Zigzag Mountain is a volcanic

Volcano

2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...

 mountain in Clackamas County

Clackamas County, Oregon

Clackamas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The county was named after the Native Americans living in the area, the Clackamas Indians, who were part of the Chinookan people. As of 2010, the population was 375,992...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

.
It is located 7.1 miles (11.4 km) west-southwest of Mount Hood

Mount Hood

Mount Hood, called Wy'east by the Multnomah tribe, is a stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc of northern Oregon. It was formed by a subduction zone and rests in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States...

, 5.2 miles (8.4 km) northwest of Government Camp

Government Camp, Oregon

Government Camp is an unincorporated community located in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, south of Mount Hood and north of Tom, Dick and Harry Mountain. It is a gateway to several ski resorts, the most popular being Timberline Lodge and Mount Hood Skibowl. Also, Government Camp has its...

, 5.3 miles (8.5 km) east of Zigzag

Zigzag, Oregon

Zigzag is an unincorporated community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. It is located within the Mount Hood Corridor, between Rhododendron and Welches on U.S. Route 26...

, and north of the Zigzag River

Zigzag River

The Zigzag River is a tributary, about long, of the Sandy River in the U.S. state of Oregon. The Zigzag and one of its major tributaries, the Little Zigzag River, drain the Zigzag Glacier on Mount Hood, a high volcanic peak in the Cascade Range. Their waters flow westward to meet the Sandy River...

. Because of its proximity to Mount Hood, it is considered a foothill.

The highest peak is 5007 feet (1,526 m) above sea level. Another peak, East Zigzag, is 4984 feet (1,519 m) above sea level and was the site of a United States Forest Service

United States Forest Service

The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...

 fire lookout station which was destroyed prior to 1970. The mountain is capped by Pliocene

Pliocene

The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...

 andesite

Andesite

Andesite is an extrusive igneous, volcanic rock, of intermediate composition, with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between basalt and dacite. The mineral assemblage is typically dominated by plagioclase plus pyroxene and/or hornblende. Magnetite,...

 and basalt

Basalt

Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

.

The "Zigzag" name used was apparently derived from Oregon pioneer Joel Palmer

Joel Palmer

General Joel Palmer was an American pioneer of the Oregon Territory in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. He was born in Canada, and spent his early years in New York and Pennsylvania before serving as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives.Palmer traveled to the Oregon...

's description of the zigzagging route he used to descend from Mount Hood's Zigzag Canyon (in which Zigzag Glacier

Zigzag Glacier

The Zigzag Glacier is an alpine glacier located on the upper southwest slopes of Mount Hood in the U.S. state of Oregon.It ranges in elevation from 7,200 to 10,200 ft with fingers in canyons extending to about 6,400 ft , and lies almost entirely within Mount Hood Wilderness. The upper...

is located) and on down what is now Zigzag Mountain.