Diamond Peak: Quite The Gem

Diamond Peak was named by John Diamond, who was in a group that located a wagon road up the middle fork of the Willamette River and over Willamette Pass. Diamond first scaled the peak in 1852. I scaled the peak several times, initially in 1982, along with many of my cohorts on The Committee.

Both established routes to the summit are easy, but the best route is from the south, which follows a jeep trail from Crescent Lake to Summit Lake, south of the peak. The hike proceeds over a well-worn trail to the summit. Diamond Peak is yet another volcano that straddles the line between Klamath and Lane Counties.

Reaching an elevation of 8,748 feet, the mountain is within the Diamond Peak Wilderness, located 20 miles north of Mt. Bailey and Diamond Lake. A shield volcano, Diamond Peak is also considered a modest stratocone. It is surrounded by coniferous forest (and in the summer, bugs) and visible in the skyline from Eugene.