From the parking lot at Timberline Lodge, walk around the right-hand side of the lodge and cross a small snow gully to the right. Then head straight uphill on the Mountaineer Trail for 0.6 mile and continue uphill on a dirt road for 0.4 mile to the Silcox Hut, at an elevation of 6,950 feet. On the north side of Crater Rock, follow the crest of a narrow hogback to the summit wall. Here you'll have to climb past a large crevasse before continuing up to the summit. The second most popular route ascends a 45-degree snowfield from the top of the Cooper Spur trail.
Mt. Hood is Oregon's most active volcano.
A lava dome emerged in the summit crater area just 2,000 years ago, creating Crater Rock and covering the entire south slope with an immense mud avalanche. Timberline Lodge is built on top of this relatively recent debris. The peak erupted four times in the 1800s, emitting small amounts of steam, ash, and magma. In a minor 1907 eruption, glowing rock near the summit melted part of the White River Glacier, causing floods. Today, climbers still encounter scalding steam vents, a powerful sulfur smell, and hot rock in the basin just south of the summit.