McKenzie River Trail — Attraction in Sisters

One exceptional easy to moderate hike waterfall and riverside hiking trail in a deeply wooded tranquility only broken by gushing of the river. Generous roadside parking at Blue Pool trailhead. From there you either do combined 4.5 mile forward and back, or longer hike up to Sahallie and Koosah Falls and back. Clear Lake loop trail is another option. Oh and mountain bikers stay on the west side of the river. Download the map for offline navigation, as there is no cellular coverage in the corridor. Actually you must first check with McKenzie River Ranger station that the road isn’t closed due to fire etc, else you might end up doing an hour long detour through Sweet Home, OR! Bonus post: bear foot print near Little...

This trail is fairly easy, if you add distance then it will become moderate with almost no elevation. The views are incredible, you will get an opportunity to see waterfalls, rivers and boulders covered in green moss. Lots of diversity in plants and trees. Truly an incredible ecosystem. Parking is limited and on weekends is overcrowded with bikers, dogs and families. If you are seeking for a peaceful hike arrive early in the morning. After 9am the parking lot is usually full. The bathrooms are scary dirty, bring a gas mask if you plan to use them. Although this a leash only area, some pet owners completely ignore the rules. If these issues don’t bother you, this is definitely the...

We rode the 26 miles along the McKenzie River and never got bored. Waterfalls (including the Sahalie Falls), lava rock, big springs (including Blue Pool), lakes (including Clear Lake), hot springs, big trees, lots of creeks and a ton of neat little bridges! It rained the whole day and we got soaked but the trail was fine. It has a little bit of techy sections but nothing too bad. The upper MRT is prettier and more interesting than the lower but both sections are a blast. I think there was a bit more climbing on the lower section than the upper. There are cliff sections on the upper and lower. It took 6 hours to do the 26 miles but we stopped...