Townsend’s chipmunk is the largest chipmunk in Oregon, and a dark, dull-colored one that suits the shady forests of the Cascades’ west slope. Like other chipmunks it has stripes on both the back and the face: five dark and four light stripes down the body, and alternating dark and light stripes across the cheeks. A white patch sits behind each ear, and the bushy tail is black at the tip and frosted along the edges with pale-tipped hairs.
This is a shy chipmunk. It tends to stay in shadow or under thick brush and is heard more often than seen, giving alarm calls that warn nearby chipmunks of danger. When you do see one, it is often sitting on a stump, log or low branch. It lives in old-growth forest and also in clearcuts once young trees and shrubs have grown back.
Townsend’s chipmunks eat a lot of underground fungi, especially in winter, and spread the spores in their droppings, which can help keep forest soils healthy. In summer they add berries such as salal and thimbleberries, and in fall they gather seeds and nuts, carrying food in their cheek pouches to burrows that can run up to about 30 feet. At higher, snowy elevations they hibernate through the winter.
On Mt. Hood, watch and listen for them along forested trails on the west side of the mountain from spring through fall.
How to identify it
A large, dark chipmunk, about 9 to 15 inches long including the tail. Five dark and four light stripes on the back in muted tones, and alternating dark and light stripes on the face. White throat and belly, a white patch behind the ear, and a bushy tail tipped in black and frosted with pale hairs.
Look-alikes
Golden-mantled ground squirrels, common on the east slope of the Cascades, have a white side stripe bordered in black but no stripes on the face. The yellow-pine chipmunk, which lives east of the crest in ponderosa pine country, is one of Oregon's smallest chipmunks and has a nearly white outer stripe.
Habitat
Dense conifer and mixed forests, often near streams and in shrubby cover, including old-growth stands and regrowing clearcuts. In Oregon it lives on the west slope of the Cascades in Clackamas, Linn and Lane counties.
Sightings in the forest
302 research-grade sightings in Mt. Hood National Forest on iNaturalist, most recently on October 22, 2026. See them on iNaturalist →