Table Mountain from Bonneville Hot Springs

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This fun 8.5-ish mile trail will take you through easy forest trails, up an intense incline to a little boulder field and rewards you with absolutely stunning views of the gorge and surrounding peaks. The trip down requires a lot of focus as you descend steep, loose rocks but no matter how difficult this trail gets, it is beyond worth the effort.

Parking for the trailhead is located behind the Bonneville Hot Springs Resort (there is a yellow sign in the dirt lot behind it that says hiker parking here). Parking costs $10 and can be paid at the front desk inside the hotel.

Starting from the dirt lot behind the Bonneville Hot Springs Resort, head towards the trailhead. You'll follow the trail to Carpenter Meadow for about a mile before reaching the meadow itself, at which point you'll veer north on the PCT bypass trail. The trail runs above Cedar Creek and has a steady but not too intense incline at this point. After a little more than a mile on the trail, you'll join up with the actual PCT for about a quarter mile before coming to a fork.

Now, you can make your own choices here, but I highly recommend doing the loop counterclockwise and heading right at the fork, a.k.a. heartbreak ridge. I assume it's called that because within 5 minutes of that trail, I was so tired I was no longer thinking about my unrequited love and was just kind of thinking about breathing and drinking water. You bust out the worst of it in the first half mile though (ranging from 25% - 40% grade). You then get a little more level for a bit and start getting some views of the south face between the trees. You'll dip back into the forest and continue on before reaching a fun little boulder field! The rocks here aren't huge and are pretty loose, so use caution and triple-check your footing before putting your full weight down. The field itself stretches maybe half a mile, if that, and is a fun little scramble up.

Back into forest for the last .25 miles before you'll reach where it opens up at the top! Turn right to go to the overlook that is absolutely unmissable! Keep a close eye on dogs and kiddos as the drop off is sheer to say the least. The views of the south face and river gorge are absolutely stunning. Rumor has it that you can also get some great views of Hood, Mt. St. Helens, and some of the other peaks but it was foggy when I was there so I can neither confirm nor deny these claims.

Head back to where you reached the summit and continue straight (left at the point you came up) across the flat top. You'll reach the north face and follow that somewhat closely on your way down. Once you start descending, you'll be doing nothing but that for about a mile - mostly across loose rock that isn't quite scree so not easy to plunge step but isn't boulders so they shift easily underfoot. Take it slow. The trail remains steep when it re-enters the forest but becomes much chiller when you join back up with the PCT. Follow the PCT to close the loop and retrace your steps back to the parking lot.

You did it!! Congrats!