The Timberline Trail has always been one of very best hikes in the Pacific Northwest. A nearly 40-mile trek around the peak of Mt. Hood, the trail offers stunning angles of the mountain as well as views of the other giants of the Cascade Range: Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters.
But for the last decade that loop has been incomplete – cut off after a 2006 debris flow washed out a seasonal bridge and large chunk of the trail near the Eliot Glacier field. The closure has forced hikers to cut their treks short, or else find more difficult paths across.
Thankfully, those hiking headaches will soon fade. The U.S. Forest Service announced this week official plans to reconnect the 40-mile trail, via a 1.5-mile re-route. Trail construction is expected to begin this summer, with the projected completion coming sometime in 2017.
“We’re thrilled to begin work on rerouting this trail to the new location so that crossing this area is safer for hikers,” Claire Pitner, eastside recreation manager for the Mt. Hood National Forest said in a press release. “The 1.5 mile reroute will minimize exposure to loose boulders which otherwise could pose as hazards for hikers.”
The new segment of trail will run south of the old path, crossing Eliot Branch at a spot the forest service hopes will be “more protected from the scouring action of the stream.”
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, producer of this blog, and passionate about hiking. I live in Western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my door, so the content will focus on these areas, but let me know what you would like to see on the site. 
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