Alder Springs Trail is a 6 or so mile in-and-out moderate hike located in the Crooked River…read moreNational Grassland. It is spectacular. The trailhead is found at the end of five miles of fair to somewhat rough road off Holmes Road north of Hwy 126. The trail runs along Whychus Creek which, like the nearby Crooked and Deschutes Rivers, has cut a deep canyon in the overlying lava. If you hike the entire length, you will end up at the confluence of the Whychus and the Deschutes, right across the river from the Scout Camp Trail (another awesome hike). Trail condition is mostly good with a few steep parts but relatively flat overall. You do have to descend from the lava plateau to the creek but it's more gradual than with some other nearby hikes, such as Scout Camp and Otter Bench. One thing, though: at about the halfway point, you'll have to ford Whychus Creek. There is no bridge, makeshift or otherwise. The creek is not too wide at the crossing point and unless you're there during peak snow-melt time, it's easily crossed. But unless you like hiking with wet boots, it's best to take along a pair of water shoes. The creek-bed is composed of slippery river rock and I don't recommend flip-flops. Along the trail, you'll experience varied terrain: high desert, sparse juniper forest, some big ponderosas and where the trail cuts close to the creek, lots of reeds and other wetland plants. Beware that the trail is known as a rattlesnake den. We even ran across one on the trail (coming and going!) when the weather was a bit cool. I don't think I've seen an account of someone hiking this trail where they didn't see a rattler. But they're cool and will scurry out of the way as soon as they sense your presence, which is well before you see them. The road to Alder Springs Trail at the Holmes Rd gate is closed to motor vehicles from Dec 1 to March 31. So unless you want to add the extra ten miles round-trip, take note.

Canyon Creek Meadows is a spectacular trail on the eastern slopes of Three Fingered Jack in the Mt…read moreJefferson Wilderness area. While hiking, you'll get great views of Three Fingered Jack, Mt Jefferson, Black Butte and even the Three Sisters. And that's just the volcanoes. The trailhead is accessed via a somewhat winding road coming off Hwy 14, which comes off Hwy 20, the main route through Sisters. Check your map for precise directions. Most any vehicle can get to the trailhead, although those with street suspensions will have to take it easy in places. There is a large parking area, which is good because this trail is popular. When we left on a summer weekday, there were several cars parked along the road, having not found spots in the parking area. Canyon Creek Meadows trail proper is a loop trail that has a couple of offshoots - one to the north which eventually takes you to the Pacific Crest Trail, and one that takes you further up towards Three Fingered Jack (the glacier trail, which might be a mile and half). Doing the loop trail only is about 5.6 miles. If you don't have it, I recommend loading the AllTrails app on your phone. The trail is fairly easy in terms of exertion and trail condition. You'll pass through quite a bit of fire-deforested areas (meaning: lots of sun) as well as thickly forested areas. Much of the trail follows Canyon Creek and you'll pass through the meadows, which is quite nice. Overall, there is a lot of scenery and terrain variation on the trail. Near the trailhead is Jack Lake, a small body of water that has no boat ramp or anything like that (this is wilderness, after all). I wouldn't mind putting a kayak in the lake, though. Summer can render the trail hot and dusty. If you have a dog, think about booties. Bring plenty of water. Speaking of dogs, there is a prominently posted regulation that requires leashes on all dogs to avoid disturbing the mountain sheep. From what we saw, almost no one leashes their dog, which is a shame. Highly recommended. We are lucky to have so many great trails in the Bend/Sisters area.

This is a beautiful area with a sweet 9 mile long hiking trail that goes out & loops back around…read more There is an address 2 mile long leg that leads to the base of Three Finger Jack Mtn. Incredible views all along the hike and appx half runs parallel to Canyon Creek. Jack Lake is directly off of the trailhead and has several campsites along the front. The trail provides varying views of forests, meadows,, lake & a creek. There are great views of Mt Jefferson & Three Finger Jack. I suggest driving a truck or similar vehicle to the trailhead because the gravel road is extremely rough for appx 6 miles. I'll definitely be going back to backpack & camp out near Three Finger Jack.

4.6 mi, 1621 ft elevation gain, 1hr 52 minutes…read more The road to the trail is washboard gravel for two miles which then turns to large gravel/rocks for the last mile. A northwest forest pass is required to park at the trailhead. If you don't already have one you can purchase a day pass in the parking lot. This is a popular trail so I recommend coming early! The trail itself is a steep and dusty incline. It is hard work to get to the top, but you will be distracted by the Mountain View's and gorgeous wildflowers along the way. Once at the top there are 360 degree views and an old fire lookout. This is a great spot to stop and enjoy a snack and take it all in!

Perfect combination of challenging but doable! Great workout and even greater views! Fairly…read morepopulated when we went, but everyone was very friendly of course. Took a little less than 2 hours to complete, will definitely do this one again.

Chush Falls trail is located in the Deschutes National Forest south of Sisters. Much of the trail…read more(including Chush Falls and Upper Chush Falls) lies within the Sisters Wilderness area, so applicable wilderness regulations apply. This is Whychus Creek Wild and Scenic River territory. The trailhead is accessed by forest road NF-600, which is about a mile long and is passable by regular vehicles (assuming the winter snow has melted). NF-600 is accessed from forest road NF-1514, a good road that comes off the Three Creeks Lake Road (NF-16) running south from Sisters. The turnoff from NF-1514 to NF-600 is right at the Whychus Creek bridge. You can also get to the NF-600 turnoff coming the other way from NF-15 just west of Sisters. The trail itself is moderate with a mostly gentle slope up grade. It's a little over two miles to Chush Falls where the trail officially ends. At the end point, you can see Chush Falls quite well from the elevation of the top of the falls. But if you're inclined, do scramble down the steep trail beyond the trail end to get to the base level. That's your best view of the these falls. But you're not done. After returning up to trail end, continue on the trail upriver (upcreek?). For about a mile (which involves increasing elevation change particularly at the very end), you'll follow Whychus Creek past a few smaller waterfalls and rapids, finally arriving at the gem of the trail: Upper Chush Falls. This cascade is where Whychus Creek tumbles down off a very steep and pretty high cliff face. It's beautiful. Note that the trail might seem to end where there are rocks to sit on and enjoy the view near the base of the waterfall, but take the time to find the short steep trail to your left that goes up to a better view point. Be careful - underfoot will be rocks that are not well embedded and a slip may well end in disaster for you. All along the trail, the Three Sisters, and less so Broken Top, lord over the landscape as you travel through first a section of burn area that has left a rather surreal scene, beautiful in its own right, and then unburnt higher elevation pine forest. Even without the waterfalls, this is a great hike.

I found the preserve on articles when researching where I could check out larches as they turn…read moreyellow. We'd been hiking around Camp Sherman before, but didn't even know the Metolius Preserve existed. There are 2 trailheads, North and South, each with parking. We chose to park at the North Trailhead, as we'd chosen to take the Larch Trail this day. There's a good amount of parking, and nice gravel roads throughout. Trails and trail intersections are signed well. The 10 miles of trails here are for hikers and bikes, although we only met a couple of each while there. The Preserve grounds are very pretty and serene. Gorgeous trees and fall colors (including turning larches) abound, as well as birds and the occasional critter in the brush. Everything we encountered while there was well-maintained and clean. Can't wait to check out the other trails.

Late December 2023, visiting Bend, OR, the lack of snow on the mountains had us decide that we…read moreshould check out the ocean so off to the Pacific we went. Driving along Hwy 20* or the Santiam Highway as this section is known, we came upon a sign about the "Hackleman Old Growth Grove". I've got a thing about big old trees so I pulled over to take a look. I saw that there were some relatively easy hiking trails/loops (less then a mile?) so we decided to stretch our legs. These sort of forests always amaze me for the following reasons: 1) No one ever checks these places out in December. 2) It is sooooo green!!!! 3) The silence/sounds of the forest is just....there. The moss growing on the trees. The size of the trees. The thickness of the bark on some of these. Wow. I was blown away. Honestly, I wanted to sit, not move, and just breathe it all in. And I'm not gonna lie, I was hoping to see some squatch tracks in the old snow but nada. I'm also guessing in a normal season you're going to need some snow shoes but we didn't on this trip. If you are on this drive and need a quick stretch of your legs, this is a good of spot as any. FYI: The parking lot has a "honey pot" so if need a bathroom cause nature is calling, you got a spot. * Fun fact about Highway 20 is that it is one of those old original highways that goes across the country more or less (some of it is now blended with other Highways). You can start in either Newport, OR, or in Boston, MA and you can make your way across the country. Perusing Google maps, I see I've been on sections of this road coming out of West Yellowstone, Eastern Oregon, Wyoming, and I've driven across it countless times where it crosses in Iowa and Hwy 35 and even on it in Dubuque. Either way, pretty cool.

Located in-between South and North Sisters, this peak is also in the middle in terms of difficulty…read more In good weather/conditions, South is very much a hike or "walk up". North, is always a technical climb. There are many "you fall, you die" zones on it. Most everyone takes a rope and climbing gear. Middle...well, you definitely want an ice axe and crampons, but you can probably leave the rope at home. The summit offers incredible views of the other Sisters (duh). It's also big enough and flat enough to set up a couple tents. It's not anywhere NEAR as big as South Sister though, so don't get any crazy ideas!

My brother concocted a scenic loop to visit Sahalie Falls on our way from Sunriver to the Oregon…read moreGarden. I was following him in our van, wondering, "Where in the heck is he taking us?!" Once we reached our destination, I got it! Though it's in the middle of nowhere, the parking lot was full. We had to park on the highway, cross and head for the path down to the falls overlook. So powerful. So beautiful. That's a lot of water! Inspired envy coming from the land of drought. Bro took the boys on a hike down through the forest, along the McKenzie River, along with a lot of other adventurous folks, to a second waterfall. One of nature's wonders! Other features of the Pass are volcanic rock formations in abundance, along with gorgeous evergreens.

"What a strange, strange trip this has been" best describes our journey on the biway. I don't know…read morewhere we went wrong but somehow we managed to get lost. I had three maps and none of them included the biway. Through a series of turns and u-turns somehow we found ourselves on the right road. The drive was fun. A lot of twists and turns. A visit to Sahalie Falls is a must. The path can be a challenge for some so be sure to wear good walking shoes. There are so many spots along the drive with fantastic views. You will not be disappointed. This is a good choice for a day trip, just be sure to bring the correct map.