Humbug Mountain – Oregon

June 27th, 2024

Finally, after a canceled trip at the beginning of Covid, back in Spring 2020, we finally made it out to Oregon to visit family and explore this incredibly beautiful state. With limited time and a full schedule of things to do (besides hiking mountains), we had settled on Humbug Mountain as the one family climb we could all do safely and that wasn’t too far from where we were staying in Bandon. It was also going to satisfy our goal to explore some old growth forests, which this coastal mountain has in abundance! Even the drive itself down the 101 would be beautiful with the all the rugged coastal views along the way, and with a beautiful sunny day in the forecast, what more could we possibly have asked for?

The four of us arrived at the trailhead around noon and saw the sign posted that the east loop was closed due to debris from storms, so we figured it would be simple to just backtrack on the way down, which is exactly what we did. The start of the trail is wide and nicely maintained, and you are immediately immersed in the beauty and aroma of an old growth forest. Just absolutely stunning. We don’t have these kinds of forests where we’re from, so for us, it’s like stepping into a magical world.

Typical of west coast mountain trails, this was an endless series of switchbacks with varying degrees of steepness and path widths. For the most part, it’s a straightforward hike, though it’s classified as “hard” on AllTrails… personally, I didn’t feel it was especially challenging, but who knows how the difficulty rankings are determined. One thing to note, if you are afraid of heights, as my partner is, she made it clear that the sense of danger can be quite strong along this path in many sections. From my perspective, I wouldn’t consider this a hike with exposure, but I do see how the long steep slopes beside the trail could feel intimidating. If you did trip and fall, I don’t think you would tumble too far before being tangled up in vegetation though. So just a heads up.

Besides Renee dealing with some height anxiety, the trip up this incredibly beautiful trail was straightforward and the occasional views of the ocean through the trees made it a hike like none I have done before. Honestly, the environment was so unique and special, it has to be one of the most beautiful hikes I’ve ever done. I don’t know if Humbug is especially unique, or that most hikes along the west coast would be like this, but if this is all new to you and you are in this area, then you can’t go wrong hiking up this mountain.

It took us about an hour and forty five minutes to get to the top where you are finally treated with the epic full view of the Oregon coast line and Pacific ocean. It’s so beautiful it’s almost like something out of a movie or dream. Of course, photos will not do it justice, but I did my best to try and capture the incredible scenery. And this is probably where my son, Ocean, was kicking himself the most for forgetting to bring his DSLR camera on the hike.

After spending a good amount of time enjoying the peak, we decided it was time to head back down. Again, it was a straightforward affair backtracking down the trail and by about the 3 hour mark we were back at the parking lot. For me, it was somewhat bittersweet as I knew this was the last adventure we were going to have on this trip before returning home. I often wonder on trips like this if it’s the last time or simply the first time… here’s hoping it was just the first time and more will come.