Hardin Butte Trail

Dogs No Dogs

Features Historical Significance · Views · Wildflowers

The trailhead is at the Black Crater parking lot approximately 1,000 feet to the north. There are no amenities and no water at this trailhead. Obtain your visitor pass at the Visitor Center and take plenty of water with you. This hike is not recommended during the summer months.

The Hardin Butte Trail is an old two-track dirt road that intersects the main park road about 1,000 feet south of the Black Crater parking lot. Hike south along the paved park road, looking closely on the left (east) for signs of the old road. There are usually a few boot prints here too. Faint at first, the old road becomes clearly evident within 100 feet or so off the paved road and is then easy to follow all the way to Hardin Butte.

The old road heads due east across country burned by wildfires in 2020 and 2021. But there are signs of returning plant life and even some wildflowers in the Spring. Views are big in all directions, with Schonchin Butte to the south and Mount Dome to the west. After less than two miles, the road will bring you to the south side of the butte. From there it is an easy cross-country climb to its summit. From here you'll have a view to the west of Mount Shasta, Sharp Mountain, Goosenest, and (far to the north) Mount McLoughlin.

You can return the way you came or take a short (less than a mile) cross-country hike to the end of the Thomas-Wright Battlefield Trail and take that back to the Black Crater parking lot.