The 25 Most Popular Oregon Hikes - Iconic Or Overrated?

Hey guys, welcome back to Hike Oregon. In today's video I'm going to be going over 25 of the most popular hikes here in Oregon and letting you know if they are iconic or overrated. If you are new here, welcome to the Hike Oregon family. I make hiking and backpacking vlogs as well as gear reviews and just general tips and tricks videos to help you become a more confident hiker and backpacker. If you enjoy content like that, click that red subscribe button and the notification bell so that you are notified every time I make a new video. And if you want more content from me, you can always support me over on Patreon or for as little as just $1, you get a ton of extra content throughout each month. Alright guys, here is the list of 25 of the most popular hikes here in Oregon. I looked at Google and various blog posts to come up with this list and I have done all 25 of these hikes as well as hundreds and hundreds of other hikes here in this lovely state. So, I'm just going to go through the list and tell you if I think the hike is iconic or overrated. First up on the list is Silver Falls State Park, the Trail of Ten Falls. Definitely iconic. One of the only hikes besides one of the other ones on the list where you can see 10 waterfalls in less than 10 miles. Multnomah and Joaquina Falls Loop. Also iconic because you see a ton of waterfalls, it takes you through beautiful forests. On the Columbia River Gorge and of course it features Oregon's tallest waterfall. Next on the list is Blue Pool and I'm going to have to say iconic. Yes, this hike is busy but for good reason. You not only get the most stunning forest as you're hiking along the Mackenzie River, you get to see some old lava flows and then of course you end the hike at stunning Blue Pool which I've never seen anything like it anywhere else. Next up, Misery Ridge. I think this is iconic. It is, as the name states, quite a miserable hike. It is very steep, there are stairs along the way, and it's kind of a grueling hike especially if you're hiking it in the hot summer weather. But the view of the Central Oregon Cascades and the Bend and Redmond area is just something you don't see anywhere else. Next up, Neokani Mountain. I'm going to have to say overrated. If there are better coastal views, in my opinion, it is a very steep hike and most of the year the trail is just super muddy, super slippery with lots of roots. Next up, in the Mount Hood area, Mirror Lake. I'm going to have to say overrated on this one. Yes, the view across the lake of Mount Hood is pretty but there are definitely better views like nearby Trillium Lake. Tumalo Falls near Bend, I'm gonna have to say slightly overrated. I hate to say that but the walk to the Falls Overlook is nothing special. It's not a special waterfall in my opinion and the scenery isn't spectacular. However, I'm going to say that if you continue up the trail from the Tumalo Falls Overlook, the hike along the creek is beautiful and you'll get to see a lot of other waterfalls that in my opinion are just a little more unique. Angels Rest in the Columbia River Gorge, in my opinion, overrated. There are so many hikes with amazing views of the river gorge and Angels Rest just isn't a great hike in my opinion and there are so many people on this hike. You can find a lot of hikes that aren't as busy that have way better views. No Name Lake, this is iconic. In my opinion, probably one of the most iconic hikes in all of Oregon. This is spectacular and you just have to see it for yourself. Right next to No Name Lake and Broken Top is South Sister. Many people summit this and in my opinion, it's overrated. To me, this hike is so boring and it's so hard just to get the view at the top and to say that you summited, which is great. I love to say I summited a mountain, but I don't have to ever do it again. I think I've summited five or six times, never going to do it again. To be honest, you can get almost the exact same view that you get from the top of South Sister from the saddle right above No Name Lake. Eagle Creek Trail to Tunnel Falls, this is iconic. So iconic, in fact, that most PCT thru-hikers actually take an alternate route away from the Pacific Crest Trail just so that they can see Tunnel Falls. It is iconic. God's Thumb near Lincoln City, iconic. This is one of the ones that is better than Neoconny Mountain and the views from the top are 360, amazing. You feel like you're just about to take flight over the ocean. It's so incredible. Another popular hike near the coast is Saddle Mountain. My opinion, overrated. The view from the top is great, but the hike itself is not super great. There are so many people and like I said before, there are better views out there. Another one of those popular coastal hikes is the Cape Lookout Trail and in my opinion, this is iconic. Ramona Falls near Mount Hood, absolutely iconic. The trail through the forest, you have to cross a river and then you just see the most magical waterfall. I've never seen a waterfall like this. The way it cascades down the mossy rocks, the way the light hits it if it's a sunny day, just spectacular. Abaqua Falls is also one of those popular waterfall hikes and this one is iconic. It is short, the road is kind of hard to drive on, so it makes it kind of an adventure or you can park a few miles away and walk down the road and it is absolutely fantastic. Another waterfall hike is Tamanawas Falls in the Mount Hood area. I think that's how you say it. To be honest, I'm not sure. This one to me is iconic. This is always such a busy hike, doesn't matter if it's spring, summer, fall, winter, it is super busy, but for good reason. It is absolutely iconic. Heading over to Eastern Oregon, the Willowa Mountains, I have the popular hike to Ice Lake. This is obviously, you can see for yourself, absolutely iconic. However, a lot of people do it as a day hike. Please don't do that. It's way too long and then you don't even get to enjoy the scenery and the lake. So do it as an overnight backpacking trip. It's spectacular. Cleetwood Cove at Crater Lake, iconic. You basically hike down into the crater and you can go swimming there. It's super awesome. Proxy Falls, iconic. You can see two waterfalls in a short two-mile loop. You get to see beautiful forest as well as lava flows. It's cool. Green Lakes in Central Oregon is obviously iconic. These green-colored alpine lakes in the middle of the Three Sisters Wilderness with Broken Top and South Sister right there, it's breathtaking. The Obsidian Trail is also in the Three Sisters Wilderness. I have mixed feelings about this. I want to say it's overrated just because a lot of the hike is pretty boring. Much of the mileage is just in thick, thick forest. Much of the hike doesn't have those spectacular views, but it is one of the only places where you can see that much obsidian. It's incredible walking through these fields of obsidian rock just glittering in the sun. For that reason, I'm going to have to say iconic. McNeil Point is iconic just for the fact that you get to see Mount Hood and this. I mean, it looks unreal. It looks like a fake AI backdrop. Drift Creek Falls is another super popular hike, and in my opinion, it's overrated. The waterfall is nothing special. Really, the only cool thing about this hike is the suspension bridge. And last but not least, Saheli and Coosa Falls. You can do this little waterfall loop, and it's iconic. The super green, lush forest along the Mackenzie River is so magical, and then you get to see these beautiful waterfalls. Thank you so much for watching this video. Let me know in the comments below if you agree with most of my iconic or overrated opinion, or if you don't, and if you have more hike suggestions for maybe a part two of iconic or overrated, I'd love to hear those below as well. If you don't already, go ahead and follow me over on Instagram. That's where I post all of my recent hiking and backpacking adventure pictures. And if you want to hike and backpack here in this amazing state of Oregon, check out my website, hikeoregon.net, and you'll find tons of hiking and backpacking info. And this time of year, we are gearing up for snowshoeing. I have a ton of snowshoeing posts so that you can go out, explore in the winter. And on the website, you'll also find access to purchase all of the hiking guidebooks that I've written over the years. Thank you so much for watching, and I will catch you on the next adventure.