Five Things You May Not Have Known About Mount Hood

Mount Hood National Forest

Mount Hood is a dormant or “sleeping” volcano with steam constantly spewing from fumarole areas. The eroded volcano has had at least four major eruptive periods during the past 15,000 years, three of which occurred in the last 1,800 years.
Twelve glaciers or snow fields live on Mount Hood. Palmer Glacier, home of Timberline Lodge Ski Area, is the most heavily visited of the glaciers. Glaciers and snowfields cover approximately 80% of Mount Hood.
Mount Hood is known as Wy’east by the Multnomah Tribe. They lived in a series of villages along the Willamette River (present day Portland, Oregon) in the early 19th century.
Scientists believe Mt. Hood could have a significant eruption within the next 75 years. There have been a handful of minor eruptions during the following years – 1804, 1853, 1854, 1859, 1865, and 1907.
On October 29, 1972, the first white men “discovered” the mountain. British Navy Lt. William E. Broughton and his crew (representing King George III) saw it from the Columbia River near the mouth of the Willamette River. Broughton named the peak for famed British naval officer (and later, Admiral) Alexander Arthur Hood (who ironically never saw the mountain in person).