Day 55 (September 22)
Smith Rock State Park, Oregon
After leaving Mt. Hood, we drive a couple more hours down the road, hoping to overnight close to Bend for the night. There are endless campground options in this part of Oregon, and we typically do prefer a park or backcountry setting. However, with a desperate need to do laundry, we pitch our tent at the KOA in Culver, OR instead. The family who owns and runs this place are very nice, and they even collect donations for animal rescue groups.
With limited time and a zillion great day trips to choose from, on our one full non-travel day we first head 20 minutes south to Smith Rock State Park in Terrebonne.
Smith Rock is a legendary rock climbing destination (for good reason, the park has something like a thousand climbing routes). Climbers can be seen all over the vertical rock walls within this park. Smith Rock is also a great park for hiking and trail running.
As we descend into the Crooked River Canyon, I see sages, golden grasses, and autumn wildflower blooms. I am so excited! We have loved exploring the lush forests and coastline of the Pacific Northwest for the past six weeks, yet it feels good to be back in the hot & sunny high desert.
Our eyes spy some crazy switchbacks, and we are intrigued. A quick look at the park map tells us that’s the Misery Ridge Trail. Gee, I wonder how it got that name? Let’s find out.
In the first .68 miles to the summit, we will climb approximately 900 feet in elevation. The switchback-y trail is well maintained, and is not a technical trail, just very steep.
Can you spy the (brave) people?
Again, look for the ant-sized hikers on the trail in my image below. This perspective gives you an idea of how steep the Misery Ridge Trail is.
Our hard work is rewarded with incredible views. Once one reaches the summit, there is some fun rock scrambling to do if so inclined.
The Misery Ridge Trail is shown at the top of this map, in red. Note the numerous switchbacks. Hike another .3 miles along the top of the ridge, and you will come to another awesome viewpoint.
Looking to the west and northwest presents stunning views of the park’s rock formations, the Crooked River, (which almost completely surrounds the park), and more than half a dozen tall snow-capped mountains in the Cascade Range, including the Three Sisters, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Bachelor.
Rounding the bend atop Misery Ridge, we see climbers suspended halfway up the unique Monkey Face Pinnacle.
It’s easy to see how the Monkey Face formation earned its name. To get an idea of scale, look for the tiny black dot (climber) halfway up Monkey Face.
The Misery Ridge Trail switchbacks down around Monkey Face, and connects with the Mesa Verde Trail. I find my trekking poles helpful to maintain footing while descending the Misery Ridge trail’s pebbly switchbacks and Mesa Verde’s steep grade. Very slippy here! Some hikers choose to to make this hike clockwise (we hiked counter-clockwise) so they ascend the loose pebble switchbacks and descend the more hard packed switchback and stair combination on the east side of the ridge.
At the bottom of the Mesa Ridge Trail we connect with the easy River Trail and enjoy a leisurely 2-mile walk back to the trailhead, looping around the giant rock formations. The River Trail parallels the clear Crooked River, frequented by herons and deer, fringed with blooming wildflowers, sages, cattails, and horsetail rush.
Our hike is approximately 4.2 miles long, including the moderate trail to the Misery Ridge trailhead, which is at the footbridge that crosses the Crooked River. Reach the bridge via one of three different trails (from bivouac, parking lots or visitor center).
Smith Rock State Park is almost indescribably beautiful, and of the estimated hundred state parks we have visited across the U.S., ranks in the top five for scenery and is probably my #1 for favorite state park hike.
Good to know:
- Get to the park early. This is a very busy park, and this area can get quite hot in the summertime.
- This advice is common sense but bears repeating: Wear good hiking shoes, wear sunscreen, wear a hat, and take plenty of water. Most areas of the Misery Ridge Loop are exposed to the sun.
- Be on the lookout for rattlesnakes.
- You may find trekking poles helpful for the steep parts of the Misery Ridge Loop.
- Smith Rock State Park’s trail system offers trails of every difficulty level. Keep in mind that there is an initial hike down into the river canyon (and back out) to access the trail heads, so even accessing the easy trails along the river will require some downhill and uphill hiking.
- There is a $5 park fee, payable by machine. The day use lots accept a $5 bill or credit card. Annual parking permit is available for $30, or a 2-year permit is $50.
- Smith Rock State Park is dog-friendly. Yay! Dogs are welcome on the trails, but must be on a leash.
- Some trails allow mountain biking and horseback riding.
- A walk-in bivouac area serves campers (no reservations accepted, max 14-night stay). The bivouac area has a designated parking area, with the showers, restrooms, recharging station, and common cooking area adjacent to the parking area. Tent campsites are a few hundred feet away. No campfires, RV’s or car/van sleeping are allowed.
Although 2 1/2 hours in this park really isn’t enough, we are looking forward to spending the rest of the day exploring downtown Bend, and cooling off with one of our favorite beers.
Westward We Wander 
Gorgeous pictures! I’ve just recently become wise to the beauties of eastern Oregon (through blog-reading). I had no idea!! Now it’s on the must-see list!
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Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed the photo tour! I definitely recommend putting Smith Rock & Bend (my next post) on your itinerary. We didn’t get to see much of Eastern Oregon except for the NE corner of the state on our drive in via I-84. It is definitely a different kind of pretty than the Western half of the state, but uniquely beautiful. We did drive the north-south route from Hood River to Crater Lake, then CA, but only made a few stops. I have a list of 10 more places in Central Oregon alone that I want see on the next trip (too far off!).
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Great pictures of Oregon. Not the typical stuff I’ve seen, having mostly visited around Portland and Tillamook where 2 of my nieces were born. Wonderful state.
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Thank you, Val! I had not really researched Central Oregon much, we just added this area to our itinerary based on a recommendation from friends and family who live in Portland. They knew we wanted to see Crater Lake and it made for a logical route between Mount St. Helens and Lassen National Park. I wasn’t sure what to expect in Central Oregon, and the high desert was a pretty big (beautiful) surprise. Oregon is indeed a wonderful state!
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Stunning scenery. When we first visited Oregon, I had no idea it had high desert. Hope to get back out there next year.
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I can’t wait to get back out there, though I think I’ll have to just keep dreaming and planning for it until next year. Oh well, that just gives me more time to research and add (way too many) stops to my trip itinerary!
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I’m learning once is almost never enough in a place
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Love your photos and looks like you had a beautiful day to do this hike. We were there just last week and really enjoyed it. Smith Rocks is truly worth the stop.
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Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the post! We had great weather for this hike, and I hope you enjoyed good weather for it too (hot though, right?). Smith Rock is definitely one of my favorite parks, and I’m envious of those who live close enough for day or weekend trips. I look forward to reading your post about the park 🙂
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Beautiful 🙂
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Smith Rock really is a photogenic place 🙂 I’m so happy you enjoyed this post. Thanks for visiting, Joshi!
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Fabulous photos! I just hopped over here from Cathy’s at Wanderessence, out of curiosity, and struggled up that slope with you. 🙂 🙂 Coming down definitely sounds tricky so I might have to reverse it. I run a Monday walk feature over at mine- personal episodes rather than serious walking most of the time, but I do that as well, when it cools off a little. I hope you don’t mind if I include a link to this post?
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Hi Jo! Thank you so much for visiting my blog! I apologize for my belated reply. I have been in the mountains in New Mexico without a cell signal or internet for the past 3 days. Rainy but blissful wilderness wandering nonetheless. You are welcome to include a link to any of my posts, and thank you very much! I cannot wait to dive into your blog when I return home and have a little time and internet. 🙂
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Hi Marsi 🙂 🙂 It’s good to hear from you. No hurry- enjoy the peace and quiet.
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What beautiful photos and thanks for the tour
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Thank you so much, Alice 🙂 . I’m so glad you enjoyed my photo tour of Smith Rock! Thank you for visiting and for following – I so appreciate it. I’m traveling in the mountains of New Mexico with intermittent cell service, but I look forward to diving into yours when I return home.
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You make me wish I were younger — and could do this hike again. Thanks for the memories.
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I’m so glad you enjoyed a virtual Smith Rock hike, Pat :-). Thanks so much for reading!
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What a beautiful park! Great photos, especially of the Monkey Face – it is very appropriately named.
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Thanks Sean! I’m so glad you enjoyed my photo tour. Smith Rock is quite a special place. For about 5 minutes I totally wanted to take up rock climbing after seeing the climbers on Monkey Face. That goal passed quickly 🙂
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What incredible photographs and from our home state! I came here to thank you for your recent decision to follow Learning from Dogs. Thank you!
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Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed my Smith Rock photo tour. Oregon is a stunningly beautiful state. Our few weeks exploring were not enough, and I cannot wait to get back!
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