Chapter 6: Seattle to Mount Hood:
Updated July 2022
Bus schedules change often so it's useless to post times that will inevitably change. Here are the pertinent bus systems; see links page for current timetables.
This transit sequence gives you access to the Mount Hood Wilderness, Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness, and Columbia Wilderness. Note that this sequence of light rail and buses all the way up to Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood... runs every day of the year except Thanksgiving and Christmas—several times a day! Portlanders use it to go skiing, or mountain biking (all the buses involved tow extensive bike racks, and there are extensive bike trails between Portland and Hood).
Alternatively, if strapped for cash, one could take the Packwood cheapo schedule from Seatle to Centralia and then pick up Amtrak the rest of the way. There's still a lack of public transit between Centralia and the greater Portland area.
from transit to trailhead: When you disembark Mount Hood Express (MHX) in the Timberline Lodge parking lot, you walk around a building, and there’s the PCT trailhead. Five minutes, if you stroll. Ten, if you mosey.
from trailhead onward: You could do a loop of Mount Hood, and take the reverse sequence of buses back to Portland. You could go in a day or two, park your butt for a while, then head back out the same way you came in. Or head north on the PCT all the way to the Columbia River (check the mileage: it’s a long trip, but it is all downhill...). Taking the Eagle Creek Trail would also be an option; you’ll reach the river only about two miles west of the stop at Cascade Locks. (Note: CGE makes only 5 stops between Hood River and Portland—make sure you know beforehand exactly where the posted stops are.) It’s worth noting that buses run on the other side of the river as well—but they have a fairly limited schedule—both in days of operation, and in daily frequency. But, still, trot out onto the Bridge of the Gods and gawk like a tourist anyway.