Summer

Common Merganser Mergus merganser Feb – Nov A long, slim diving duck of clear mountain rivers and lakes. Males are white with a green head; females are gray with… Common Raccoon Procyon lotor Mar – Aug, Oct The masked, ring-tailed night visitor of lower forests and campgrounds. Never feed one, and store food and trash securely. Common Raven Corvus corax Year-round The big black bird croaking over Mt. Hood's ridges all year, known for its intelligence, aerial play and wedge-shaped tail. Common Snowberry Symphoricarpos albus Apr – Dec A low, twiggy shrub whose round white berries hang on bare branches all winter. The berries are not for people to eat. Common Woolly Sunflower Eriophyllum lanatum May – Aug A silvery, woolly-leaved wildflower covered in golden daisies, better known as Oregon sunshine, that brightens dry, rocky ground in summer. Common Yarrow Achillea millefolium Apr – Oct An aromatic wildflower with feathery leaves and flat-topped clusters of tiny white flower heads, found in sunny ground from trailheads to high… Conifer Chicken of the Woods Laetiporus conifericola Aug – Oct Big, bright orange shelves with lemon-yellow pores that grow in overlapping clusters on conifer trunks, stumps and logs from late summer into… Cornflower Centaurea cyanus May – Jun A blue-flowered annual from the Mediterranean that now grows wild on roadsides, fields and other disturbed ground at low elevations. Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis Apr – Oct A small, hooded forest sparrow with white outer tail feathers that flash as it flies up from the ground. Common in Mt.… Devil’s Club Oplopanax horridus Apr – Oct A tall shrub armed with spines from stem to leaf vein, with huge maple-like leaves and bright red berries, crowding wet ground… Douglas-fir Pseudotsuga menziesii Jan – Nov Oregon's state tree and the main big conifer in Mt. Hood's lower forests. Its hanging cones have three-pointed bracts poking out between… Douglas’s Ground Squirrel Otospermophilus douglasii Mar – Sep A big, speckled gray-brown ground squirrel with a bushy tail that lives in burrow colonies in open ground and loves to perch… Douglas’s Squirrel Tamiasciurus douglasii Apr – Nov A small, loud tree squirrel of conifer forests that scolds hikers from the branches and leaves big piles of stripped cone scales. Dunn’s Salamander Plethodon dunni Mar – Jun, Oct – Jan A large, dark woodland salamander with a tan to greenish back stripe, found under rocks along shaded forest streams. It has no… Eastern Fox Squirrel Sciurus niger Jan – Apr, Jul, Sep – Nov A large, orange-tinged tree squirrel from the eastern US, brought west and now common in Oregon towns and orchards. Here it is… Echo Azure Celastrina echo Apr – Jul A small, pale blue butterfly of streams and shrubby trail edges, flying from late winter into fall. Its underside is chalky gray… Elk Cervus canadensis Feb, May – Jun, Aug – Sep, Nov Oregon's biggest member of the deer family. Roosevelt elk live west of the Cascade crest and Rocky Mountain elk east of it. Fairy Slipper Calypso bulbosa Apr – Jun A small pink orchid of shady conifer forests, with one leaf and one slipper-shaped flower that blooms in spring. Fireweed Chamaenerion angustifolium Jun – Sep A tall wildflower with spikes of rose-purple blooms, and one of the first plants to return after a forest fire. Forest Creek Campground Forest Creek Campground sits on the historic Barlow Road, where pioneers once watered their stock, with creek fishing and vault toilets. Fringe Cups Tellima grandiflora Apr – Jun A shade-loving wildflower with tall, slender spikes of small cup-shaped flowers whose petals are cut into fine fringes. Frog Lake Campground A somewhat rustic campground and day-use area at the north end of Frog Lake, off Highway 26, with lake fishing, canoeing and… Frog Lake Day Use May – Sep A day-use area at Frog Lake Campground off US Highway 26 east of Government Camp, good for picnics, fishing, and canoeing on… Golden Chinquapin Chrysolepis chrysophylla Apr – Nov An evergreen relative of oaks and chestnuts whose leaves are dusted gold underneath and whose spiny burs take two years to ripen.