Mount Bailey (Oregon)

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title: "Mount Bailey (Oregon)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cascade-range", "cascade-volcanoes", "dormant-volcanoes", "landforms-of-douglas-county,-oregon", "mountains-of-douglas-county,-oregon", "mountains-of-oregon", "shield-volcanoes-of-the-united-states", "subduction-volcanoes", "volcanoes-of-oregon", "pleistocene-shield-volcanoes", "quaternary-oregon"] description: "Inactive volcano in Oregon, United States" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Bailey_(Oregon)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Inactive volcano in Oregon, United States ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]

Field	Value
name	Mount Bailey
photo	Mount Bailey - Oregon.JPG
photo_caption	Mount Bailey from Diamond Lake
elevation_ft	8375
elevation_ref
prominence_ft	2968
prominence_ref
range	Cascade Range
location	Douglas County, Oregon, U.S.
map	USA Oregon
map_size	240
map_caption	Location in Oregon
coordinates
coordinates_ref
topo	USGS Diamond Lake
formed_by	Subduction zone volcanism
type	Shield volcano, tephra cone
volcanic_arc	Cascade Volcanic Arc
last_eruption	Less than 100,000 years ago
easiest_route	Trail hike
::

| name = Mount Bailey | photo = Mount Bailey - Oregon.JPG | photo_caption = Mount Bailey from Diamond Lake | elevation_ft = 8375 | elevation_ref = | prominence_ft = 2968 | prominence_ref = | range = Cascade Range | parent_peak = | listing = | location = Douglas County, Oregon, U.S. | map = USA Oregon | map_size = 240 | map_caption = Location in Oregon | coordinates = | range_coordinates = | coordinates_ref = | topo = USGS Diamond Lake | formed_by = Subduction zone volcanism | type = Shield volcano, tephra cone | age = | volcanic_arc = Cascade Volcanic Arc | last_eruption = Less than 100,000 years ago | first_ascent = | easiest_route = Trail hike

Mount Bailey is a relatively young tephra cone and shield volcano in the Cascade Range, located on the opposite side of Diamond Lake from Mount Thielsen in southern Oregon, United States. Bailey consists of a 2000 ft-high main cone on top of an old basaltic andesite shield volcano. With a volume of 8 to, Mount Bailey is slightly smaller than neighboring Diamond Peak. Mount Bailey is a popular destination for recreational activities. Well known in the Pacific Northwest region as a haven for skiing in the winter months, the mountain's transportation, instead of a conventional chairlift, is provided by snowcats—treaded, tractor-like vehicles that can ascend Bailey's steep, snow-covered slopes and carry skiers to the higher reaches of the mountain. In the summer months, a 5 mi hiking trail gives foot access to Bailey's summit. Mount Bailey is one of Oregon's Matterhorns.

Native Americans are credited with the first ascents of Bailey. Spiritual leaders held feasts and prayer vigils on the summit.

Etymology

The origin of the mountain's name is a matter of dispute. Older maps show its name as either "Old Baldy" or "Old Bailey", "Bailey" possibly being a drafting error. The summit's bald, burnt-over appearance might indicate the origin of the designation "Baldy". No record of a person named Bailey who was connected with the peak has been found. In 1992, the Oregon Geographic Names Board voted to name the mountain in honor of naturalists Vernon and Florence Bailey. According to William G. Steel, the Klamath name for the mountain was Youxlokes, which means "Medicine Mountain". According to Klamath tradition, their medicine men and priests would feast on the mountain's summit and commune with the upper world.

Geography and geology

Mount Bailey is part of the High Cascades in the western United States. The High Cascades have long been glaciated, by both Pacific-bred storms and natural, elevation-caused, glaciation. In fact, glaciation probably formed on them as early as the late Miocene. Over time, as the range built up, newer activity diminished older Tertiary age rock. Creating lava plateaus, Pliocene activity, mostly basaltic and andesitic, was probably responsible for the original cones at Bailey, Thielsen, and Union Peak.

Mount Bailey heads the Mount Bailey chain, which consists of the mountain and smaller cinder cones trending north. Similarly to its neighbor Mount Thielsen, it is a shield volcano with precipitous summit slopes. Built around the same time as Rodley Butte, according to morphological study, the current volcano is no more than 100,000 years old, and formed relatively close to Diamond Peak's current cone. Despite its similarity to Rodley Butte, both in age and original composition, Bailey switched from erupting basaltic andesite to andesite.

Bailey is comprised by a central tephra cone, upon which basaltic andesite eruptions streamed over, building up to create the current volcano. Eventually switching to andesite,

Ecology and recreation

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Diamond_lake_snowmobile_trail_near_mount_bailey_GOPR2154.png" caption="A snowmobile trail between Mount Bailey and Diamond Lake; Mount Bailey is showing through the trees in the background."] ::

Diverse flora exists on Mount Bailey. Starting at the lower slopes, the prominent tree type is standard pine, eventually changing to a landscape of mountain hemlock, western white pine, and Shasta fir.

Bailey is a popular hiking and skiing site, due to its steep climbs and views of Diamond Lake. It is accessible from Oregon Route 230, starting at the Fox Spring trailhead. Following the Mount Bailey Trail, part of the Diamond Lake Recreational Area, hikers can see "panoramas to the northeast of Diamond Lake and Bailey's dizzying avalanche bowl". To skiers, the peak is known for its method of transportation, featuring snowcats.

References

Bibliography

• {{cite book | author = Bernstein, Art | title = Hiking Oregon's southern Cascades and Siskiyous | publisher = Globe Pequot | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-1-56044-898-3}}
• {{cite book | author = Dunegan, Lizann | title = Hiking Oregon: A Guide to Oregon's Greatest Hiking Adventures | publisher = Globe Pequot | year = 2004 | isbn = 978-0-7627-2606-6}}
• {{cite book | author1 = Harris, Ann G. | author2 = Tuttle, Esther | author3 = Tuttle, Sherwood D. | title = Geology of national parks | publisher = Kendall Hunt | year = 2004 | isbn = 978-0-7872-9970-5}}
• {{cite book | title = Volcanoes of North America | last1 = Wood | first1 = Charles A. | last2 = Kienle | first2 = Jűrgen | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1993 | isbn = 0-521-43811-X}}

References

1. {{cite ngs
2. "Mount Bailey, Oregon".
3. Wood and Kienle, p. 191.
4. McArthur, p. 664.
5. Harris, Tuttle, and Tuttle, p. 536.
6. Wood and Kienle, pp. 190–191.
7. (1987). "Volcanic Hazards with Regard to Siting Nuclear-Power Plants in the Pacific Northwest". [[United States Geological Survey]].
8. inactive]], having been since approximately the time [[Mount Mazama]] became active, sometime in the early [[Pleistocene]] epoch.Harris, Tuttle, and Tuttle, p. 530.
9. Bernstein, p. 31.
10. Dunegan, p. 157.
11. Bernstein, p. 32.

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