Tag: Malheur National Forest

Eastern Oregon

Back in 2016 we set a goal for ourselves to hike all 500 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes…” series of guidebooks post. In 2020 we completed the first of these books covering the Central Oregon Cascades (post). We followed that up by completing a pair of books in 2021 starting with Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast and Coast Range” 3rd edition (post) followed up by “100 HIkes/Travel Guide Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington” 4th edition (post). Southern Oregon & Northern California was completed in 2023 leaving us with Eastern Oregon.

In 2023 we pivoted from the 3rd edition of Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Eastern Oregon” to his renamed 2022 1st edition “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon” book. This was to avoid needing to make the tedious drive on horrible roads to Dug Bar in Hells Canyon which had been replaced as a featured hike in the newer edition.

The criteria for checking a hike off our list is to hike a portion of Sullivan’s described hike or, at least visit the main attraction(s) he identifies for the hike. For 67 of the hikes we completed the books described route. For the other 33 hikes various factors contributed to us not completing every option of each featured hike. For some we started at a different trailhead, others had portions of trail(s) closed when we visited, and several had additional options that we did not do.

Of the five regions Sullivan breaks his guidebooks into, the Eastern Oregon region is the largest and most diverse. The area covered in this book includes hikes in Oregon east of the Deschutes River in Central Oregon and from Klamath Falls (western most hike) east to the Idaho border. There is however one hike in Washington west of the Deschutes across the Columbia River from The Dalles, OR. It also includes one short option in Idaho (eastern most), one featured hike in California (southern most) making it his only book with hikes in more than two different States. The northern most hike is not the one in Washington. That honor belongs to the Wenaha River near Troy in NE Oregon.

The hikes involved several wilderness areas: Oregon Badlands, Mill Creek, Spring Basin, Strawberry Mountain, North Fork John Day, North Fork Umatilla, Wenaha-Tucannon, Eagle Cap, Hells Canyon, Monument Rock, and Steens Mountain. Missing from this list are the Black Canyon (post) and Gearhart Mountain (post) wilderness areas which had featured hikes in earlier versions of Sullivan’s book that we’d completed, but were removed in the 2022 edition due to wildfire damage.

In addition to the 11 designated wilderness areas there were hikes in two National Monuments, the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon and the Lava Beds National Monument in California, and one National Volcanic Monument, the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

Following is a list of the 100 featured hikes and the dates we visited.

#1 Cottonwood Canyon – Hiked 5/27/2017

#2 Columbia Hills – Hiked 4/4/2015 & 4/17/2021

#3 Lower Deschutes River – Hiked 6/9/2018

#4 Macks Canyon – Hiked 5/26/2018

#5 Criterion Tract – Hiked 05/28/2023

#6 Trout Creek – Hiked 10/12/2013

#7 Willow Creek at Madras – Hiked 5/27/2024

#8 Cove Palisades – Hiked 6/16/2018

#9 Gray Butte – Hiked 6/13/2015

#10 Oregon Badlands – Hiked 5/15/2016 & 12/24/2016

#11 Pine Mountain – Hiked 7/30/2012

#12 Paulina Falls – Hiked 8/9/2011 & 9/16/2017

#13 Paulina Lake – Hiked 8/9/2011 & 9/16/2017

#14 Obsidian Flow – Hiked 8/9/2011

#15 Crooked River Wetlands – Hiked 5/29/2024

#16 Chimney Rock – Hiked 9/22/2017

#17 Steins Pillar – Hiked 5/8/2013

#18 Juniper Hill – Visited* 5/27/2024

#19 Mill Creek – Hiked 7/31/2012

#20 Lookout Mountain – Hiked 6/12/2014

#21 Walton Lake – Hiked 6/17/2017 & 6/18/2021

#22 Spring Basin – Hiked 4/22/2017

#23 John Day Fossil Beds – Hiked 4/30/2016, 4/22/2017 & 9/17/2017
Painted Hills Unit

Clarno Unit

Blue Basin Unit

#24 Sutton Mountain – Hiked 4/30/2016

#25 Spanish Peak – Hiked 7/19/2021 & 7/20/2021

#26 Madison Butte – Hiked 5/28/2024

#27 Wildcat Basin – Hiked 7/24/2018

#28 High Lake – Hiked 7/26/2018

#29 Strawberry Lake – Hiked 7/25/2018

#30 Malheur River – Hiked 6/17/2021

#31 Canyon Mountain – Hiked 7/22/2021

#32 Monument Rock – Hiked 7/21/2021

#33 Bates and Sumpter – Hiked 9/17/2017

#34 Olive Lake – Hiked 9/18/2017

#35 Granite Creek – Hiked 9/21/2017

#36 North Fork John Day River – Hiked 9/19/2017

#37 Mount Ireland – Hiked 7/9/2022

#38 Baldy Lake – Hiked 9/20/2017

#39 Crawfish Lake – Hiked 8/16/2018

#40 Anothony Lake – Hiked 8/16/2018

#41 Elkhorn Crest – Hiked 8/12/2018, 8/13/2018, 8/14/2018, 8/15/2018 & 08/16/2018

#42 Twin Lakes – Hiked 8/13/2018

#43 North Fork Umatilla River – Hiked 6/14/2021

#44 Jubilee Lake – Hiked 9/12/2021

#45 Wenaha River – Hiked 5/25/2019

#46 Zumwalt Prairie – Hiked 5/26/2019

#47 Buckhorn Lookout – Hiked 6/15/2023

#48 Eureka Bar – Hiked 6/14/2023

#49 Hat Point – Hiked 7/21/2024

#50 Freezeout Saddle – Hiked 5/24/2019

#51 Hells Canyon Dam – Hiked 6/16/2023

#52 Hells Canyon Reservoir – Hiked 6/16/2023

#53 Imnaha Falls – Hiked 6/12/2023

#54 Bonny Lakes – Hiked 7/24/2024

#55 McCully Basin – Hiked 7/23/2024

#56 Mount Howard – Hiked 7/26/2024

#57 Aneroid Lake – Hiked 8/22/2024

#58 Wallowa Lake – Hiked 5/23/2019
B.C. Falls

#59 Ice Lake – Hiked 7/31/2016

#60 Horseshoe Lake – Hiked 8/3/2016 & 8/04/2016

#61 Hurricane Creek – Hiked 7/22/2024

#62 Eagle Cap – Hiked 8/3/2016

#63 Minam Lake – Hiked 7/25/2024

#64 Maxwell Lake – Hiked 8/21/2024

#65 Chimney Lake – Hiked 8/20/2024

#66 Wallowa Homeland – Hiked 7/14/2022

#67 Bear Creek – Hiked 7/14/2022

#68 Rock Springs – Hiked 7/11/2022

#69 Moss Springs – Hiked 7/13/2022

#70 Catherine Creek Meadows – Hiked 7/10/2022

#71 Burger Pass – Hiked 7/12/2022

#72 Tombstone Lake – Hiked 8/16/2023 & 8/17/2023

#73 Eagle Lake – Hiked 8/13/2023

#74 Bear Lake – Hiked 8/14/2023

#75 Hidden Lake – Hiked 9/9/2024

#76 Summit Point Lookout – Hiked 8/18/2024

#77 Pine Lakes – Hiked 8/19/2024

#78 Fort Rock – Hiked 6/14/2014 & 5/28/2017

#79 Fort Rock Valley – Hiked 5/28/2017

#80 Hager Mountain – Hiked 7/30/2013 & 6/14/2014

#81 Summer Lake – Hiked 7/24/2020

#82 Winter Ridge – Hiked 7/19/2020

#83 OC&E Railroad – Hiked 10/5/2018

#84 Klamath Falls – Hiked 10/20/2018

#85 Modoc Lava Beds – Hiked 10/6/2018

#86 DeGarmo Canyon – Hiked 7/22/2020

#87 Hart Mountain Hot Springs – Hiked 7/21/2020

#88 Petroglyph Lake – Hiked 7/22/2020

#89 Steens Summit – Hiked 8/18/2021

#90 Little Blitzen River – Hiked 8/19/2021

#91 Big Indian Gorge – Hiked 8/17/2021

#92 Threemile Canyon – Hiked 9/3/2023

#93 Pike Creek – Hiked 6/14/2018

#94 Big Sand Gap – Hiked 6/14/2018

#95 Borax Hot Springs – Hiked 6/14/2018

#96 Pueblo Mountains – Hiked 8/20/2021

#97 Leslie Gulch – Hiked 6/11/2018

#98 Coffeepot Crater – Hiked 6/11/2018

#99 Chalk Basin – Hiked 6/13/2018

#100 Three Forks – Hiked 6/12/2018

*The Juniper Hills Preserve is owned by the Nature Conservancy and had been closed to public entry in 2023, so we were unable to hike the trails. We parked and walked to the gates to take photos. If they ever reopen it to the public we will go back.

Completing our featured hike goals provided a sense of relief. While we thoroughly enjoyed all of the hikes, and the Wallowa Mountains became our favorite destination in Oregon, we had begun to put pressure on ourselves to finish. That pressure had begun following the September 2020 wildfires that ravaged parts of the Central Cascades and left many trails closed for years. We had just finished the featured hikes in that area earlier that year and realized how close we’d come to having to put our goal on hold. In the grand scheme of things reaching 500 featured hikes is irrelevant but having worked on it for several years it was something we didn’t want to abandon. We will gig deeper into that in a later post covering finishing the 500, but it’s nice to have the urgency to get to specific places removed.

Setting the goal did provide us with an excuse to visit parts of Oregon that we’d never seen before. While we were checking off the 100 featured hikes we stopped at over three dozen additional spots including eight previously featured hikes. There are still numerous trails left for us to explore so we will almost certainly be heading back to Eastern Oregon from time to time to see new sights and possibly revisit some familiar ones. Happy Trails!

Tags Alvord Desert, Blue Mountains, Boulder Creek Wilderness, California, Deschutes River, eagle cap wilderness, Eastern Oregon, Gearhart Mountain Wilderness, Hells Canyon Wilderness, hiking, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, John Day river, Lava Beds National Monument, Malheur National Forest, Malheur River, Mill Creek Wilderness, Monument Rock Wilderness, Newberry Caldera, Newberry Crater, Newberry National Volcanic Monument, North Fork John Day Wilderness, North Fork Umatilla Wilderness, Ochoco Mountains, ochoco national forest, Oregon, oregon badlands wilderness, Pueblo Mountains, Spring Basin Wilderness, Steens Mountain Wilderness, Strawberry Mountains, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness, William L Sullivan

Bend/Redmond Blue Mountains - South Central Oregon Hiking Oregon Trip report

Dry River Canyon and Idlewild Loop – 09/02/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 6, 2023
No Comments on Dry River Canyon and Idlewild Loop – 09/02/2023

Our Labor Day Weekend plans came together in June after we’d decided that the featured hike at Dug Bar in Hells Canyon wasn’t going to happen (post). With us not willing to make the drive to that trailhead our quest to hike all 100 featured hikes in one of the editions of William L. Sullivan’s Eastern Oregon guidebooks (post) needed adjusting. We had been working out of his 2015 third edition of the “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Eastern Oregon”, but his 2022 “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon” did not include Dug Bar as a featured hike. While our Dug Bar problem was resolved by making the switch one of the new featured hikes was located in the Steens Mountain Wilderness in SE Oregon 350 miles from Salem. The long holiday weekend provided us an opportunity to head to Burns and pick up that featured hike.

We decided to stay in Burns, OR and planned on heading to the featured hike, Threemile Canyon, on Sunday. We picked a pair of other hikes for Saturday to fill the time before checking into our room. Our first stop was at the BLM managed Dry River Canyon Trail.

The canyon and trail are closed annually from February 1st through August 31st to protect wildlife, so this was a good option for this weekend having just recently reopened. We opted to park at the far end of the ODOT gravel area at a sign announcing the trail’s status as “Open”.

This left us with a 0.6-mile road walk to the actual trailhead but saved us from having to drive the primitive rocky road.

Open sign at the trailhead.

We set off on the dirt trail into the canyon which in the ancient past was the course of a river flowing from the former Lake Millican.

Rabbit in the sagebrush.

Some of the exposed rocks showed the work of the ancient river.

Shaped by water.

Colorful rock bands along the canyon wall.

While the canyon is closed to protect peregrine falcon nesting there were a number of other birds among the junipers. The most surprising for us were a number of Clark’s nutcrackers which we typically see at much higher elevations where their favorite food, the seeds of whitebark pines, is found.

There is a huge nest up on the cliffs.

The nest

Wren

American kestral

Tall sagebrush in the canyon.

The canyon reaches a depth of approximately 300′.

After just over 2 1/4 miles we arrived a boulder field where it appeared at first that the trail abruptly ended.

We knew the BLM map showed it continuing and eventually emerging from the canyon and curving to meet Highway 20 across from the Evens Well Trailhead

We were just about to turn back when we spotted the continuation of the trail heading to the right up some rock steps.

The trail climbed up and around the boulder field then dropped steeply back down to the canyon floor.

Skipper

I believe this is a ringlet of some sort.

Beyond the boulder field the canyon walls shortened and we were soon veering right out of the canyon onto a sagebrush plateau.

Heading toward the Evens Well Trailhead.

Looking toward the Dry River Canyon from the plateau. It was impossible to tell that there was such a deep canyon out there.

Pine Mountain (post) to the SE.

We returned to the canyon and returned the way we’d come. We started seeing a few hikers on our way back as well as a number of lizards soaking in the Sun’s rays.

The rock steps were more obvious on the way down them.

A sparrow behind the sticks the camera was intent on focusing on.

Bee on buckwheat

Arriving back at the official trailhead. Several SUVs were now parked here.

They’re hard to make out but the Middle and North Sisters were visible from the road walk back to the gravel area.

Including the road walk our hike here came in at 7.9 miles with 550′ of elevation gain.

We hopped in the car and continued East on Highway 20 to Burns. It was too early to check in so we headed for our second stop of the day at the Idlewild Loop Trail in the Malheur National Forest. There are two possible starting points for the hike. We followed the Forest Service directions in the previous link and parked at the Idlewild Campground. The other option would have been to start from the Idlewild Sno Park.
The trailhead at the campground.

Neat map at the trailhead.

The trail began by a small map along the campground road behind the big wooden map.

We followed this path approximately 100 yards to a “T” shaped junction with the Idlewild Loop Trail where we turned right.
Gold flagging on the sagebrush ahead marked the junction.

The trail followed a fence line before turning right along Highway 395.

Tiny frog

The trail crossed this gated road near the highway. A blue diamond marked the trails continuation.

One of several interpretive signs along the loop.

Squirrel

The highway was just out of sight to the left.

Big ponderosa

We initially missed the continuation of the trail toward the Sno Park and headed downhill to the campground road.

We crossed the campground road and quickly realized our mistake and backtracked.

This time we spotted the correct trail and forked right here.

From the unsigned junction we climbed for a tenth of a mile to a signed junction with the Microwave Trail.

There were lots of dragonflies in the area.

We turned right on the Microwave Trail and followed this trail downhill and once again crossed the campground road.

On the far side of the road the trail passed through a fence and followed an old roadbed gently uphill.

Golden-mantled ground squirrel already sporting some of its winter weight.

We followed the roadbed for a third of a mile before arriving at another signed junction.

We turned right here onto the Devine Summit Trail.

The Devine Summit Trail climbed gradually before leveling out and then eventually descending back to the Idlewild Loop Trail after just over a mile.

Deer in the forest.

There was a bit of blowdown to navigate along the trail.

Some maintenance had been done in the past. There were also a good number of benches along the trail, all of which were accompanied by a post with a number.

Another bench near this fence.

Ponderosa forest

White breasted nuthatch

Another post and bench.

Arriving at the Idlewild Loop on the far side of the fence.

We turned left to complete our loop and then took a right onto the spur that led back to the trailhead.

Our little loop here came to 2.7 miles with 300′ of elevation gain.

This was a very enjoyable hike and we didn’t see another person until we were back at our car and another couple pulled up to the trailhead. We both imagined ticks could be an issue at certain times of the year but on this day the coast was clear. We made the 25 minute drive back into Burns and checked into our room and prepared for another canyon hike the following day. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Dry River Canyon and Idlewild Loop

Tags Bend, blm, Burns, Devine Summit Trail, dry river canyon, Dry River Canyon Trail, Dry River Canyon Trailhead, Evens Well Trailhead, hiking, Idlewild Campground, Idlewild Loop Trail, Idlewild Sno Park, Malheur National Forest, Microwave Trail, Oregon

Central Oregon Hiking John Day Oregon Trip report

Fields Peak – 07/23/2021

Our time in John Day had come to an end and it was time to start our journey back to Salem. We were planning on visiting Heather’s parents in Bend for the night but of course we had a hike planned on the way. The hike to Fields Peak and McClellan Mountain in the Aldrich Mountains was another hike that was previously featured in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Easter Oregon” but had been moved to the back of the book in his most recent 3rd edition. We began the hike at the McClellan Mountain Trailhead after a rough final 1.2 miles of driving (high clearance vehicles recommended). The bright spot of the drive was spotting a bobcat in the road.

While the route to Fields Peak is open to OHVs the McClellan Mountain Trail, which splits off to the east after 1.5 miles is not.

The trail/OHV track begins through a barbed wire fence and heads steeply uphill, at times, 0.7 miles to a saddle.

A lone interpretive sign near the beginning of the trail.

The saddle

Sullivan mentioned that bitterroot bloomed on the ridge to the right but it was too late in the year to see any of them but I wandered out along the ridge a short distance anyway having reached the saddle ahead of Heather.

Fields Peak from the saddle.

Heather arriving at the saddle.

We had gained a little over 700′ in the first section and now the trail would gain nearly another 600′ in the 0.8 miles to the trail junction.
A rare level section.

Scarlet gilia in the middle of the OHV track.

Nearing the trail junction.

The McClellan Mountain Trail to the right.

We ignored the McClellan Mountain Trail for now and climbed another 0.8 miles gaining 700 plus more feet to the 7362′ summit of Fields Peak. The meadows along the track were way past bloom but it was evident that earlier in the year there would have been quite the wildflower display.
A peak east to McClellan Mountain and the more distant Strawberry Mountain (post).

We saw a number of these moths sleeping on the hyssop.

Hyssop and sunflowers

Paintbrush

Looking up Fields Peak.

Mountain coyote mint

Shadow of Fields Peak

Buckwheat

A few trees near the top.

Final steep pitch to the summit.

View west, Aldrich Mountain is the high point to the near right.

It was another nice morning with relatively clear skies given the fires that were (and still are) raging in Oregon.
View north

McClellan Mountain and the Strawberry Mountain Range to the east.

Logan Valley to the SE.

The view south.

We had a nice break and then headed back down. On the way several grouse startled us when they flew out of the trees as a group of raucous Clark’s nutcracker watched from the tree tops.

20210723_075245 More moths

When we reached the junction with the McClellan Mountain Trail we turned left.

Aside from being a little crowded with brush the trail was in relatively good condition with just a couple of downed trees that were easily navigated.

Over the next 2.2 miles the trail slowly lost elevation as it alternated between south and north facing hillsides via four saddles, the first of which we arrived at after 0.5 miles.
Hillside above the trail.

Sagebrush mariposa lily

Approaching the saddle where we would cross the the north side of the hill ahead.

The first saddle with Moon Mountain behind.

Looking back along the trail.

Looking back from the saddle.

The north side had a few more trees.

Looking back toward Fields Peak

We passed through a rocky section near the second saddle.

In another half mile we found ourselves passing through the second saddle and back on the south side of the ridge.
McClellan Mountain from the second saddle.

Yet another half mile of trail brought us to the third saddle. Sullivan calls this phlox saddle and there was indeed a lot of phlox present it but had been a long time since it bloomed and all of the plants were now brown and dried.
Approaching the third saddle.

The trail was again on the north facing side as it passed over a ridge leading out to Moon Mountain.
Moon Mountain

Fields Peak (center).

McClellan Mountain as we approached the fourth saddle.

As the trail descended to the fourth saddle it disappeared in the sagebrush meadow.

The good news was this fourth saddle was where the off trail route to the top of McClellan Mountain started so we simply made our way through the sagebrush to the gentlest looking slope and started up the mountain. Sullivan showed it being 1.2 miles and just under 700′ up to the 7043′ summit.
Looking back you can sort of make out the trail angling down the near hillside.

Looking up McClellan Mountain.

Earlier in the hike I had mentioned to Heather that the only real disappointment of the trip had been the lack of large wildlife (aside from the dozens of deer and lone bobcat we spotted on our drives). As we crested the first hill on our way up McClellan Mountain though we spotted a line of ungulates crossing the hillside far above us. They were far enough away that I couldn’t tell for sure if they were elk or deer but once again the zoom on our camera helped solve the mystery.
In the middle of the center hill to the left of the tree in the foreground is the line of what turned out to be 5 bull elk.

Blurry due to the elk moving and the deep zoom.

Four of the bulls stopped to look back at us.

The fifth and largest bull on top of the ridge waiting for the rest.

After watching the elk disappear over the hillside we continued on. As far as off trail hikes go this was nice and straight forward, not ever too steep, and the vegetation wasn’t too tall or thick.

An old fence line on the hill.

Fields Peak on the left, an unnamed peak in the center and Moon Mountain on the right.

False summit (there’s always at least one). After some debate we went to the left of the rock outcrop which worked out well.

Passing the rock outcrop.

Almost there.

The Greenhorn Mountains, Elkhorns, Dixie Butte and the Strawberry Mountains from left to right in the distance.

Looking back at Fields Peak

The John Day River Valley.

Logan Valley

Company at the summit.

We took another nice break at the summit before heading back the way we’d come. On the return trip we had an encounter with what we believe was our first ruffed grouse.
Passing back through Phlox Saddle.

A better look at the rocky section of trail.

Mountain coyote mint, one of only a couple with this coloration on the stems.

Butterfly and a beetle.

20210723_114437 Sagebrush mariposa lily

Ruffed grouse

A final look at McClellan Mountain.

For the second day in a row our hike came in at 12.3 miles, this time with approximately 3200′ of elevation gain.

In our five days of hiking in the area we passed a single hiker (with dogs), something that is unheard of even on weekdays on the western side of the State. We were a little concerned about ticks but we only saw two, Heather had one on her hand the first night on the Rock Creek Trail and she had a second on her tights at the end of the Canyon Mountain hike but neither had bitten her. It had been an enjoyable trip but it was time to head home. We drove to Bend and had a nice visit with Heather’s parents before leaving early the next morning for one final short hike. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Fields Peak

Tags Aldrich Mountains, Bull Elk, Fields Peak, hiking, John Day, Malheur National Forest, McClellan Mountain, McClellan Mountain Trail, Moon Mountain, Oregon, Ruffed Grouse, sagebrush mariposa lily

Central Oregon Hiking John Day Oregon Trip report

Malheur River – 06/17/2021

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 23, 2021
2 Comments on Malheur River – 06/17/2021

After a night in John Day we headed south for a day hike on the Malheur River Trail. The trail starts at Malheur Ford Trailhead where Forest Road 1651 actually does ford the river.

The Malheur, a designated Wild and Scenic River, is fed from the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness (post). The trail is 7.6 miles long running from the ford to another trailhead at Hog Flat. For our hike we planned on hiking around 6.5 miles of the trail at which point the trail would be starting the steep climb away from the river to Hog Flat. It was a pleasantly cool morning as we set off on the trail. Despite the Forest Service indicating that the trail had not been maintained it was in good shape with just a couple of trees to step over/around.
Bench near the trailhead.

Lupine along the trail.

There was plenty of river access along the way.

20210617_065036 Currant

Paintbrush and lupine along the trail.

Geraniums

Ponderosa pines

Mile markers were present (at least to mile 6) although we missed 3 & 5 on the way out. We managed to spot them on the way back though. There did seem to be a bit of a discrepancy regarding the first mile as there were two trees sporting “1”s.
First 1

Second 1

A little past the mile 1 markers the trail descended to Miller Creek where just a little water was present but it was enough to host a number of flowers.

Camas

Balsamroot, columbine, geraniums and paintbrush.

The trail did several more ups and downs sometimes rising above the river and other times dropping down to flats along it. A rocky viewpoint just before the 2 mile mark was fairly impressive.

Photo from the afternoon on the way back.

Tree marking mile 2.

Typical “obstacles” that were present along the trail.

Columbine

Cusick’s sunflower?

Balsamroot or mule’s ears?

Woodland stars

Mile 4

Right around mile five (which we missed the marker for) was a riverside meadow of wildflowers.

Salsify and geraniums

20210617_092225 Sticky cinquefoil

Swallowtail on scarlet gilia

20210617_092314 Geranium

Some sort of copper butterfly

A checkerspot

Iris

Balsamroot (or mule’s ears)

20210617_093615 A fleabane

20210617_093639 A different type of fleabane.

20210617_093941 Larkspur

20210617_094301 Rosy pussytoes

After hanging out in the meadow watching the butterflies for awhile we continued on.

Hog Flat is up on top of the hillside.

Mile 6 markers.

Cracked egg in the trail.

We passed this cairn around the 6.5 mile mark.

We turned around here shortly after passing the cairn. It appeared the trail was beginning it’s climb and we took the cairn and downed tree as signs that it was time to turn around. We did just that and headed back keeping our eyes open for the mile 3 and 5 markers.
A fritillary butterfly on an iris.

Found 5

This was a particularly tricky little muddy spot to stay dry crossing.

And there’s “3”.

Immature bald eagle. We saw it on the way out in the same area but couldn’t get a photo. This time it flew right by me, and I think it was giving me the stink eye.

Back at the trailhead.

This was a 13.5 mile out and back with a few hundred feet of elevation gain spread over the various ups and downs along the way. There were plenty of views of the river and a nice variety of wildflowers and wildlife making this a nice river hike. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Malheur River Trail

Tags Bald Eagle, hiking, Hog Flat, John Day, Malheur Ford, Malheur Ford Trailhead, Malheur National Forest, Malheur River, Oregon, Strawberry Mountain Wilderness, Wild and Scenic River, wildflowers

Hiking Oregon SE Oregon

Myrtle Creek – SE Oregon Vacation Day 7

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 19, 2018
1 Comment on Myrtle Creek – SE Oregon Vacation Day 7

**Note the 2024 Falls Fire burned over the Myrtle Creek Trail.**

With our SE Oregon vacation winding down we started our 7th day in Burns, OR. As I mentioned in a previous post our guidebooks didn’t show a lot of hiking options in the immediate area but Sullivan’s 3rd edition Easter Oregon hiking guide did have the Myrtle Creek Trail listed in the additional hikes. The trailhead was a 32 mile drive north of Burns in the Malheur National Forest near the edge of the high desert. The paved roads allowed for a roughly 35 minute drive along Highway 395 to Forest Road 31 1.1 miles north of the Idlewild Campground. The short road to the trailhead was approximately 13.1 miles up FR 31 on the left.

A quick check on the trail status on the Forest Service website showed that the trail was open but receives light use and had not been maintained. It didn’t say how long it had been since the last trail maintenance but being that it passed through a ponderosa forest we weren’t too concerned because those types of forests typically don’t have much underbrush and suffer less blowdown than forests with other types of conifers.

At the trailhead Myrtle Creek lazily meandered through a meadow.

A barbed wire fence separated the creek and the trail as we set off but near the end of the meadow the fence also ended.

Here the trail made the first of several climbs away from the creek as it passed above some exposed rocks.

There were quite a few flowers along this first stretch of trail which was just a sample of what was to follow.
Old man’s whiskers and a chocolate lily

Penstemon

Death camas

A clover

Lupine

Arnica

Large-flower triteleia

As we neared the mile and a half mark the trail descended back down to the creek to a crossing. There was a footbridge there but it looked as though it came out of a Dr. Seuss book.

It would have been easy enough to splash across the creek but sometimes you just want to keep your feet dry so we accepted the challenge of the twisted bridge and made our way across it. More flowers awaited on the far side.
Oregon sunshine

Sticky geranium

Woodland star

Columbine

Larkspur

A quarter mile after crossing Myrtle Creek we came to a sign for Crane Creek which was nearly dry (it was dry when we returned later in the day).

There were some nice scarlet gilia flowers in this area.

After another quarter mile we passed a sign for the West Myrtle Creek Trail which must be invisible because we couldn’t see any trace of it.

A short distance later we crossed West Myrtle Creek.

More flowers appeared along the creek including some yellow paint.

A little over a mile from West Myrtle Creek the trail climbed uphill via a couple of switchbacks not shown on the map. A doe and small fawn ran off into the forest as we approached a green grassy area amid the ponderosa. Around the same area we saw a squirrel and a noisy woodpecker.

A short while later we noticed a sign on a tree in the middle of grassy area. Upon closer inspection it was a sign for Arden Glade.

Beyond Arden Glade the trail returned to the meadows along the creek and continued to alternate between the meadows and the trees. Climbing up and down at least a bit each time. The further we went the fainter the trail got especially in the meadows where we often lost it completely only to rediscover it when it reentered the trees.

Just beyond the six mile mark we passed a post and what appeared to be a trail descending on the far side of the creek. We believe that was the FL Spring Trail.

The miles had been marked by small plaques on trees through mile six.

We had set a turn around time of no later than 9am for the hike. The trail was 8 miles one way and ended at private land. We had been averaging about 25 minutes a mile when we passed mile 6 and it was just after 8:15 at that point so we decided to try and reach the marker for mile 7 (assuming there was one). Just under a mile from the FL Spring Trail junction we lost the trail once again in a meadow only this time we coudn’t find a continuation of the trail amid the downed logs.

A glance at the time showed that it had been about half an hour since we’d passed mile 6 so we figured that we most likely had passed the 7 mile mark and either missed the markers or perhaps there weren’t any. After a short break and quick snack, we decided to head back. It was about ten till 9 anyway. It had been a chilly morning but it was warming up quickly on our way back and the rising temperatures brought out the butterflies.

When we were finished our GPS had us at 14.2 miles so we may well have made the 7 mile mark after all. Although the trail was faint in places it was a nice hike with a lot of solitude. It was a little strange to be hiking in a true forest again after a week in the sagebrush and junipers though.

We drove back to Burns then returned to Bend for another visit with Heather’s parents where we had some excellent pizza at Olde Town Pizza. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Myrtle Creek

Tags Arden Glade, Burns, butterflies, Crane Creek, FL Spring Trail, hiking, Malheur National Forest, Myrtle Creek, Myrtle Creek Trail, Oregon, West Myrtle Creek Trail