[8] The odds of an eruption in the next 30 years are estimated at between 3 and 7%, so the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) characterizes it as "potentially active", but the mountain is informally considered dormant.

[9] Timberline Lodge is a National Historic Landmark located on the southern flank of Mount Hood just below Palmer Glacier, with an elevation of about 6,000 ft (1,800 m).

They total over 4,600 acres (7.2 sq mi; 19 km2) of skiable terrain; Timberline, with one lift having a base at nearly 6,940 ft (2,120 m), offers the only year-round lift-served skiing in North America.

Those include the Coopers Spur, Cairn Basin, and McNeil Point shelters as well as the Tilly Jane A-frame cabin.

[19] In one version of Balch's story, the two sons of the Great Spirit Sahale fell in love with the beautiful maiden Loowit, who could not decide which to choose.

The mountain sits partly inside the reservation of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, which comprises multiple languages including Sahaptin, Upper Chinook/Kiksht (Wasco) and Numu (Paiute).

Adams and Hood, are known simply as pàtu, a general term for snow-capped summit.The mountain was given its present name on October 29, 1792, by Lt. William Broughton, a member of Captain George Vancouver's exploration expedition.

Lt. Broughton observed its peak while at Belle Vue Point of what is now called Sauvie Island during his travels up the Columbia River, writing, "A very high, snowy mountain now appeared rising beautifully conspicuous in the midst of an extensive tract of low or moderately elevated land [location of today's Vancouver, Washington] lying S 67 E., and seemed to announce a termination to the river."

A few days later at what would become The Dalles, Clark wrote, "The pinnacle of the round topped mountain, which we saw a short distance below the banks of the river, is South 43-degrees West of us and about 37 mi (60 km).

[23][24] Two French explorers from the Hudson's Bay Company may have traveled into the Dog River area east of Mount Hood in 1818.

USS Mount Hood (AE-11) was commissioned in July 1944 and was destroyed in November 1944 while at anchor in Manus Naval Base, Admiralty Islands.

[26] The glacially eroded summit area consists of several andesitic or dacitic lava domes; Pleistocene collapses produced avalanches and lahars (rapidly moving mudflows) that traveled across the Columbia River to the north.

[27] The last three eruptions at Mount Hood occurred within the past 1,800 years from vents high on the southwest flank and produced deposits that were distributed primarily to the south and west along the Sandy and Zigzag rivers.

This period includes the last major eruption of 1781 to 1782 with a slightly more recent episode ending shortly before the arrival of the explorers Lewis and Clark in 1805.

The latest minor eruptive event was thought to have occurred in August 1907,[27][29] but has been discredited as "an observation of non-eruptive fumarolic activity."

[34] The most recent evidence of volcanic activity at Mount Hood consists of fumaroles near Crater Rock and hot springs on the flanks of the volcano.

In 2014, a USGS employee, Dr. Seth Moran, proposed installing new instruments on Mount Hood to warn of volcanic activity.

[37] Mount Hood was first seen by European explorers in 1792 and is believed to have maintained a consistent summit elevation, varying by no more than a few feet due to mild seismic activity.

Elevation changes since the 1950s are predominantly due to improved survey methods and model refinements of the shape of the Earth (see vertical reference datum).

A 1993 survey by a scientific party that arrived at the peak's summit with 16 lb (7.3 kg) of electronic equipment reported a height of 11,240 ft (3,426 m), claimed to be accurate to within 1.25 in (32 mm).

[6] During the last major glacial event between 29,000 and 10,000 years ago, glaciers reached down to the 2,600-to-2,300 ft (790-to-700 m) level, a distance of 9.3 mi (15.0 km) from the summit.

The retreat released considerable outwash, some of which filled and flattened the upper Hood River Valley near Parkdale and formed Dee Flat.

[6] Older glaciation produced moraines near Brightwood and distinctive cuts on the southeast side; they may date to 140,000 years ago.

The Timberline Trail, which circumnavigates the entire mountain and rises as high as 7,300 ft (2,200 m), was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

[62] Mount Hood is Oregon's highest point and a prominent landmark visible up to 100 mi (160 km) away.

The Forest Service recommends several other route options due to these changes in conditions (e.g. "Old Chute," West Crater Rim, etc.).

Though avalanches are a common hazard on other glaciated mountains, most Mount Hood climbing deaths are the result of falls and hypothermia.