Stacker Butte Hike

Go to http://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Stacker_Butte-Oak_Spring_Hike for excellent hike information.

In 1993, Pat and Darlene Bleakney, owners of The Dalles Mountain Ranch, worked up an agreement with Washington State Parks and turned over their property to the state. The ranch was split in two, with the southern section joining the newly named Columbia Hills State Park, now merged with the already existent Horsethief Butte State Park (See the Horsethief Butte Hike). The northern section of the ranch, comprising the treeless hillsides at the crest of the Columbia Hills, became the Columbia Hills Natural Area Preserve and is managed by the Washington Department of Natural Resources. The trailhead is on a road that leads to the summit of Stacker Butte, and you must keep to the road as you ascend to the often windy (Patagonia-style) ridge that brims with communication towers. An often neglected detour leads down to Oak Spring, a water source for Native Americans and Euro-American homesteaders alike, nestled in an expansive grove of Oregon white oak. Again, because this is a botanical preserve, you need to keep to the road tracks, leave your dog at home, and not wander off to trample rare and endemic flora.