by Bonnie Henderson, author of Hiking the Oregon Coast Trail
It’s a good bet everyone in Eugene-Springfield who likes to hike, even a little, has hiked the 2.8-mile roundtrip trail to the top of Mount Pisgah at least once (or weekly, or even daily). Howard Buford Recreation Area is Lane County’s most visited park, and the summit trail is by far the most-hiked of the park’s nearly 20 miles of trails.
The Summit Trail—aka Trail #1, actually a gravel service road—tends to be crowded, and it’s a steady 1000-foot ascent (and, on the way down, descent). But if it’s the only hike you ever do at Mount Pisgah, you’re missing a bet.
I don’t remember when I last summited Mount Pisgah, but most weeks I’m out there hiking somewhere at least once. Sometimes it’s a 3-mile roundtrip to a favorite Coast Fork Willamette swimming hole. Sometimes it’s a loop hike to Swing Hill. By far my favorite route is on what I (and almost no one else) calls the Northwest Passage.
For years my sister and I speculated about whether you could piece together trails to not summit but circumnavigate Mount Pisgah—we called it our quest for the Northwest Passage, a bit of an exaggeration given that we didn’t search very hard. We were so familiar with Mount Pisgah (or thought we were) that we never bothered to look at the trailhead map.
When we finally did, it turned out that, yes, there definitely is a circular route—more than one, in fact. It’s now almost the only route I hike there. It goes up (not quite to the summit) and down, and is often level-ish as it winds through ever-changing forest habitats. It’s rare that I run into more than a handful of hikers, if any. About 6.5 miles roundtrip, 900 feet elevation gain: it’s a great workout. But if that’s too much, don’t do what I did and ignore the trailhead map: there are plenty of other destination options besides the Summit.
You can begin this hike at the North or East trailheads, but here’s how to navigate it from the main parking lot. Start up the main trail heading to the summit but immediately veer left onto Theodore Trail. Take it up to the wide-open Bridge Bowl. Pass the lefthand junction with Trail #7, and at the next junction bear left onto Trail #4. The trail rolls along and then, at about 1.5 miles, starts to ascend steeply; watch for a side trail to the left and take it a short distance to another junction. Here you could go right to run into the main Summit Trail; instead go left, dropping down to become Trail #2.
Keep to the main trail all the way down and around the mountain to where it reaches the gravel road leading left to the East Trailhead at about 3.2 miles. Cross it to pick up a new trail section through the forest. It emerges and makes a big swing counter-clockwise to reach a gate (meant to keep equestrians out, but hikers are welcome). Shortly (at about 4.7 miles) you’ll glimpse a detour to the Coast Fork Willamette River; linger here or just continue on the main trail, which becomes the gravel Quarry Road on its way back to where you started at the main parking lot.
Parking permits are required; buy an annual Lane County Parks Pass ($40) or buy a day use pass ($5) at the bottom of the Summit Trail. Alternately become a member of the Friends of Buford Park and Mt. Pisgah & Mount Pisgah Arboretum, both of which provide members with annual county parking permits.
Check out Bonnie’s hiking guidebooks at bonniehendersonwrites.com!