Hiking Saddle Mountain - Best Hike Near Seaside Oregon!

Today we are going to show you the views from the Saddle Mountain Hike in the Saddle Mountain State Natural Area near Seaside, OR. The Best Hike near Seaside Oregon.
First we will have a quick detour to the Humbug Mountain view point just a few hundred yards from the start.
I did this hike on a hazy hot Saturday at around noon. You can see the clouds rolling in from the coast. Some of this may have been smoke from the wildfires but it is hard to tell. The views were a bit subdued today but the weather was generally nice. The first mile and a half of this trail was calm and dead quiet. Once you got above the trees the wind started picking up but it was nothing exceptional.
Alltrails lists this as a black trail with lots of warnings about the wire fencing used to hold back the loose rock.
This wire fence makes it really easy for hiking but could hurt your doggos feet if they take a wrong step. I saw plenty of people on the hike with their dogs that didn’t have issues but I see how they could.
There are no hard features on this trail. In fact the hardest feature was avoiding people who decided to hike this trail in flip flops… please put some shoes on before attempting… like any shoes… even ballet slippers are better than flip flops
This trail has a 1640 foot rise in elevation in about 2.5 miles. It is an out and back so this hike will be about 5 miles. My hike was 5.54 miles and had 1769 feet of elevation according to Strava.
Saddle Mountain is the tallest mountain in Clatsop County and is believed to have served as a refuge for many plant species during the last ice age.
Some of the rarest and oldest species of wildflowers can be found on top of Saddle Mountain. This is why it’s important to stick to the trail. You may find the Saddle Mountain Bittercress, and Early Blue Violet which are found almost no where else. If you are lucky you may even see a threatened silverspot butterfly or a Copes Giant Salamander.
Highway Commission obtained the access road right-of-way in the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed the 7 mile road from the Sunset Highway to the base of the Saddle Mountain. They also built the trail to the top of the mountain. In the early 1950s, primitive camping facilities were added.
At the time of my hike the facilities and camping was closed and everything was fairly overgrown.
The summit is at 3290 feet and is fenced in. From there you can see where the Columbia river reaches the Pacific… If you look closely you may be able to see the ghost ship Inferno off the coast of Astoria. (Insert “Hey You Guys” clip)
I hope you enjoyed the views from this hike. Please get out there and do some exploring.