Three-Corner Rock (via PCT) plus Beacon Rock

Activity Notes

Three corner Rock:  Mazama grade A /  Distance 4.2 miles  /  Ascent 1200 feet  / High point 3,550 feet / 2 hours hiking time round trip.

Beacon Rock:  Mazama grade A /  Distance 1.8miles  /  Ascent 700 feet  / High point 850 feet / 1 hour hiking time round trip.

Meeting Place:  Mazamas MMC  9AM Wends Sept 8

Description

Three Corner Rock is a landmark basalt pyramid and former lookout site on the Columbia Gorge skyline, beginning at Rock Creek Pass in Washington. You'll take the Pacific Crest Trail for the first 1 1/2 miles. Three Corner Rock itself lies half a mile off the Pacific Crest Trail as it runs between Birkenfeld Mountain and Sedum Ridge. You'll pass a far-reaching viewpoint over the Rock Creek valley to Mount Adams and get 360-degree views (Mt  St. Helens, Hood, Adams when you get to the top of the Rock.)  This is a fairly short and easy hike,  but the rock pyramid does require a little scrambling over boulders to get to the top. It is late summer, but there may still be some wildflowers.  We will have lunch on the top.

Next we will drive back, but before crossing the Columbia, we will continue east on Highway 14 to Beacon Rock.  As we should already have our Discover Pass, we can park here and hike to the top. This hike is optional, and you can just hang out near the cars and picnic area if you like (or drive home instead).  

Beacon Rock is one of the most prominent and distinctive geological features in the Columbia River Gorge, an 848-foot landmark that was once the core of a volcano; what remains is what was not washed away by the massive force of ice-age flooding. It is one of the tallest monoliths (singular piece of rock) in North America, along with California's El Capitan, Georgia's Stone Mountain, and Wyoming's Devils Tower.