The snowshoe hare is the smallest member of the genus in Oregon. Individuals in populations east of the Cascade Range, and some individuals in the Cascade Range, become white in winter and are brown in summer.

This hare is associated with dense thickets of young conifers, especially those with lower branches touching the ground and especially firs and western larch interspersed with small clearings vegetated by grasses and forbs.

Photo from ODFW