Canyon Creek Meadows – 07/18/2026

It had been 13 years since we visited the wildflower meadows of Canyon Creek Meadows below Three Fingered Jack (post). Between our focus on hiking new trail (to us) and popularity of this hike we’d stayed away, but the Central Cascade Wilderness Permit system combined with the hike’s length being in the range of what I’m able to do right now it was time for another visit.

We secured our day use permits and made our way to the Jack Lake Trailhead. Note that Forest Road 1234 currently has several gouges due to runoff that are passable but require caution.

We arrived a little after 7am.

We picked up the Old Summit Trail next to the trailhead signboards and followed it around Jack Lake.

Glaucous beardtongue

Hardhack

Three Fingered Jack from Jack Lake.

Spreading dogbane

Sickletop lousewort

Fireweed

Scarlet gilia

North and Middle Sister with Jack Lake below.

An aster

The forest is still recovering from the 2003 B & B Complex fires.

Pearly everlasting

Scouler’s bluebells

At the 0.4-mile mark we passed a Mount Jefferson Wilderness sign and arrived at a junction with the one-way Canyon Creek Trail.

Heeding the one-way designation we turned left onto the Canyon Creek Trail. This trail climbed steadily for 1.7-miles to a junction with the Glacier View Trail near Canyon Creek.

Three Fingered Jack from the junction.

Lupine

Black Butte (post) to the left with Broken Top (partly behind Cache Mountain, and North & Middle Sister to the right. The haze is wildfire smoke from several recent lightning ignited fires across Central and Eastern Oregon.

I believe this is a Hoffmann’s Checkerspot.

As the trail climbed there were a few more trees that had survived the 2003 fires.

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Woodland beardtongue

One-sided wintergreen

Small unnamed lake along the trail.

Rosy spirea

Arrowleaf groundsel

Mt. Jefferson to the north.

California tortoiseshell

Stellar’s jay

Arnica

Descending into the first of the meadows.

Thistle

Pussy paws

Larkspur

California stickseed

Another aster

Collection of wildflowers.

Sign at the junction. The one-way Canyon Creek Trail turns right here along the creek and returns to the Old Summit Trail. Before completing the loop we turned left on the Glacier View Trail to visit the upper meadow and to hopefully spot a mountain goat or two.

It is just under three-quarters of a mile to the upper meadow from the junction where one can continue on a climbers trail up a moraine to a cirque lake and then beyond to a saddle below the mountain with a view to the south.

Columbine and arrowleaf groundsel

Suksdorf’s paintbrush?

Subalpine mariposa lily

Lewis’ monkeyflower and paintbrush among other flowers.

The views of Three Finger Jack get better the closer you get to the upper meadow.

I was so focused on the mountain that I missed seeing a herd of mountain goats that were further to the left of this photo. Heather spotted them but I had gotten too far ahead for her to be able to point them out to me.

Mountain Indian paintbrush

View of the upper meadow from the trail. There are a couple of trails that lead down to the upper meadow but since our goal was to at least make it to the cirque lake we stayed as high up as the trails allowed.

Looking up at the moraine and a hiker atop it on the left.

Lewis’ monkeyflower

Silverleaf phacelia

Little flower penstemon

Heading up the moraine.

Fuzzy elmera. As far as I know this is the first time we’ve seen this flower, or at least noticed it.

Three Fingered Jack from the moraine. The Jack Glacier carved this side of the mountain but is no more than a small permanent snowfield now.

The lake from the moraine.

Mt. Jefferson and the upper meadow from the moraine.

Looking up at the saddle from the moraine.

After a short break atop the moraine, I continued up the trail.

Yarrow

Pollinator visiting Pacific stonecrop.

Looking back down during one of my breaks on the climb up.

As I continued climbing some hikers ahead noticed a mountain descending the rocky hillside to our left (opposite Three Fingered Jack). I pulled out the bigger camera that I was carrying in order to have better zoom capabilities and took a number of photos as we passed each other.

This one was tagged and wearing a tracking collar.

The mountain goat in the shadow to the right.

I veered left on a slightly more level path instead of going directly up to the saddle. This route led to a large bench.

Pink and white mountain heather

A more level trail over to the saddle.

Mt. Jefferson

The ridge extending south from the bench.

I followed this trail around the bench to reach the saddle.

Three Fingered Jack from the long saddle.

View NE from the saddle.

The view south.

Tam McArthur Rim (post), Broken Top, Mt. Bachelor (post) and the Three Sisters.

Mt. Washington with The Husband behind.

When I reached the saddle I could see Heather sitting next to some trees along the ridge above the lake.

I correctly deduced that she had decided that was far enough so after I had a snack I headed back down to where she had been watching the mountain goats. (She had spotted a couple more while I was exploring the ridge.)

The other goats she’d seen had gone around the corner except for one whose haunches were still visible. (At the bottom of a small crescent shaped cleft about halfway down the rocky portion of the hillside.)

After she pointed out the other goat to me, we started back down the trail.

Lewis’ monkeyflower

Cliff beardtongue

On our way back we dropped down an obvious trail to the upper meadow.

Many of the flowers in the meadow are lupine, which was mostly past, but as we neared Canyon Creek there were still a lot of blooming flowers.

The trail left the upper meadow and continued along Canyon Creek for 0.2-miles before rejoining the Glacier View Trail. We then followed that trail back to the junction with the Canyon Creek Trail.

Back on the Glacier View Trail.

Subalpine mariposa lily and aster.

Fritillary

We briefly took a wrong fork along the Glacier View Trail following this former creek bed?

Ladybug on false hellebore.

Orange agoseris

The Canyon Creek Trail junction.

We stayed straight at the junction following the one-way instructions and followed Canyon Creek for a mile to the Old Summit Trail.

Large boykinia

Subalpine fleabane

Looking back over Canyon Creek at Three Fingered Jack.

The Old Summit Trail junction.

We turned right onto the Old Summit Trail and followed it 1.2-miles back to the start of the Canyon Creek Loop.

By 11:30 the Akawa Butte Fire in Jefferson County was throwing up smoke plumes.

Smoke plumes from the Akawa Butte Fire rising behind Green Ridge (post).

California tortoiseshell butterflies enjoying the damp ground.

The trail sign at the junction with the Canyon Creek Trail ahead to the right.

It was just 0.4 mostly downhill miles back to the car from the junction.

Twinflower

Three Fingered Jack from Jack Lake.

It was interesting to look back at some of the photos from 2013 to see how the fire recovery was progressing. Here is Jack Lake with a lot more snags in 2013.

Here is a view of Mt. Jefferson from the Old Summit Trail from 2013 and 2026.

My hike including the exploration on the bench and to the saddle came to 8.1-miles with approximately 1600′ of elevation gain.

It was a lot of fun revisiting this hike and seeing the mountain goats was just an extra bonus for us. Hopefully the Forest Service can fix some of the water damage to the road before it gets any worse because it is a destination worth visiting. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Canyon Creek Meadows