Oregon trails · Mckenzie River National Recreation Trail
Mckenzie River National Recreation Trail
A 23.9-mile point-to-point in Oregon, with 1,717 ft of climbing. Reaches Great Spring and other hot spring/lake/spring/viewpoint/waterfall destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Great Spring (spring)
- Koosah Falls (waterfall)
- Sahalie Falls (waterfall)
- Tamolitch Falls (waterfall)
- Clear Lake (lake)
- Carmen Reservoir (lake)
- Trail Bridge Reservoir (lake)
- Sahalie Falls Viewpoint (viewpoint)
- Koosah Falls Viewpoint (viewpoint)
- Bigelow Hot Spring (hot spring)
Heads up
Getting there
MCKENZIE R. TRAILHEAD (PARADISE) — parking nearby. 44.18444, -122.08889 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:00 a.m., the sun rises at 6:30 a.m. and sets at 7:46 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:16 p.m. (PDT) — 13 h 16 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 23.9-mile route takes roughly 9 h 42 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 4:12 p.m. — 3 h 34 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Trail #301 + SANTIAM WAGON ROAD EAST + Mckenzie River National Recreation Trail — 6.5 mi loop, 1,140 ft gain
- Mckenzie River National Recreation Trail + McKenzie River Trail #3507 — 10.3 mi loop, 779 ft gain
- WATERFALLS + Mckenzie River National Recreation Trail — 2.3 mi loop, 522 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Lowder Mountain — 8.6 mi
- Pacific Crest Trail - Wif3 — 14.8 mi
- Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail — 17.8 mi
- Mcbee — 19.2 mi