McKenzie River Trail

Hiking in Oregon

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Central Oregon

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Viewed 5734 times

(2 votes, 2 reviews)

Difficulty: Difficult
Length: 25 miles / 40 km
Duration: Full day

Family Friendly • Dog Friendly

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Overview: This is an amazing bike trail, one of the best in Oregon. You'll pass by beautiful lakes, 2 big waterfalls, through lava fields and through beautiful forests. We did this trip in the fall and the colors were amazing. Use the attached track for guidance. Near the end of the trip we chose to exit the trail and bike the remaining couple of miles down the road to the Ranger Station but you can stay on the trail if you'd like. At that point both the road and the trail parallel the river anyway.

Tips: Leave one car at the Mckenzie Bridge Ranger Station near the town off HWY 126 and then drive the other car and the bikes up to the start of the trip at the Clear Lake Parking area about a 20 minute drive up the road. You'll want Northwest Forest Passes for both places.

Points of Interest

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Clear Lake Starting Point

Park here. You'll need a Northwest Forest Pass. Start out on the trail heading west along the lake. You'll pass by some beautiful log shelters on your way.

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Lava Field

This is a very cool lava field with a cement path running through it. Unfortunately if you followed this track as we did you'v gone the wrong way! Turn around and head back to hook up with a forest service road. Follow this road across highway 126 and make your way towards Sahalie Falls.

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Sahalie Falls

Take a rest here and enjoy Sahalie Falls. It really is beautiful. Follow the trail down the steps in the area walking your bike (or riding if you have sweet suspension).

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Koosah Falls

You'll bike ride by the top of Koosah Falls. It definitely rivals Sahalie Falls.

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Carmen Reservoir

We biked across this wall of the reservoir to check out the views. Ultimately you'll need to double-back as the track indicates and follow the path around the reservoir to continue on.

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Famous Blue Pool

You will have noticed that the trail has left the side of the Mckenzie River by this point. This is because the entire river has dived into an ancient lava tube underground only to appear in the beautiful turquoise blue pool below you. This is one of nature's wonders.. a pool that is dumping large amounts of water out of it with no clear input to it!

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Mckenzie River Ranger Station

Your long haul ends here.

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Back to the road.

You have the option of continuing down the trail but as you can see from this particular track we did not as the trail wasn't particularly amazing beyond this point to the Ranger Station, it was getting dark fast, and we were all pretty darn tired. Your choice.

Pictures in this guide taken by: JonathanEllinger, was, JMilesMiller

Jonathan Ellinger

How does this work?

This was one of the hardest trips I've ever done, mostly because I'm not a biker. Did the entire 26 miles in 9 hours, and took two headers over the handle bars. The hardest section is from Tamolitch/Blue Pool for about a mile. It's all technical lava rock. For beginners start at Carmen Reservoir, it's a nice 14 mile ride that isn't too technical at all. Still glad to check the entire 26 miles off my list of Oregon adventures.
Visited on Jun 04, 2011

by JMilesMiller on Jun 06, 2011

I hiked the McKenzie River trail from the northern end to Tamolitch pool and back. Great backpacking trip, for sure! Hikers and bikers should keep an eye out for each other, especially on narrow parts of the trail and on slopes.

Sahalie and Koosah Falls are both gorgeous and there are trails on the opposite side of the river that are family friendly and easily accessed from the highway.
Visited on May 31, 2010

by OregonKen on May 19, 2011