Trillium Lake with Mount Hood
— — the mountain doubled, the morning the water goes flat.
Not only on a wall.
“A small reservoir at the southern foot of Mount Hood, about sixty road miles east of Portland. The lake is shallow and shaped to hold the mountain in its mirror: on a calm morning Hood stands at 11,249 feet above the water and again, upside down, in the water. The reservoir was made in 1960 by a small earthen dam on Mud Creek and runs to about 63 acres. Motorboats are not allowed, which is why mornings stay glassy. A loop trail of just under two miles circles the shore through hemlock and fir.
Trillium Lake with Mount Hood, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Trillium Lake is a small reservoir in the Mount Hood National Forest, about three miles south of Government Camp off U.S. Highway 26. It was created in 1960 by a low earthen dam on Mud Creek, on the site of an earlier wet meadow, and covers about 63 acres at roughly 3,600 feet of elevation. Mount Hood, an 11,249-foot stratovolcano and the tallest peak in Oregon, rises directly to the north and is reflected in the lake on still mornings. The reservoir is named for the white trillium wildflower common in the surrounding forest in late spring.
The classic reflection lands at first light, when the surface is still cold and the wind hasn't started. Wind picks up most days as the sun warms the upper slopes of Mount Hood and air starts moving downslope across the lake, usually by mid-morning. The two best vantages are the dam at the south end, which gives a clean centered view of the peak, and a small clearing on the southwest shore reached by the loop trail. In late September and October, the surrounding hemlock and Douglas fir take on darker color and the air goes cold quickly after sunset.
The trailhead and day-use area are off Forest Road 2656, about a mile and a half south of Highway 26 near milepost 56. A Northwest Forest Pass or an interagency pass is required to park. The Trillium Lake Loop is just under two miles around the shore on a mostly flat path that includes boardwalk over wet sections. Motorboats are not permitted; canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards are. The Forest Service campground has 57 sites and is typically open mid-May through late September, with the access road closed and snow-covered in winter for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.