Hiking took a backseat this past weekend as we headed to Bend for a joint birthday celebration for our son and Heather’s father. Both have October birthdays with a 50-year gap in between, and this year was 30 & 80 respectively. Despite those ages not seeming possible (or believable) celebrate we did.
On our way from Salem over to Bend we made a stop at Jack Creek Campground for a short leg stretching hike to the Head of Jack Creek.
From the end of the campground a wide, nearly level, 0.4-mile trail parallels Jack Creek leading to several springs.
Chipmunk
Jack Creek stays within earshot of the trail but glimpses of it are rare until near the springs.
The trail passes along the eastern end of the 2003 B & B Fire scar.
Larch tree starting to don its fall color.
Near the three-quarter mile mark we passed a bench at a junction with a spur arriving from the right. There is another possible trailhead, but there is little information on its exact location or on the condition of the access road.
Sign for the Head of Jack Creek at the end of the trail.
Head of Jack Creek
After seeing the springs we returned the way we’d come and finished our drive to Bend. We spent just over an hour on the 2.6-mile hike so there was plenty of day left to visit and celebrate with Heather’s family.
Heather had picked our son up in Eugene on Friday and we’d celebrated his birthday with my parents that night. Since we needed to drop him off back in Eugene before we headed back to Salem we took Highway 58 over Willamette Pass. I had been looking for a similar leg stretcher along this drive and decided to finally check out McCredie Hot Springs and make it a theme weekend. There is a day use area along Highway 58 just over 8-miles east of Oakridge with very short path leading to pools on the north bank of Salt Creek. A longer trail beginning at a pullout along gravel forest road 5875 leads to some pools on the south bank of the creek. This “longer” trail is just 0.4-miles making it another short hike.
Sign above the pullout.
One of two access points to the trail from the pullout.
The trail had a couple of downed trees along with some roots and rocks along with a little under 100′ of elevation change.
Salt Creek
These mushrooms were a color that we couldn’t recall seeing before.
McCredie Hot Springs. Please be aware that nudity is allowed at most hot springs in Oregon and McCredie is no exception. There were a couple of people in the hot springs on the north bank so there are no pictures of that side.
This was the largest pool. We wouldn’t call it hot but it was nice and warm.
This smaller pool was a little warmer.
Reflection in the hot springs.
After inspecting the pools we returned to the car and drove on to Eugene and then headed home. This stop was under a mile with around 75′ of cumulative elevation gain.
Both of these stops were nice breaks on the drives over the passes. It was fun to have them both involve springs but have them be such different types. Happy Trails!
Flickr: Head of Jack Creek & McCredie Hot Springs
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