Smith Rock State Park in central Oregon is not only a rock climber's
mecca but also a rewarding place for hikers of all types. There are numerous trails both in the rocks as well as along the Crooked River. We hiked to the top of one of the rock formations for a view of the Cascades to the southwest. From left to right you can see Bachelor Butte, Broken Top; South, Middle and North Sister. These photos were taken in Aug.,1995 and a large fire has occured in the park since, so no doubt things look different now.
View from the trail,19.5k
Going up,27.5k
View from on top,17.0k
Located northwest of Corvallis the McDonald State Forest is primarily a research forest for Oregon State University's Forestry Dept. It does contain a vast array of hiking trails and gated fire access roads for biking and horse riding. We hiked the Section 36 Loop Trail, which starts near the Peavy Arboretum entrance. This 5 mi. loop was an easy hike but very enjoyable. Most of the trail is through maturing second growth Douglas Fir forest and on this mid-May day there were wildflowers everywhere. The upper portion of this trail goes through some old-growth forest with many impressive large d. firs and a healthy understory of other species, especially moss-draped Big-leafed Maples. One section of the forest had several large d. firs with strangely formed branches including this one with a lower branch attempting to become a second tree. Another section was unusual, a Ponderosa Pine research forest. This is not a species associated with coast range forests usually. But seeds from several locations and elevations in the west had been planted here in 1928. The sources ranged from the Willamette Valley to Black Hills, South Dakota, Lassen Park in California and Nat'l Forests in Arizona and New Mexico. It is encouraging to see the amount of growing a tree can do in 70 years for many of the pines were quite large.
You can get to the MSF off HWY 99 West, north of Corvallis. The turn-off to the Peavy Arboretum is signed, turn west off the highway about 1 mi. north of the Lewisburg Ave. junction. We saw just a small portion of what the forest has to offer and there are many other trails to explore. This is a popular place since it it so close to Corvallis but we pretty much had the trail to ourselves this outing. The Oregon State University Forestry Dept. web page has more information about this forest and it's use. A location and trail map can be viewed here.
