As you descend from the parking area at Smith Rock you encounter this sign, providing directions to the many hiking trails inside the park. You can see there are many options and degrees of difficulty. At this spot, you are near the River Trail, where Rooster Cogburn and Miss Eula waited in ambush for the notorious gang that killed the Army troops and stole Nitro and the Gatlin Gun. That trail, the Canyon Trail (1.6 mi) runs along the side of the river nearest the parking lot, the River Trail (2.5 mi) runs along the opposite side and is accessed from the footbridge once you get to river level.
Monkey Face, one of the more recognizable landmarks within the park, can be accessed from either the river Trail, or from Misery Ridge Trail. Some of the more daring climbers attempt this climb, and it must surely be important to them to be able to boast about standing on top of this rock spire.
For those of us less addicted to thrills, its enough to ascend misery ridge, a series of switchbacks, to the top of the rocks and gaze at the splendor of both the rock formations and the relatively flat surroundings of the park.
One of the outstanding features is called Asterisk Pass, for the balancing rock that looks like an asterisk. Well, it does to them, but to me it looks like the profile of famous cartoon character, Snoopy.
Altogether, there are approximatley 10 miles of hiking trails in the park, more than enough for a day. Best to plan at least a couple of days in the area, and remember to take water, because there is none to be found along the trails. During summer months, take the sunscreen because the light here can be intense.
Access to Smith rocks is at the Small town of Terrebonne, found between Redmond on the south and Madris on the north, on Hwy 97 in Central Oregon. The experience will not leave you unchanged
Look to
rmkunlimited.com for help in finding equipment for hiking, fishing, hunting and outdoor photography.
For more views of things wild, go to
My Kind of Wild
No comments:
Post a Comment