Mount Hood

Lore & Background

Mount Hood was formed by a subduction zone on the Pacific Coast and rests in the Pacific Northwest. It was given its present name on October 29, 1792, by Lt. William Broughton, a member of Captain George Vancouver's exploration expedition, who named it after British admiral Samuel Hood.

The mountain has 12 named glaciers and snowfields, and its summit area consists of several andesitic or dacitic lava domes. The last major eruptive period took place around 1781 to 1782, producing dacitic lava domes, pyroclastic flows, and mudflows, with minor eruptive episodes continuing until about 1865–1866. The prominent Crater Rock below the summit is hypothesized to be the remains of an eroded dome from that period.

Reader's Guide

Mount Hood is significant as the highest mountain in Oregon and a prominent feature of the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It attracts an estimated 10,000 climbers annually and hosts multiple ski areas, including Timberline Lodge, which offers the only year-round lift-served skiing in North America. The mountain is monitored by the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory due to its potential for future eruptions, which could produce dangerous lahars from its glaciers.

Its indigenous names are disputed, with the name Wy'east appearing in 20th-century literature but lacking evidence of genuine indigenous origin. The mountain sits partly within the reservation of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and some scholars suggest it may have lacked a specific name in indigenous languages, being referred to by a general term for snow-capped summit. Mount Hood's volcanic history includes at least four major eruptive periods in the past 15,000 years, and it has experienced several earthquake swarms since 1950.

Did You Know?

• Mount Hood is one of several locations in North America offering year-round lift-served skiing, including Timberline Lodge, Mammoth Mountain in California, and Whistler-Blackcomb in Canada.
• A climber suffocated in 1934 while exploring ice caves melted by fumaroles on Coalman Glacier, but this was not the only volcanic fatality in the Cascades prior to the 1980 eruption of Mount St.
• Two United States Navy ammunition ships have been named Mount Hood, one of which was destroyed in 1944 in an explosion at Manus Naval Base.