IRON MOUNTAIN LOOKOUT TO CONE PEAK LOOP |
ELEVATION: 5455 ft on Iron Mountain; 5646 ft on Cone Peak; with vertical gains of 755 ft to the lookout from Civil Road TH, 1400 ft from Iron Mountain TH; 1500 ft for Cone Peak directly; 2500 ft for both summits
DISTANCE: 2½ mi round-trip from Civil Road TH, 3½ mi round-trip from Iron Mountain TH; 5½ mi round-trip for Cone Peak from Tombstone Pass TH, 7¾ mi round-trip loop with both summits (6¾ mi round-trip loop with only Iron Mountain)
DURATION: 1–2 hours round-trip from Civil Road, 2–3 hours round-trip from Iron Mountain TH; 3–4 hours round-trip from Tombstone Pass TH; 5–6 hours round-trip loop with both summits
DIFFICULTY: Mix of strenuous for all routes to Iron Mountain including the loop (switchbacks, steady steep, drop-offs, signed, not long, ups/downs, family-friendly) and very challenging for Cone Peak (very steep, route-finding, bushwhacking, minimal drop-offs)
TRIP REPORT: The wildflower show seems to continue for months, with late June into July being the very best time when more than 300 species bloom over the season, making this unique region the most prolific in Oregon! There are also at least seventeen varieties of trees, the most diversity in one place within the state. And then there’s the hiking! Northwest Forest Pass required at all THs, and there are restrooms or portable outhouses at all THs.
TRAILHEAD: Tombstone Pass (Cone Peak) TH for the loop. Take I-5 S from Portland to exit 253 in Salem, turn left for OR-22 E (Detroit Lake/Bend) 80 mi, turn right toward US-20 W 50 ft, turn right on US-20 W 10½ mi, turn left on FR-060 (Tombstone Pass, milepost 63½) with parking immediately in the gravel.
Alternately from farther S for Tombstone Pass TH (taking the same time driving from Portland with more winding roads), take I-5 S to exit 228 (Lebanon/Corvallis), turn left on OR-34 E 5¼ mi, exit onto Denny School Road 1¼ mi into Airport Drive 2 mi (look for a Safeway), turn right on US-20 E 48 mi (15 mi to Sweet Home Ranger Station), turn right on nondescript FR-060 and park in the long pullout. For Iron Mountain or Cone Peak alone you can save ½ mi of hiking near Tombstone Pass to the trails directly. See below for the shortest route to Iron Mountain. For Cone Peak alone park off US-20 about ½ mi E of Tombstone Pass in a long pullout with a simple “Trail” sign. Across the highway 40 ft up is a big yellow highway sign warning of the downgrade ahead with the signed Cone Peak Trail 3408 to the right.
For Iron Mountain TH, from the Tombstone Pass TH, turn S on FR-15 more than ½ mi W of Tombstone Pass on US-20. Follow signage on FR-15 less than ½ mi to a pullout on the right.
The Civil Road TH is a more difficult drive but the shortest hike for Iron Mountain Lookout. Drive 1½ mi W of Tombstone Pass, N of US-20, on FR-35 (Civil Road) more than 2½ mi winding up the rough gravel road to the signed TH at 4700 ft (140 mi roughly, 2½ hours from Portland).
ROUTE: Pick up clues in this section for the routes from all the THs and feel free to hike to your goal or try the loop counterclockwise. For the sake of brevity we will hike the loop clockwise from Tombstone Pass and include both summits. At the Tombstone Pass TH, cross the parking driveway to the narrow trail left of the Tombstone Pass sign and head W up a few feet before walking down a switchback. Traverse the wider trail through the jungle-like setting below the highway passing a few large Douglas firs about ½ mi to a three-way juncture (left moves down briefly to Iron Mountain TH). Turn right at the signage for Iron Mountain (exaggerates mileage to both locales by around ½ mi) and cross the highway with caution.
Iron Mountain’s rocky obelisk appendage.
Hike N up the first of 5 well-graded switchbacks on Iron Mountain Trail 3389 with more impressive Douglas fir. The now steeper trail turns up over a rise and narrows after 1 mi from Tombstone Pass. After a solid switchback see the rocky cliff face directly ahead. Move up another switchback more through a meadow to a signed three-way intersection where left leads easily down Iron Mountain Cutoff Trail to the Civil Road TH in ¼ mi. Turn right on the wide trail instead (3389) briefly to another juncture (continuation of the loop); at 1½ mi from Tombstone Pass turn sharply right for Iron Mountain Lookout.
See the cliff face of Iron Mountain, as the route becomes steeper and rockier E 5 switchbacks and a turn up the ridgeline passing steep meadows and wildflowers. See a little rock arch while ascending 4 dusty true switchbacks (drop-offs near) to a nice flat perch left a few feet. See Cone Peak, Cone Peak Meadows, and Mount Jefferson. Finish briefly to the visible platforms (with info signage) on the open summit and enjoy the expansive views from a safe overlook.
Return down to the first juncture from the summit and turn right (N) on Cone Peak Trail 3408 for the clockwise loop. Follow the much easier wide traverse that skirts N of Iron Mountain with a few minor ups and downs through low flora and mossy trees in the beautiful forest. The terrain begins to open a bit with a shot to Cone Peak and the nearby saddle as you approach the saddle from the right (S) side of the ridge via 1 switchback. Stay S of the ridge a while, as the wide saddle is 1 mi from the Iron Mountain Lookout juncture and more than 1 mi from Cone Peak. Continue up steeper for 2 switchbacks and turns where it’s overgrown, and then hike somewhat easier across mostly dry mini creeks through the jungle with a few wildflowers to improved views. The trail turns SE in the thicket at a larger runoff creek SW of Cone Peak and then moves briefly through thinning trees across sloped pastures to a more open area at the top of Cone Peak Meadows (4925 ft).
Stay on the trail, immediately heading down through the colorful steep rocky meadows on the return loop without Cone Peak; or bushwhack left (N) up 720 ft in ½ mi for more solitude with a steep scramble to the summit. There are a few discernible paths that become more distinct a hundred feet or so from the main trail bearing up the center of the wide SSE shoulder past tall bushes, grasses, and small trees to the even wider wildflower-covered super-steep slopes. Then work N up the steep hill without a trail, zigzagging back and forth, angling just left of the little cliffy area with steep rock (SW of summit). Scramble up the rock ledges (perhaps using hands for balance) aiming for the high ridge and find the user path that moves left (W) of a natural rock wall blocking the ridge crest. Then walk easier along the open wide ridge to the rocky top a few feet away.
A few small snags don’t block the 360-degree views, superior to the views from Iron Mountain. See Iron Mountain down the ridge with its huge spire to the left, and other local mountains, Three Sisters, Mount Washington, Three Fingered Jack, Mount Jefferson, Mount Hood, and Mount St. Helens. When returning down, it is possible once you are past the rock wall blocking the ridge to move left (S) off the high ridge quite steeply down dirt, gravel, and rocks on faint paths to the sloped meadow below ending the tiny summit loop. Work steeply and slowly back to the main trail seen below.
Turn left onto Cone Peak Trail 3408, down the open rocky meadow with phlox, larkspur, paintbrush, scarlet gilia, penstemon, and cat’s ear, to name a few. Wind down over a shoulder (S ridge of Cone Peak) back into the forest to the first of 12 fairly easy switchbacks to the highway. Pass towering Douglas fir again after the fifth switchback and traverse a mostly level, long stretch that becomes slightly overgrown after the tenth switchback. Finish with 2 quick turns and cross US-20 carefully near a big yellow sign. Walk left 40 ft down to find the “Trail” sign on the right (at Cone Peak TH) at 7¼ mi from the start of the loop (if you began at Tombstone Pass and included Cone Peak).
From Cone Peak TH, walk easily down toward a tiny creek with 1 switchback and then cross it over a footbridge to a signed juncture. Turn right (SW) on Tombstone Prairie Trail 3420 past a big wooden kiosk explaining the old Santiam Wagon Road and Tombstone Prairie. Stay right at a little fork on Trail 3420 (opposite the Nature Trail) as the path narrows and becomes overgrown at times up through the wonderful forest with big old firs. Ascend the final switchback to the nearby info kiosk with a map and day use fee instructions at the Tombstone Pass TH.