
Diamond Peak is not a technically challenging climb but it’s a good idea to approach the task with a GPS app, because the mountain is a notoriously good place to get lost.
No great mountaineering skills are required to reach the summit, but you’d better be in good shape and have a knack for route-finding
By WILLIAM L. SULLIVAN/Special to The Herald
When Eugene pioneer John Diamond was scouting an Oregon Trail shortcut across the Cascade Range in 1852, he climbed to the best viewpoint he could find and named it after himself.
The wagon route he blazed past 8,744-foot Diamond Peak proved to be so sketchy that the 1,027 pioneers who tried to follow it the next year became known as the Lost Wagon Train.
Today it’s still possible to become bewildered at Diamond’s peak. There is no trail to the top. The top itself is a confusing collection of five different summits.

From Diamond Peak’s true summit, views unfold north across distant Waldo Lake to the Three Sisters, Mount Jefferson and the tip of Mount Hood.
But not everyone who wanders here is lost. Even beginning hikers can follow a well-marked trail to Marie and Rockpile lakes, a pair of lovely pools at the base of the mountain. That route is usually blocked by snow until early July, and then bedeviled by mosquitoes until early August, but after that the flowers and views are terrific.
And adventurers can indeed reach the summit. No technical skills or rock-climbing gear are required — just lots of stamina and a knack for route-finding.
If you simply can’t wait for summer, there’s even a tradition among winter adventurers to snowshoe to the summit on May 1. For that challenge you’d need serious survival gear and really good weather.
Whenever you go, don’t start at the obvious Pacific Crest Trailhead at Willamette Pass, because then the trek is simply too long. Instead begin at the little-known Rockpile Trailhead on the mountain’s southwest flank.
The Rockpile Trail sets out through a forest of lodgepole pine, mountain hemlock and subalpine fir, all festooned with gray-green streamers of witch’s hair lichen. This lichen is proof of the area’s clean air. Because the lichen gathers all of its nutrients from the rain and the air, not from the trees, it quickly overdoses and dies in the presence of air pollution.
Blue huckleberries ripen along this lower part of the trail throughout August.

A summertime hike to Diamond Peak takes hikers past small alpine lakes offering shallows where wading is safe and refreshing.
After 1.3 miles, go straight at an X-shaped junction. In the next mile the trail climbs alongside Diamond Rockpile, a rocky ridge. Like Diamond Peak, it was named for John Diamond. Nearby Pioneer Gulch and Emigrant Pass also honor the frontier route he scouted.
At the 2.1-mile mark the path crests at a viewpoint overlooking Summit Lake and a string of Cascade peaks (from left to right, Cowhorn Mountain, Sawtooth Mountain, and the spire of Mount Thielsen). Then the trail descends 0.4 mile to a T-shaped junction at the edge of a heather meadow.
First explore left 0.2 mile to Marie Lake. The lake’s near end is shallow, with a small beach where kids can wade.
Climbers Must Make Crucial Decision at Trail ‘Corner’
Then backtrack 0.2 mile to the trail junction, continue straight 0.1 mile to a rock cairn, and detour 0.1 mile to the right to Rockpile Lake — small, but deep and green. Plenty of flat campsites are around to the left, on the lake’s far side.
If you’re not yet ready to return to the car, hike back to the cairn marking the Rockpile Lake junction, turn right for half a mile to an X-shaped junction, and turn left on the Pacific Crest Trail.
The PCT offers glimpses ahead to Diamond Peak, but the first good viewpoint south to Summit Lake and Mount Thielsen comes after 1.2 miles, when the PCT turns a corner to the right on an open, rocky ridge. If you have a global positioning (GPS) app on your phone, the location here is 43.5045 -122.1424. Note this trail “corner” well, because it is here that climbers face the decision of leaving trails behind.
If the weather is at all doubtful, or if someone in your group is not in top condition, or if you don’t have a global positioning app to guarantee you can find this exact spot on the way down, don’t attempt to climb Diamond Peak. You can enjoy the timberline scenery almost as well by continuing a mile on the PCT to the trail’s high point, in bouldery meadows beneath the summit cliffs.
If you’re headed for the top, however, walk 50 feet past the PCT’s “corner” viewpoint. At a rock cairn, leave the trail and veer left up the rocky, open ridge.

If the weather is at all doubtful, or if someone in your group is not in top condition, or if you don’t have a global positioning app to guarantee you can find this exact spot on the way down, don’t attempt to climb Diamond Peak.
Cairns help guide you as far as the timberline. Then simply continue straight up, crossing rock fields, loose sand and some snow patches for a mile to what appears to be the mountain’s summit.
It’s actually a false summit, 0.4 mile from your goal. Ahead lies the trickiest part of the climb — a rocky hogback ridge with three “gendarmes,” rock spires blocking the crest. Use your hands and lots of caution to work your way around these obstacles.
Then slog up a cinder pile to Diamond Peak’s true summit, where views unfold north across distant Waldo Lake to the Three Sisters, Mount Jefferson and the tip of Mount Hood.
An Easy Place to Lose Your Way
The biggest danger of the descent is the risk of missing the “corner” where you left the Pacific Crest Trail. Mountain climbers rarely become lost on the way up. When descending, however, missing the correct direction by a few degrees can leave you miles from your car.
From the false summit, head straight toward Summit Lake and pointy Mount Thielsen. If you end up in deep forest on a gentle slope, you’ve gone too far to the right (the west). This is when it’s important to have a GPS app so you can track your location by satellite.
Since the Lost Wagon Train’s difficulties here in 1853, Diamond Peak has suffered from a reputation as an easy place to become lost. But John Diamond was right to boast about the magnificent, map-like view from the top. And for those in the know, his peak remains the perfect spot to find a mountain getaway.
GETTING THERE:
To find the Rockpile Trailhead from Oakridge, drive Highway 58 east 1.8 miles and turn right at a “Hills Creek Dam” sign between mileposts 37 and 38. After half a mile bear right onto Road 21 and follow this paved route 29.2 miles.
Beyond Indigo Springs Campground 0.4 mile, turn left on gravel Pioneer Gulch Road 2149 for 3.5 miles, and then turn right on Rockpile Road 2160 for 2.3 miles. Ignore the Pioneer Gulch Trailhead and continue to a sign on the left marking the Rockpile Trail.
Park on the road’s wide, right-hand shoulder 200 feet beyond. Then walk back to start the hike. If you have a global positioning system (GPS) app, the location at the trailhead is 43.4836 -122.1768.
PARKING FEES: None.
MAXIMUM GROUP SIZE: 12.
William L. Sulllivan is the author of 21 books, including “The Ship in the Sand” and the updated “100 Hikes” series for Oregon. Learn more at www.oregonhiking.com.