Hager Mountain is a volcanic peak in Oregon in the northwest corner of the Basin and Range Province in the United States. The mountain is located south of the small unincorporated community of

Silver Lake Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

in south-central Oregon, and it is in the Fremont–Winema National Forest. On the summit, there is a fire lookout operated during the summer and fall by the United States Forest Service. There are several hiking trails that lead to the lookout station.

Geography and geology

Hager Mountain is located on the edge of Oregon's high desert in the northwest corner of the Basin and Range Province of the western United States. The mountain is in Lake County, approximately south of the small unincorporated community of Silver Lake. The summit of Hager Mountain is at . The mountain's topographic prominence is . Hager Mountain is a large silicic

lava dome In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions on ...

structure that was formed approximately 5.9 million years ago. The mountain's primary rock is from the Hayes Butte Basalt flows. The eruptions that produced these flows came from a fault zone running southeast–northwest between Hager Mountain and Hayes Butte. The eruptions that created Hager Mountain released lava that flowed down the slopes of the volcanic dome onto plains around the mountain. The Hayes Butte Basalt overlays the ''Fort Rock Formation'' and earlier ''Picture Rock Basalt'' layers. All of these lava flows occurred during the Pliocene epoch. The Hayes Butte Basalt flows that form Hager occurred near the end of that epoch.Hampton, Eugene R.
''Geologic Factors That Control the Occurrence and Availability of Ground Water in the Fort Rock Basin: Lake County, Oregon''
(PDF), United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 383-B, United States Geological Survey (in cooperation with the Oregon State Engineer), United States Department of Interior, United States Printing Office, Washington, District of Columbia, 1964, p. B-11. When exposed on the surface, Hayes Butte Basalt generally weathers into a thin and rocky soil. Today, Hager Mountain's soil is a loose, unconsolidated mix of fine alluvial particles, gravel, and a variety of larger rock fragments. Common surface rocks include basalt, andesite, pumice, and

obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...

Environment and ecology

Hager Mountain lies east of the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

in the northwestern corner of North America's basin and range environment. To the west, ponderosa and lodgepole pine forest extends to the timberline on the Cascade peaks, approximately away. The areas north and east of the mountain are drier, typical high-desert country."Fremont National Recreation Trail #160 - Northern"
Fremont National Forest, United States Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Lakeview, Oregon, 10 December 2014.Oregon topographic map
United States Geological Survey, United States Department of Interior, Reston, Virginia; displayed via ACME mapper, ''www.acme.com'', 22 December 2014. The middle and lower slopes of Hager Mountain are covered in a pine forest with an understory dominated by

low sagebrush ''Artemisia arbuscula'' is a North American species of sagebrush (plant), sagebrush known by the common names little sagebrush, low sagebrush, or black sagebrush. It is native to the western United States from Washington (U.S. state), Washington, ...

. Other understory shrubs include curl-leaf mountain mahogany, and

antelope bitterbrush ''Purshia tridentata'', with the common name bitterbrush, is a shrub in the genus ''Purshia'' of the family Rosaceae. It is native to mountainous areas of western North America. Common names include antelope bitterbrush, antelope bush, buckbrus ...

. Low groundcover plants include Indian paintbrush, yellow balsamroots, nineleaf biscuitroot, scabland fleabane, woolly sunflower,

common yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

, low pussytoes, and slender phlox. Common grasses on the mountain include

Idaho fescue ''Festuca idahoensis'' is a species of grass known by the common names Idaho fescue and blue bunchgrass. It is native to western North America, where it is widespread and common. It can be found in many ecosystems, from shady forests to open plai ...

, bluebunch wheatgrass,

wild rye Wild rye is a common name used for several grasses. Wild ryes belong to any of three genera: * '' Elymus'' (wheatgrasses) * ''Leymus ''Leymus'' is a genus of plants in the grass family Poaceae (Gramineae). It is widespread across Europe, Asia, ...

prairie junegrass ''Koeleria macrantha'' is a species of grass known by the common name prairie Junegrass in North America and crested hair-grass in the UK. It is widespread across much of Eurasia and North America. It occurs in many habitat types, especially prai ...

. A few

western juniper ''Juniperus occidentalis'', known as the western juniper, is a shrub or tree native to the Western United States, growing in mountains at altitudes of and rarely down to . It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List because it is a widesp ...

s grow on the lower slopes on the northeast side of the mountain.Sullivan, William L., "Hager Mountain", ''100 Hikes: Travel Guide Eastern Oregon'' (Second Edition), Navillus Press, Eugene, Oregon, 2008.Hill, Sean Patrick
"Hager Mountain"
''Oregon Hiking: The Complete Guide to More Than 490 Hikes'', Berkeley, California, 2010, pp. 380–381. Hager Mountain and the surrounding area host a wide variety of wildlife. Larger mammals found in the area include black-tailed deer,

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

s, black bear,

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...

s, and

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mamm ...

s. Smaller mammals include American badgers,

porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family, Erethizont ...

striped skunk The striped skunk (''Mephitis mephitis'') is a skunk of the genus '' Mephitis'' that occurs across much of North America, including southern Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico. It is currently listed as least concern by the IUCN on ac ...

s, black-tailed jackrabbits,

white-tailed jackrabbit The white-tailed jackrabbit (''Lepus townsendii''), also known as the prairie hare and the white jack, is a species of hare found in western North America. Like all hares and rabbits, it is a member of the family Leporidae of order Lagomorpha ...

pygmy rabbit The pygmy rabbit (''Brachylagus idahoensis'') is a rabbit species native to the United States. It is also the only native rabbit species in North America to dig its own burrow. The pygmy rabbit differs significantly from species within either the ...

golden-mantled ground squirrel The golden-mantled ground squirrel (''Callospermophilus lateralis'') is a ground squirrel native to western North America. It is distributed in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia and Alberta, and through much of the western United States. ...

s, and

least chipmunk The least chipmunk (''Neotamias minimus'') is the smallest species of chipmunk and the most widespread in North America. Description It is the smallest species of chipmunk, measuring about in total length with a weight of . The body is gray to ...

s."Wildlife list for Silver Creek"
, ''Oregon Wildlife Explorer'', National Resources Digital Library, Oregon State University Libraries, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, accessed 10 December 2014. Forest birds common to the Hager Mountain area include mountain chickadee,

Lazuli bunting The lazuli bunting (''Passerina amoena'') is a North American songbird named for the gemstone lapis lazuli. Description Measurements: * Length: 5.1-5.9 in (13-15 cm) * Weight: 0.5-0.6 oz (13-18 g) * Wingspan: 8.7 in (22 cm) The male i ...

green-tailed towhee The green-tailed towhee (''Pipilo chlorurus'') is the smallest towhee, but is still one of the larger members of the American sparrow family Passerellidae. Its breeding range covers most of the interior Western United States, with a winter range ...

, MacGillivray's warbler, white-crowned sparrow,

sage sparrow Sage sparrow was the name of a species of sparrow that has since been reclassified as two species: * Sagebrush sparrow, ''Artemisiospiza nevadensis'' * Bell's sparrow, ''Artemisiospiza belli'' {{Animal common name Birds by common name ...

, black-headed grosbeak,

Woodhouse's scrub jay Woodhouse's scrub jay (''Aphelocoma'' ''woodhouseii''), is a species of scrub jay native to western North America, ranging from southeastern Oregon and southern Idaho to central Mexico. Woodhouse's scrub jay was until recently considered the sam ...

, Pinyon jay, and

black-billed magpie The black-billed magpie (''Pica hudsonia''), also known as the American magpie, is a bird in the corvid family found in the western half of North America. It is black and white, with black areas on the wings and tail showing iridescent hints o ...

. There are also at least three woodpecker species that live on or near Hager Mountain, including the

black-backed woodpecker The black-backed woodpecker (''Picoides arcticus''), also known as the Arctic three-toed woodpecker, is a medium-sized woodpecker ( long) inhabiting the forests of North America. Taxonomy The black-backed woodpecker was described and illustrat ...

white-headed woodpecker The white-headed woodpecker (''Leuconotopicus albolarvatus'') is a non-migratory woodpecker that resides in pine forests of the mountains of western North America. Description It has a black body (approximately long) and white head. It has whit ...

, and Lewis's woodpecker. Larger birds found in the area include

barn owl The barn owl (''Tyto alba'') is the most widely distributed species of owl in the world and one of the most widespread of all species of birds, being found almost everywhere except for the polar and desert regions, Asia north of the Himalaya ...

great gray owl The great grey owl (''Strix nebulosa'') (also great gray owl in American English) is a very large owl, documented as the world's largest species of owl by length. It is distributed across the Northern Hemisphere, and it is the only species in th ...

s, great horned owls, red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, golden eagles, and

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

History

The Klamath people of south-central Oregon called the mountain ''Chock-chock-lisk-se'', meaning "bald faced rock." Some early maps of the area show the mountain as ''Bald Mountain''. However, early settlers called it ''Hagerhorst Mountain'', after a pioneer rancher who lived just north of the mountain in the Silver Lake Valley. Over the years, the name was shortened to Hager."Hager Mountain Lookout"
Region 6, United States Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Portland, Oregon, 20 August 2014. The United States Forest Service built a fire lookout on Hager Mountain and began manning it full-time in 1915. The original lookout was replaced with a new structure in 1954. The current lookout is a by one-room cabin with large glass windows on all four sides. From it, the forest guard has a 360 degree view of the surrounding landscape. The Forest Service mans the lookout from June through October each year. There is a dirt road leading to the summit. The road is used only by the lookout on duty; it is not open to the public.

Recreation

In the summer, recreation opportunities in the Hager Mountain area include hiking, horseback riding,

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

, bird watching,

wildlife viewing Wildlife observation is the practice of noting the occurrence or abundance of animal species at a specific location and time, either for research purposes or recreation. Common examples of this type of activity are bird watching and whale watching ...

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

, camping, and photography. In the winter,

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

and

snowshoeing Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footwe ...

are the most popular activities on Hager Mountain. Weather conditions on the mountain can change rapidly, especially in the winter. As a result, visitors enjoying winter activities need to check weather forecasts before setting out on any of the Hager Mountain trails."Hager Mountain Lookout"
''Recreation.gov'' (representing 12 federal agencies including the Army Corps of Engineers, United States Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and Fish and Wildlife Service), ''www.recreation.gov'', Ballston Spa, New York, 19 August 2014. There are three day-hike trails that lead to the summit of Hager Mountain, in addition to the Fremont National Recreation Trail. The easiest trail is a roundtrip from the road gate on the west side of the mountain. It has an elevation gain of and is normally open from June through mid-November. The second trail is a little more challenging. The route covers each way. The trailhead is located on the northwest side of the mountain, just off Forest Road 012. This trail has an elevation gain of . The longest trail is an roundtrip hike. The trailhead departs from Forest Road 28 near milepost 9 on the east side of the mountain. The elevation gain along this trail is . The two longer trails merge about halfway to the summit and then link to the Fremont National Recreation Trail a short distance later. The Fremont trail leads to Fremont Point and Winter Rim, approximately southeast of the trail junction. From the lookout station on the summit of Hager Mountain, visitors have an excellent view of Cascade peaks to the west as well as the high-desert country of northern Lake County to the north and east. Visitors can see as far north as

Mount Hood Mount Hood is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It was formed by a subduction zone on the Pacific coast and rests in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located about east-southeast of Portlan ...

and as far south as Mount Shasta from Hager's summit. A Forest Service guard lives on-site at the Hager Mountain lookout during the summer wildfire season. However, the public is able to visit the lookout during this period. After the fire season is over, the lookout can be rented by the public for recreational purposes from November through May. The lookout has a wood stove for heating the building, along with a propane cooking stove and a propane refrigerator. There is a single bed and three sleeping cots. Outside, there is a picnic table and an outhouse with a vault-type toilet. There is no drinking water at the site.Richard, Terry
"Look out for fire atop Hager Mountain"
''The Oregonian'', Portland, Oregon, 5 June 2009.

References

External links

"Hager Mountain lookout"
Fremont National Forest.
"Hager Mountain Lookout Recreation Rental"
* {{Volcanoes of Oregon , state=collapsed Fire lookout towers in Oregon Mountains of Lake County, Oregon Landmarks in Oregon Mountains of Oregon Volcanoes of Oregon Landforms of Lake County, Oregon Volcanoes of the United States Lava domes