Smith Rock State Park

Smith Rock State Park

     Going to have to redo this post when I get the chance. I was rain on twice while there. I aborted one hike and when I thought it stop for good and I thought it might be worth it to hike the short Misery Ridge trail I was rained on again. But I was able to get a few interesting photos. Along the way to Smith Rock I passed by Smith Rock Ranch where they grow pumpkins, have an annual Halloween corn maze and other activities.

Monkey Face - popular with rock climbers

     Mostly birds are abundant here with red winged blackbirds, magpies,heron and bald eagles that were just to far away for my camera.

Video from some of the trails I hike there. Aborted the Misery Ridge hike due to rain.

Cooked River Trail

Misery Ridge Trail

Trails at Sawyer Park

Sawyer Park

    If you have not been to Sawyer Park in awhile it does not just have short trails that go along the river less than a mile anymore. The Sawyer Park Trail has views of Archie Briggs canyon and views of the river most of the way. 

Also there is another trail called the Sawyer Uplands trail that across the Sawyer Park field that goes along the ridge that overlooks the park and eventually ends up at a small park above the golf course.

Lots of wildlife to observe from mostly birds to the occasional rabbit, lizard and snake. Below is a rubber boa that went across the trail.

Quail found near the end of the Fisherman Trail

Lizard that flew past me

Below is a video of the trail to give an idea how long it takes to get to some areas and what to expect, just fast forward boring parts.

Larkspur Trail - Bend

Larkspur Trail

     Larkspur Trail goes through the heart of the eastside of Bend going north and south. For a trail in the middle of the city it has a lot of scenic sights of going through slightly wooded areas with water flowing in the canal at the southern part of the trial. Often you are in sight of people's backyard,sometimes close other times you can barely see them. Sights are passing by the Pilot Butte Park and a private airport where you can see planes coming in once in awhile. The canal itself looks like a natural stream when running with little mini waterfalls. Once you leave Pilot Butte and walk under the highway to Lava Lanes the trail goes along the street until you take a left 

The video below starts at near the left side or west from Pilot Butte Middle school going toward Pilot Butte. Finally ends up at the Bend Senior Center

The video was heavily edited to take people out. Mostly what is missing is about 5 minutes walking along the base of Pilot Butte, grass area and the playground. Also parts of the trail along the sidewalk was taken out that was about a minute near Lava Lanes.

Little more info about the trail here

http://www.bendparksandrec.org/.docs/park_id/10057/pg/10463

Lava Lakes

Lava Lakes

When driving toward Lava Lakes the road splits in two. If you go to the left it takes you to the resort. Like Elk Lake there is a full dock with boats and the resort building. Even though I did not go inside my sister tells me they have a bar inside, she might have meant Elk Lake. I did not stay long to look for any trails.

 South Sister in the background.

If you take the road to the right it takes you to Little Lava Lake

Here is a small boat ramp,camp sites and also no hiking trails I could find but there was a short path that led to this sign.

 Here are the views from Little Lava lake, its twice as small as Lava Lake.

More info about Lava Lake

More info about Little Lava Lake

Hosmer Lake - Cascade Lakes

Hosmer Lake

Hosmer Lake has no hiking trails that I could find. Appears to me mostly for boating, camping and fly fishing. The sign below stresses that point

The lake appears to be a great place to boat. Looking at a map of the lake there are a lot of coves and inlets one can explore of this long and narrow lake. Like other campgrounds in this area, the trees are not full grown and provide little shade and cover.

More information about Hosmer Lake

Devil's Lake - Cascade Lakes

Devil's Lake

Devils Lake is primary a campground. There is a short trail that goes along the lake and the campsites. Maybe a good trail for kids but the trail not flat as some points with rocks to trip on and runs close to campsites that may be mostly occupied during the summer. As of June 7 most of the snow was gone on the trail except for one part, so it may take as long as late June for the trail to be open on average. There are trout to fish for and occasionally you can see schools of doing a patrol of the lake.

Sign explaining how the lake was created

 East side of the lake

North side of the lake 

South end of the lake

Video of the trail

More info about Devils Lake