The rough-skinned newt is a salamander that hikers often meet out in the open, crossing trails and roads during its spring and fall migrations. Unlike most salamanders, which have smooth, moist skin, it has dry, grainy skin. Its back is dark to reddish brown and its belly is bright orange to yellow. Adults reach about 8 inches long.
That bright belly is a warning. The newt’s skin, muscles, blood and eggs contain tetrodotoxin, a powerful nerve poison, and one study estimated that the skin of a single newt holds enough to kill thousands of mice. When threatened, a newt may arch its back, close its eyes and curl its tail up to flash its orange underside. Most predators leave it alone, but common garter snakes in many areas have evolved resistance and eat them, and river otters have been seen preying on them in Oregon.
Newts spend much of the year on land, sheltering in or under soft, rotting logs. They travel surprisingly far to breed in ponds, lakes and slow stream edges, where males grow smoother skin, a flattened tail and rough pads on their feet for gripping females.
They live in forests from the coast to the eastern foothills of the Cascades.
How to identify it
A stocky brown newt up to about 8 inches long with dry, granular skin, a dark to reddish brown back and a yellow to orange belly. The eyes have yellowish irises and dark lower lids. Breeding males in water have smoother, baggy-looking skin and a flattened tail.
Look-alikes
Most other salamanders in the forest have smooth, moist skin. The rough-skinned newt's dry, pebbly skin and orange belly set it apart.
Habitat
Conifer and mixed forests and woodlands near breeding water, from the coast to the eastern Cascade foothills and from sea level to high elevations. It breeds in ponds, lakes and quiet stream edges; at higher elevations breeding can run into summer and fall.
Photos
Sightings in the forest
402 research-grade sightings in Mt. Hood National Forest on iNaturalist, most recently on November 3, 2026. See them on iNaturalist →