Mountain climbing in Oregon offers some of the best mountains, trails, rocks, cliffs, and terrain in the world for this activity. Below you will find descriptions of the state's dominant mountain ranges.
Oregon Mountain Ranges
(There are many more, but the largest ranges are listed below).
Running from British Columbia and south into California, the Cascade Mountain Range is the most extensive in the state of Oregon. The range, running through the entire state from north to south, lies approximately 100 to 150 miles inland and helps to create a very unique and agriculturally important weather barrier between the more wet and cool western side of the state and the drier, warmer eastern side. Within this snow-peaked range live the tallest mountains in the state including Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson and the Three Sisters, all classified as volcanoes.
Further west the Coast Range rises into the sky. This system of mountains spans the coast of North America from Southeast Alaska into Baja, California. While in Oregon the Coast Range runs at its lowest elevation beginning at around 1800 feet in the north at the mouth of the Columbia River to the Klamath and Siskiyou Mountains in the south where peaks rise to 3600 feet. Mary's Peak, the highest peak in the Coast Range, tops 4097 feet.
The Wallowa Mountains in northeastern Oregon are home to some of the highest peaks in the state. There is Sacajawea Peak at 9839 feet in elevation, the 9832 feet tall Matterhorn, Aneroid Mountain at 9702 feet and Pete's Point rising 9675 feet in elevation. Throughout the Oregon mountain climbing world, this region is sometimes nicknamed the "Switzerland of North America."
Mountain climbing in Oregon is an awesome experience. You'll get to feel like you're on top of the world when you make it to one of the summits, you may see snow in the middle of summer when you get above the timber line, you'll discover fascinating rock formations on your ascents and beautiful vistas at the top, unique wildlife and plants will greet you as you head up mountain trails barely used by anything else but bear and deer.
