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TRIP 13 North Silver Star Mountain Loop

Distance 5.0 miles, Loop Elevation Gain 1700 feet Hiking Time 3 hours Optional Map Green Trails Lookout Mountain, Bridal Veil (some trails not shown) Usually Open Mid-May to October Best Time Mid-June to mid-July Trail Use Dogs OK (but may be difficult for them in places), backpacking option Agency Mount Adams Ranger District, Gifford Pinchot National Forest Difficulty Moderate

HIGHLIGHTS No matter how you get to the top of Silver Star Mountain, you will enjoy expansive views and abundant wildflowers. The easiest of the direct hiking routes to the summit is from the north along either an abandoned road or a wildly scenic new trail, which passes a series of jagged rock formations and goes through some of the best wildflower meadows in this book. The two routes can be easily combined into a spectacular, relatively easy, and surprisingly little-traveled loop.

DIRECTIONS From the intersection of State Highways 502 and 503 in downtown Battleground, drive 5.7 miles north on Highway 503. Turn right on N.E. Rock Creek Road, which soon becomes Lucia Falls Road, and proceed 8.6 miles to a junction. Turn right on Sunset Falls Road and drive 7.4 miles to a junction at the entrance to Sunset Campground. Turn right on gravel Forest Road 41 and almost immediately cross a bridge to an unsigned junction where you go left. Proceed 3.5 miles on this pothole-filled road, and then turn sharply right (downhill) on Road 4109. Stay on this sometimes rough road for 1.5 miles to a multiway junction. Turn left and go 2.7 steep, bumpy, uphill miles to the road-end turnaround.