A Mt. Hood Christmas tree permit lets you cut one tree from open areas of the national forest. The Forest Service sets the price, the number of trees per household and the season dates each year, and posts them on its Christmas tree page and on Recreation.gov. Print your permit, bring the cutting map, and plan for winter roads that are never plowed.
Check this season's details first. The Forest Service sets the permit price, the household tree limit, the season dates, and the list of stores and offices selling permits every year. Look them up on the Forest's Christmas tree page or the Recreation.gov listing before you plan your trip.
Buy online at Recreation.gov, from a participating store near the mountain, or at a district office that sells them this season. Online orders carry a service fee.
Print your permit, the cutting guidelines and the cutting map. You need all three with you in the woods.
Use the cutting map to find open areas and plan your route. Many Forest roads are gated or buried in snow in winter.
Choose a tree 15 feet or shorter with another tree growing within 12 feet, then cut the whole tree, leaving a stump of 6 inches or less.
Set the permit on your dashboard where it can be seen while you cut and while you haul the tree off the Forest.
Above roughly 3,200 feet you will find noble fir and Pacific silver fir. Both stay green and keep their needles well, which makes them favorites for a living room. Douglas fir and hemlock grow lower down, but hemlock tends to brown and drop needles quickly.
Before you leave home, measure the height and width of the spot where the tree will stand, and the space in your vehicle. In the woods, carry the tree out instead of dragging it so it keeps its needles and bark. At home, trim a little off the base, stand it in a bucket of water, and keep the water topped up.
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Boughs of Douglas fir, noble fir, Pacific silver fir, hemlock, western red cedar and western white pine make good wreaths and swags. Bough season runs with Christmas tree season. Small amounts for your own home need no permit; the Forest's holiday boughs page lists the current personal limit. Selling boughs, or taking more than that amount, takes a one-day commercial permit from a district office.
The Forest's bough guidelines ask you to:
Cut only from the lower half of trees at least 10 feet tall
Take only the outer half of each branch
Never fell a tree for its boughs
Stay inside areas open for tree cutting and within 25 feet of the centerline of an open Forest road
Carry the guidelines and a Christmas tree map while cutting and hauling
Plan for winter. Forest roads are not plowed, and some are gated for the season. Start early, be heading home before dark, and stay home in blizzards or poor visibility. If a road looks bad, don't drive it. Cell coverage is patchy or absent across much of the Forest, so leave your plans with someone at home and carry a paper map. Check road and weather conditions and current alerts before you leave. Most Mt. Hood sno-parks need an Oregon Sno-Park permit between November 1 and April 30.
The Forest Service sells Mt. Hood Christmas tree permits online through Recreation.gov, through participating stores in towns around the mountain, and at some district offices. Recreation.gov adds a service fee. The Forest's Christmas tree page lists which stores and offices are selling permits this season. Call a store before you go in case it has sold out.
The Forest Service sets the price per tree, and the number of trees each household may cut, every season. Both are posted on the Forest's Christmas tree page and on the Recreation.gov listing once permits go on sale. Each permit covers one tree, and a permit bought online includes a service fee.
A standard Mt. Hood Christmas tree permit covers trees up to 15 feet tall. For a bigger tree, contact your local ranger district, which sells larger trees by the foot. Measure your room and your vehicle before you go so the tree fits both.
No. Christmas tree cutting is not allowed in designated wilderness on Mt. Hood National Forest. It is also off limits in research natural areas, active timber sales, the Bull Run and The Dalles watersheds, Camp Baldwin, and near highways, trails, campgrounds, streams and lakes. The cutting map shows where you can go.
In recent seasons, Mt. Hood National Forest has offered a free Christmas tree permit to fourth graders with an Every Kid Outdoors pass or voucher. Check the Forest's Christmas tree page to see whether the offer is running this year and where to claim it.
Only if you park at a sno-park. Oregon requires a Sno-Park permit in designated winter parking areas, including most Mt. Hood sno-parks, between November 1 and April 30. Your Christmas tree permit is a separate permit and does not cover sno-park parking.
