White River Snowshoe: Unleashing the Winter Adventure on Mt. Hood

All runners have a race “bucket list”, right?! That group of events that they are planning for and desperately want to add to their list if time (and cost and training) allows. Once of those races for me is the White River Snowshoe Race 4k and 8k, a non-traditional running event that has me hooked – at least visually.

The snowshoe race returns in 2024 and takes place at the White River West Sno Park on Mt. Hood on January 20th. If you’ve never been there before it’s a few miles northeast of Government Camp off HWY 26 / HWY 35 Junction. It has been a while since Run Oregon had anyone out to participate, and I truly hope I can figure out my schedule to attend this year. I am a non-winter sports person (give me sunshine and heat any day of the week), but I really want to give this one a go.

I must admit that I remain a little scared because I had never been snowshoeing, so I have no real reference point as to what to expect. But I guess that may be all part of the fun right? X-Dog claims that the snowshoe events are designed for everyone and if you can walk 5 miles then you can finish the event.

The course isn’t posted yet, but has typically been an adventure through the White River Canyon on Mt. Hood (and is always subject to change depending on the winter weather). In general, the route is a narrow loop through the canyon. There are usually two different options for the race, either a 4k (single loop) or the 8k (double). Here is a quote from a previous recap.

The first mile or so was a gradual uphill along the gorgeous White River Canyon.  The weight of the boots and snowshoes and the slight incline made this mile very exhausting. We turned and climbed up a little hill which lead us into a forested area of the course. This beautiful section of course had a couple small inclines but was relatively downhill for the remainder of the course.

If you don’t already own snowshoes don’t worry, you can still participate in this event and there are now many locations around town where you can rent snowshoes from. They are available from REI, Otto’s ski shop (located in Sandy), Mountain Shop, or Next Adventure.

You will also need to get a snow park pass, which is only $4 and can be purchased at various locations. You can probably double up and rent showshoes and a pass at the same location. Click here for more information about the parking passes.