Highlights
Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous
Distance: 8 miles round trip to summit (additional 4.8 miles to North Lake)
Elevation Gain: 1,500 feet
Season: Year round
Notes: A parking fee or permit is required at the trailhead.
About this Hike
There aren’t too many very well-kept secrets when it comes to the northern Oregon Coast. But Mount Hebo remains more mysterious than most! This special mountain offers one of the best views in Oregon’s northern Coast Range. Mount Hebo is also home to the largest population of threatened silverspot butterflies in Oregon – for whom Oregon Wild worked to secure federal protection. It’s also a place with a rich Native American history as the trail itself served as a connector between the North Coast Range and the Willamette Valley. Wild strawberries and lilies line the path in the spring on your way up to a broad meadow summit which offers views from Tillamook Bay to the Cascades!
Several streams flowing off the north side of Mount Hebo and its wildlands to the Nestucca River are proposed additions to the Wild & Scenic River system under the River Democracy Act.
To hike to the summit, begin on the opposite side of the parking area, and climb 2.9 miles along the main Pioneer-Indian Trail. Along the way, you’ll pass through bracken-filled meadows and varying ages of Douglas-fir forest. You’ll then cross Road 14 and continue for just over a mile to the broad summit’s meadow. Find a lunch spot with a view (the best ones are up ahead to your left) before heading back. If you’re up for a longer hike, you can continue on the trail crossing Road 14 twice more before descending to North Lake.
Getting There
Drive Highway 101 south of Tillamook for 19 miles (or north of Lincoln City for 24 miles). Turn east on Highway 22 in the town of Hebo for .2 miles. Just before the Hebo Ranger Station, turn left at a sign for Hebo Lake and follow paved Road 14 for 4.7 fairly steep uphill miles. Fork right at the entrance for the Hebo Lake Campground and keep right for 0.2 miles to the trailhead.
Take Action
Large blocks of intact forests are rare in the Coast Range, and protections under the Roadless Area Conservation Rule are essential to maintain. Take action here to defend the Roadless Rule, and support additional protections for the headwater streams that flow from Mount Hebo into the Nestucca River by becoming a citizen co-sponsor of the River Democracy Act here.
