Mount McLoughlin, Oregon,
and Brown Mountain and Pelican Butte

Mount McLoughlin can be climbed during mid to late summer after snow has melted from the trail. To reach the trail head, turn north from Highway 140, east of the Cascade Crest, onto the Four Mile Lake road and proceed approximately 4 kilometers. A sign marks the trail's start. Carry water as no streams cross the trail. The 10-kilometer-long, moderately steep trail is marked above tree line by red circles painted on rocks. Take care, as these inconspicuous trail markers are easily missed, especially during descent.

-- Excerpt from: Wood and Kienle, 1990, Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada: Cambridge University Press, 354p., p.197-199, Contribution by James G. Smith

Located within the Sky Lakes Wilderness the 5.5 mile long trail to the summit of Mount McLoughlin winds through rocky terrain. After it leaves the Pacific Crest Trail (at a point a little over a mile from the parking lot), the trail ascends through a boulder strewn forest. Watch for blazed trees and a well worn path. Above timberline, marks spray-painted on boulders are unreliable. Once you reach the main ridge, follow the ridge line up to the summit. Watch your footing and avoid the loose scree on the left. Each year a number of people become disoriented or lost on the way back down, usually due to coming down a different route than they used when climbing the mountain. Tempting as it may seem to descent the sandy, cinder slope, the lower you get down this slope, the further away you become from the trail -- and once down to the timberline, it's a 2-mile strenuous boulder-hopping hike back east to the trail. The proper way to descend is simply to follow the same ridge-line route that took you to the summit.

• Elevation: 5,600 feet to 9,495 feet
• Length: 11 miles round trip
• Type: Hiker only
• Recommended Season: Summer
• Use Level: Moderate to Heavy
• Difficulty Level: Difficult

-- Excerpt from: USFS Winema National Forest Website, March 2002

Brown Mountain

Brown Mountain is a small (5 cubic kilometers), youthful-looking shield topped by a cinder cone whose central depression is still 15 meters deep. Much of the mountain is bare, unweathered, dark-colored, block-lava and clinkery aa flows. The flows are mostly olivine-bearing basaltic andesite and andesite in composition. A climb to the summit of Brown Mountain is mostly a scramble over fresh talus as there is no maintained trail to its summit. Because its summit is lower than that of nearby peaks, views from Brown Mountain are not as spectacular. However, it offers a close view of the south flanks of Mount McLoughlin.

-- Excerpt from: Wood and Kienle, 1990, Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada: Cambridge University Press, 354p., p.199-200, Contribution by James G. Smith

Pelican Butte

Pelican Butte's summit is high, the mountain is detached from the axis of the Cascades, and it formed on top of a system of down-to-the-east normal faults with large displacements that delineate the east side of the Cascade Range at this latitude. For these reasons, views from its summit are impressive. It offers a 180-degree panorama of Cascade Peaks from just south of Crater Lake past Mount McLoughlin and onto the volcanoes in the Mountain Lakes Wilderness. A reasonably well-maintained gravel road, open during snow-free summer months, extends to the summit. The road turns north off Highway 140, approximately 6 kilometers east of the Lake of the Woods highway maintenance station. Although the last few miles are steep and narrow, most vehicles with high clearance should be able to make the trip. No water is available on the upper parts of the volcano.

-- Excerpt from: Wood and Kienle, 1990, Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada: Cambridge University Press, 354p., p.195-196, Contribution by James G. Smith

-- Excerpt from: Wood and Kienle, 1990, Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada: Cambridge University Press, 354p., p.197-199, James G. Smith