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So, I bought a house out here on Mt Hood a while back, and one of the cool things about living out here in the sticks is I am so close to places to go shooting! After doing a bunch of research, I've found a few cool places to shoot and I figured I would share, and perhaps others would be able to recommend other places to shoot. I'm also looking to find a really good place to shoot where I can actually invest some time in putting up wood for mounting targets to and the like.
Anyways, here's the three main shooting spots I have found on Mt Hood.
(They're hardly secrets as I've met others at them who said the rangers gave them directions to it)
1: East Miller Road
When driving into the welches/brightwood area of 26 from Portland, the highway drops to 45 mph for that particular section of highway. About a mile before the speed limit drops to 45, on the right hand side of the roadis East Miller Road. The entrance is gated, and you've got to park and walk in a good ways. This is a bit of a bummer as bringing fun things to shoot stinks. The road will hit it's first Y, and if you go left you go down to the lower levels and what not, where it isn't bad for shooting, but it's a bit close to where a lot of people like to go and fish. Best avoided. Go right at the fork, and stay left from there for a while. This will take you into the gravel quarry area, and there's plenty of space there to shoot with. It's about a 1/4 mile hike all said and done, so it's not bad, but it's a bit of a drag for hauling in a bunch of people and guns for fun. Still though, it's REALLY close, and really convenient, and the rangers recommend this one so go there and do what you want!
2: Wood Lot Road -- Sand Pit / Quarry
This is another place that I didn't discover until recently, but the first time I went I met two others shooting there who told me it is where the ranger recommended they go. This is another place where you drive in and park and then walk a 1/4 mile to a quarry/sand pit. To get there, turn off of Highway 26 at mile 48.5 I believe... double check this yourself on Google maps per the link above. Drive a short distance (<100 yards) to a gate. Stop at the gate, unload and hike on in.
The quarry is much more spacious with a lot more room to shoot than the aforementioned quarry, but it isn't without some issues. Namely, the highway isn't all that far away. I've shot a ton of rounds down there from some ridiculously loud guns and blown up Tannerite and no trouble yet, but uh... if anyone was parked and outside their car on 26 they might feel a bit close for comfort. This also might introduce a potential risk as if you shoot in a completely ridiculous direction with a powerful enough rifle you could hit the highway... but overall there's lots of safe backdrops to shoot against, it's a nice place to shoot as long as you're responsible.
3: Wood Lot Road Powerline Spot
This spot is accessed much the same as you would for the sand pit / quarry above, only as soon as you turn off the road you look to take a right hand turn immediately and drive down a very rocky road that leads you to the power lines. This is NOT a road to take a car down though. You need a vehicle with some ground clearance, and if it's wet 4 wheel drive may be nescessary. If it's snow you will DEFINITELY need 4 wheel drive to go shoot down here, but other than that, it's a simple trail for even a cruddy Toyota running on 3 cylinders that is RWD.
Drive to the end of that first road, and it will intersect with the power lines. The road does not continue to the left (despite the image google has) but does continue to the right and runs the power lines. To the left, there are a bunch of rocks and that's your line to shoot from. Some one went out there and marked the distance on some rocks, and it appears to go out to about 75 or so yards with a good amount of clearing. LOTS of people must shoot here as the amount of ammo put downrange is really apparent.
The god part about shooting here is you can drive to it, unlike any of the aforementioned spots. This means you can bring friends, a wide variety of guns and ammo, and fun things to shoot with ease. The bad news about this spot though is that it's not very wide. While there's a good enough distance youc an shoot and setup targets, the entire "range" (it feels a bit rangeish) is maybe 50' wide, with the shooting area only 30 or so feet. This really limits the space, and means it's definitely a first come first serve spot. Other problems would appear to be that local yodels like dumping trash there (gross, seriously people!) and it's also where ODOT appears to go to drop off dear who get hit by cars on highway 26, so occasionally there is a smell carcass there.
Another issue with this spot is that it faces towards the aforementioned quary/sandpit... so in theory if some one were back there in the gravel pit you could be shooting at them. However, it would be nearly impossible to get through the 1/8 mile of trees between you and them, and not to mention some elevation change, and it only faces a corner of the quary where most people wouldn't be shooting from. Still, for my own paranoia's, I always look to see if anyone is parked at the gate for the quarry first, before choosing the easy location, and then when I do shoot from there I stop occasionally to listen and check if anyone is at the quarry/sand pit.
If you use this location PLEASE try and leave it cleaner than you found it! It's a great spot but ODOT and the rangers may respond strongly if people keep dumping trash and leaving shot up printer and things out there!
Concerning Shooting on Lolo Pass
Lolo pass is most often the place I'm told by other locals out here to Shoot. I initially checked this with the local ranger station, and the answer is that you SHOULD NOT GO SHOOTING BACK THERE. They don't want you back there, and apparently there is some concern about lead ammo and the shooting locations proximity to bull run (the watershed that provides all of Portland City's drinking water). Whatever the story may be, the Rangers do not want you shooting back there. I can also say from experience driving around up there prior to where they lock the gate... there really isn't much going on up there. You can drive up along the power lines if you have a decent 4x4 and find some random place to plink, but it won't be anything nice. Perhaps some one knows of a spot I don't, but I've been told multiple times now the rangers don't want people shooting off of Lolo pass.
If you have other shooting spots in this area that you want to share, please let me know / share!
Anyways, here's the three main shooting spots I have found on Mt Hood.
(They're hardly secrets as I've met others at them who said the rangers gave them directions to it)
1: East Miller Road
When driving into the welches/brightwood area of 26 from Portland, the highway drops to 45 mph for that particular section of highway. About a mile before the speed limit drops to 45, on the right hand side of the roadis East Miller Road. The entrance is gated, and you've got to park and walk in a good ways. This is a bit of a bummer as bringing fun things to shoot stinks. The road will hit it's first Y, and if you go left you go down to the lower levels and what not, where it isn't bad for shooting, but it's a bit close to where a lot of people like to go and fish. Best avoided. Go right at the fork, and stay left from there for a while. This will take you into the gravel quarry area, and there's plenty of space there to shoot with. It's about a 1/4 mile hike all said and done, so it's not bad, but it's a bit of a drag for hauling in a bunch of people and guns for fun. Still though, it's REALLY close, and really convenient, and the rangers recommend this one so go there and do what you want!
2: Wood Lot Road -- Sand Pit / Quarry
This is another place that I didn't discover until recently, but the first time I went I met two others shooting there who told me it is where the ranger recommended they go. This is another place where you drive in and park and then walk a 1/4 mile to a quarry/sand pit. To get there, turn off of Highway 26 at mile 48.5 I believe... double check this yourself on Google maps per the link above. Drive a short distance (<100 yards) to a gate. Stop at the gate, unload and hike on in.
The quarry is much more spacious with a lot more room to shoot than the aforementioned quarry, but it isn't without some issues. Namely, the highway isn't all that far away. I've shot a ton of rounds down there from some ridiculously loud guns and blown up Tannerite and no trouble yet, but uh... if anyone was parked and outside their car on 26 they might feel a bit close for comfort. This also might introduce a potential risk as if you shoot in a completely ridiculous direction with a powerful enough rifle you could hit the highway... but overall there's lots of safe backdrops to shoot against, it's a nice place to shoot as long as you're responsible.
3: Wood Lot Road Powerline Spot
This spot is accessed much the same as you would for the sand pit / quarry above, only as soon as you turn off the road you look to take a right hand turn immediately and drive down a very rocky road that leads you to the power lines. This is NOT a road to take a car down though. You need a vehicle with some ground clearance, and if it's wet 4 wheel drive may be nescessary. If it's snow you will DEFINITELY need 4 wheel drive to go shoot down here, but other than that, it's a simple trail for even a cruddy Toyota running on 3 cylinders that is RWD.
Drive to the end of that first road, and it will intersect with the power lines. The road does not continue to the left (despite the image google has) but does continue to the right and runs the power lines. To the left, there are a bunch of rocks and that's your line to shoot from. Some one went out there and marked the distance on some rocks, and it appears to go out to about 75 or so yards with a good amount of clearing. LOTS of people must shoot here as the amount of ammo put downrange is really apparent.
The god part about shooting here is you can drive to it, unlike any of the aforementioned spots. This means you can bring friends, a wide variety of guns and ammo, and fun things to shoot with ease. The bad news about this spot though is that it's not very wide. While there's a good enough distance youc an shoot and setup targets, the entire "range" (it feels a bit rangeish) is maybe 50' wide, with the shooting area only 30 or so feet. This really limits the space, and means it's definitely a first come first serve spot. Other problems would appear to be that local yodels like dumping trash there (gross, seriously people!) and it's also where ODOT appears to go to drop off dear who get hit by cars on highway 26, so occasionally there is a smell carcass there.
Another issue with this spot is that it faces towards the aforementioned quary/sandpit... so in theory if some one were back there in the gravel pit you could be shooting at them. However, it would be nearly impossible to get through the 1/8 mile of trees between you and them, and not to mention some elevation change, and it only faces a corner of the quary where most people wouldn't be shooting from. Still, for my own paranoia's, I always look to see if anyone is parked at the gate for the quarry first, before choosing the easy location, and then when I do shoot from there I stop occasionally to listen and check if anyone is at the quarry/sand pit.
If you use this location PLEASE try and leave it cleaner than you found it! It's a great spot but ODOT and the rangers may respond strongly if people keep dumping trash and leaving shot up printer and things out there!
Concerning Shooting on Lolo Pass
Lolo pass is most often the place I'm told by other locals out here to Shoot. I initially checked this with the local ranger station, and the answer is that you SHOULD NOT GO SHOOTING BACK THERE. They don't want you back there, and apparently there is some concern about lead ammo and the shooting locations proximity to bull run (the watershed that provides all of Portland City's drinking water). Whatever the story may be, the Rangers do not want you shooting back there. I can also say from experience driving around up there prior to where they lock the gate... there really isn't much going on up there. You can drive up along the power lines if you have a decent 4x4 and find some random place to plink, but it won't be anything nice. Perhaps some one knows of a spot I don't, but I've been told multiple times now the rangers don't want people shooting off of Lolo pass.
If you have other shooting spots in this area that you want to share, please let me know / share!
