate day tour. Do this tour after a fresh snowfall |
| Pocket/Bennett | INT | 12mi ~1000ft |
rev04 |
Connect together two great tour areas |
| Sights on Gunsight | ADV | 12mi ~1000ft |
rev05 |
A new favorite tour of Hood. Covers quite a few miles and gain lots of elevation. |
| Turning Yellow | ADV | 12mi ~1000ft |
rev02 |
Take on the Yellow Jacket trail and ski some rarely used trails on this long loop. |
| Cooper Spur | ADV | 10mi 3,000ft |
rev07 |
Break out the Telemark skis and visit Tilly Jane A shelter and explore the bowls above treeline at Cooper Spur. |
| Wy’East | ADV | 18mi ~1500ft |
rev06 |
The big one. String together most of the trails on Mt. Hood in one day as you ski from Ski Bowl to Pocket Creek. |