Tire Mountain

Take in a little bit of everything at Tire Mountain.

The most attractive feature of the Oregon Cascades is the sheer diversity of scenery.  Even a short day hike can take you to forests, swamps, rivers, waterfalls, meadows, glaciers and hot springs.  This trip to Tire Mountain via the Alpine and Tire Mountain trail system is perfect for people who want to see a lot of different sights in a short amount of time.  The easy to moderate hike will take you from mist shrouded old-growth forest to stunning alpine meadows crammed with early wildflowers.

Directions: Take I-5 south from Eugene for approximately 3 miles. Take the Oakridge/Klamath Falls exit (Exit 188A). Stay to the left onto Hwy. 58. Take 58 for approximately 31 miles and take a left at the sign for Westfir.

But before you do, it’s a really good idea to swing by the Middle Fork Ranger Station another 40 yards on the right and purchase a Middle Fork District map.  You’ll be doing a lot of driving on gravel Forest Service logging roads where a wrong turn can take up a lot of your day.   

The left turn for Westfir off Hwy. 58 will take you across the Middle Fork of the Willamette River to a T-intersection in a half-mile, where you’ll turn left.  In another 1.8 miles you’ll come to a four-way intersection (covered bridge on your left) in the center of the small village of Westfir.  Continue straight onto Forest Service Road 19 for 4.5 miles, where you’ll take a left on FS 1912.  You’ll then proceed 6.4 miles on FS 1912 to the first major 4-way intersection.  Proceed more or less straight onto FS 1910 for .3 miles and then stay to the right at the next intersection for another .3 miles where you’ll find the Alpine trailhead on the left. 

The first quarter mile of trail takes you through an old tree farm before you enter a magnificent forest of giant Douglas fir and western hemlock.  Approximately a mile from the trailhead you’ll traverse a rocky meadow with views of Diamond Peak (to the south), and two of the Three Sisters.  The wildflowers bloom early here.  From mid-May to mid-June the meadow is a carpet of purple larkspur, penstemon, paintbrush, yellow monkey flowers and others. 

Just past the meadow, the trail splits.  Stay to the right onto the Tire Mountain trail.  After a half-mile through pleasant forest you’ll come to another, even larger, even more spectacular meadow. 

If you still want exercise, continue past the meadow for a little more than a mile to a trail junction at the foot of Tire Mountain.  Stay to the left and switchback up to the summit, which unfortunately offers little in the way of good views.  There’s the remains of an old fire lookout and not much else.

But the return trip will give you a little bit of everything.