Join us for a wildlife tracking snowshoe hike to Salmon River Meadows in the Mount Hood National Forest (and part of the Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness Act). Led by experienced tracker and Oregon Wild board member Pat Clancy, we'll be learning what to look for when searching for wildlife tracks and doing our best to identify which critters have been the most active in this important Wilderness environment. This hike includes an informative one hour workshop to cover the basics of snow tracking.

Salmon River Meadows is home to the headwaters of the Salmon River and is one of the few remaining undisturbed sub-alpine meadows left on Mount Hood. This clear, pristine habitat should provide hikers with ideal wildlife tracking conditions—on last year’s hike alone Oregon Wild hikers saw tracks from numerous birds and small mammals in addition to those of the bobcat, puma, fox, and coyote. This excursion will allow participants to explore the picturesque quiet of this beautiful clearing ideally located off the beaten path at the base of Mount Hood. In addition to ordinary hike preparations, please remember to dress warmly and bring your snowshoes. 

**In the event of insufficient snow at Salmon River Meadows, the hike will be relocated to Oxbow Regional Park. On the floodplain within the wild and scenic Sandy River Gorge, one can find clear tracks of red fox, raccoon, river otter, mink, rabbit, squirrel, weasel, crow, Canada goose and many other birds here on any given day. Occasionally, the tracks of larger mammals such as elk, black bear and cougar are also found in this rich habitat.

Please contact hike shepherd and Oregon Wild Old-Growth Coordinator Jonathan Jelen at jj@oregonwild.org or 503-283-6343 ext 224 with questions. The non-refundable fee for this event is $20 for Oregon Wild members and $30 for Oregon Wild non-members.

Sign up for the hike here.

To find out more about the benefits of membership at Oregon Wild, visit our membership page or contact Membership Coordinator Cheryl Lohrmann at cbl@oregonwild.org or 503-283-6343 x 213.

Salmon River Meadows and Ghost Creek. Photo by Morgan Lange