Posts with tag 'Places to See in Central Oregon'

We had never hiked Black Crater on McKenzie Summit until this month and it turned out to be a wonderful experience.  Despite the burned area at the beginning of the hike, the result of the 2017 24,000 acre Millie Fire, the 7 miles up and back was easy enough, although steep in sections, and signs of new life in the burned forest was interesting to see.  However, the reason people hike Black Crater is for the views at the top. On our day, July 13, 2020, eight Cascade Mountains were visible. We had to get through about 1/2 mile of snow to reach the top, but once the trail opened up, the stunning vistas of Broken Top, the Three Sisters, Mt. Washington, 3 Fingered Jack, Jefferson and Mt. Hood were all there and we enjoyed seeing them from this wonderful vantage point. Trail books note the hike as "difficult" or "hard," but we found it more moderate than super challenging. The elevation change is there, but if you take your time, the views are very much worth the effort.

Golden Lake is a Rarely Visited Site in the Three Sisters Wilderness

We have hiked to Green Lakes many times over the years. The 4.5 miles to the lake posted on the forest service sign by the trail head we believe is to the first lake the trail reaches and not to the far lake which usually takes another 1/2 hour to 45 minutes of hiking.  We have gone to the far lake often, but have never gone past that last lake until this year.  The trail further into the Three Sisters Wilderness continues past the last Green Lakes, over the creek and up a hill.   We decided to travel a short distance on this trail to see what we could find, having checked out a map noting a meadow and Golden Lake. 

Most people traveling into the Three Sisters Wilderness will backpack in and camp, but with our early start, we just hiked in and out. Our initial short distance idea expanded a bit, but the hike to Golden Lake was well worth it.  The trail led over snow patches, but once we reached the lake, the beauty of the yellow wildflowers, the stunning views of Broken Top, South Sister, Middle Sister and North Sister and the absolute privacy with no one else around was an experience we shall remember for years to come. 

Iron Mountain is a Must Do Hike for Many

We first heard about Iron Mountain 5 years ago when a friend told us about this amazing hike in the Central Cascades off Hwy 20 near Tombstone Summit. When we took the hike, it was past the peak time for the annual wildflowers, but this year the flowers were blooming and the views were stunning.

If you have never hiked Iron Mountain before and are up for several miles, we suggest you park at the Tombstone Summit parking lot, walk 15 minutes through the beautiful nature trail which begins at the end of the lot (bear left down the trail off the gravel road), and then carefully cross the highway to the start of the Cone Peak Trail.  This trail takes you gradually up in elevation through old growth forest until the trail opens into stunning fields of wildflowers.  Continue along the trail, back and forth into the forest and out until you come to the branch to climb to the top of Iron Mountain. This steep trail is well traveled and eventually brings you to the top where a fire lookout used to be, but now is set up as a sitting area with Cascade mountain locates. After enjoying the view, climb down and continue the loop back through old growth forest to the official Iron Mountain parking lot (careful crossing the highway again). Once we crossed the highway, there was an easily missed path that takes you shortly to a sign going right to the Iron Mountain parking lot or left to the Old Santiam Wagon Road.  We walked .3 miles on the Old Santiam Wagon Road (again bear left) to the Tombstone Summit parking lot to get back to our car, climbing steeply at the end. The entire hike was 6.9 miles with roughly 1900 foot elevation gain. This was a wonderful hike at a great time of year.

Newberry National Volcanic Monument's Lesser Known Hikes

Most Central Oregonians know what a wonderful place to camp, fish, and hike Newberry National Volcanic Monument is. Paulina Falls and the Obsidian Trail are easy, short hikes to beautiful views and interesting geological formations and are well used by visitors to the monument.  However, probably a hike few take is the Crater Rim Trail which is 21 miles in total length and traverses the entire rim of the crater. We have never taken the Crater Rim Trail all the way around, but we have hiked from Cinder Hill campground up to the Crater Rim Trail and 3/4 mile along this to the Cinder Hill Viewpoint several times. The elevation change from East Lake to the Crater Rim Trail is roughly 1000 feet, but it is fairly easy to hike this with multiple switchbacks helping. The majority of the hike is in the woods and the shade helps cool the trail.  We tried to do this hike a month earlier, but there was too much snow and we lost the trail. 

The views from Cinder Hill are fabulous of East Lake with Paulina Lake also visible from the rim. When we were there on June 20th, there was some wind at the viewpoint and the temperature was much cooler than it was during the hike up in the more sheltered woods. The sign at the start of the hike shows 2 3/4 miles from the campground to the viewpoint which felt accurate. This is a great hike to take during the summer.

Painted Hills - Part of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

Known as one of the 7 Wonders of Oregon, the Painted Hills is series of hills with outstanding colors. Located roughly 86 miles northeast of Bend close to Mitchell, Oregon, the hills get their colors from the geology of the area over 35 million years. The combination of river flood plain, tropical forest, volcanic ash, and time has resulted in the color striations of the hills. Colors of red, green, orange, tan, and even lavender all provide a beautiful representation of millions of years of changing climate and geological upheavals. The hills monument cover over 3000 acres and are the most visited of the John Day Fossil Beds. Several easy hikes enable visitors to view the hills close up and from a distance. As the day goes on, the changing light and shadows as evening approaches can create an even more dramatic landscape to admire.

When we visited Painted Hills on 6-13-2020, we were pleased at the condition of the day use area directly outside the monument with clean, well stocked restrooms and a nicely mowed grass area with clean picnic tables. The trails were well defined and visitors were noted reading the signs explaining the geology of the area. The Painted Hills is a must see for anyone visiting Central Oregon.