Smith Rock State Park, Oregon - June 21st, 2024
It was chilly when we woke up on Friday, in the 50’s, but it warmed up fast. We spent most of the day over in Smith Rock State Park, just a 20 minute drive from Crooked River Ranch RV Park.
Smith Rock State Park is beautiful. It is situated along the Crooked River, in an area of very interesting rock formations. It looked like it was a popular spot for rock climbers.
For a hike in the park, we chose what AllTrails calls the Burma Road Loop. The loop pretty much circles the whole park. We went in the counter-clockwise direction so we could go up the steepest portion of the trail instead of going down. We deal with steepness much better going up than down. The loop includes most of the trails in the park, except for the Misery Ridge and Mesa Verde Trails. Reviews of the Misery Ridge Trail seemed to indicate that there were loose footing sections with exposure, which is not the type of trails we like to hike. We don’t mind a steep climb, but we don’t like to worry about falling.
From the parking lot, we walked the Rim Rock Trail over to the Welcome Center, then down the Canyon Trail and the Chute to reach the Crooked River. A bridge brings you across the river and to the rest of the trails. We turned right onto Wolf Tree Trail, which follows alongside the river, with steep, rock walls rising up beside us. The trail then joins the Burma Maintenance Road as the trail crosses onto BLM land.
After reaching the high point along the loop, we continued on the Summit Trail as we crossed back into the state park. The Summit Trail passes behind the rock formations before dropping down to the River Trail. Again, we were following the river, around the pointy end of the rock formations and returning to the bridge across the river.
Even though temperatures were well into the 90’s, we felt comfortable. A cool breeze combined with our clothes, dampened with sweat, kept us from feeling hot. We found a shady spot at the high point to sit and eat our lunch as we enjoyed the wonderful views of the nearby Cascade Range of mountain peaks. Near the end of the hike, Ann started getting a slight headache. Suspecting an electrolyte imbalance, she added a tablet to her water. Ever since her experience at Guadalupe Mountains National Park (Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas - August 4th - 7th, 2023), she carries electrolyte tablets in her backpack.
By the time we returned to Red Tail (our Winnebago EKKO), we had gone 7.9 miles with an elevation gain of 1270 feet which took us four hours and 40 minutes to complete. It was hike number 30 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2024.
As we started our drive back to the campground, just down the road from the state park, we spotted the Rock Hard Ice Cream shop. Of course we had to stop! The sign posted along the road said they had huckleberry ice cream. When you’re in the northwest and you see huckleberry ice cream, it is a rule that you have to have some. OK, maybe that is just our rule, but it should be everyone’s rule as well! And the huckleberry ice cream at Rock Hard is one of the best that we’ve ever had. Instead of the huckleberries being ground thoroughly, turning the ice cream purple, Rock Hard’s huckleberry is vanilla ice cream with chunks of huckleberries mixed in. Delicious! Ann had a scoop of chocolate with her scoop of huckleberry while Keith paired his with vanilla. It was a welcomed treat after a long hike.
Smith Rock State Park is a lovely place for hiking and beautiful scenery. We’re so glad we spent the day there.
Check out our related video: Smith Rock State Park, Oregon
(Ann)