Huckleberries at Umbrella Falls (Mt. Hood Meadows)

You won’t find any huckleberries on the top right side of Umbrella Falls… we know this because we picked that bush clean a couple days ago! But rest assured, there are plenty more huckleberries to be found around the falls and down the trail that follows along the Hood River. We started up in the Mt. Hood Meadows ski area parking lot – the trail is easily found just off the side of the lot near the gated entrance. From this point it’s a quick and easy half mile or so to the falls, and after filling your huckleberry bucket you can store it back in the car before setting out on a longer hike. Another route would be to start hiking the trail right off of Hwy 35 as it crosses Hood River. From there, hike up to Umbrella Falls, and munch on huckleberries all the way down. If you don’t get enough huckleberry on this hike, check out the Huckleberry Fest coming up this weekend (see side column.)