CROOKED RIVER RANCH, Ore. — Birds of prey flew in circles far below as I walked along the edge of Central Oregon’s mini Grand Canyon.
At the bottom of the sheer cliff walls, hundreds of feet down, the Crooked River flowed serenely.
The Central Oregon High Desert offers some memorable locales to hike during springtime, and the Crooked River Gorge is certainly one of them.
Located just a few miles west of the Crooked River Ranch Golf Course, the Otter Bench Trailhead gives hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians access to about 8 miles of trail that highlight the 300-foot-deep, 4-mile-long gorge.
The trails, managed by the Bureau of Land Management, include newer sections and some reconstructed paths that anglers have hiked for decades to travel down the canyon walls and reach the river below. The area is best visited in the spring before daytime temperatures become uncomfortably hot in the summer and the trails become dusty.
I arrived at the trailhead on a recent Tuesday morning after about an hour’s drive from Bend. The crisp, cold morning would soon give way to desert heat.
I started the hike on the 1.7-mile Otter Bench Trail, which climbed gradually along the hillside. After rambling through rolling terrain of juniper trees and sagebrush, I eventually came to a cliffside, where surging river rapids flowed far below the towering, rugged canyon.
It seemed impossible to make my way down to the river, but the switchbacking Pink Trail, three-quarters of a mile long, makes the journey manageable for able-bodied hikers who don’t mind precipitous, rocky terrain.
When I finally made it down to the water, I soaked in the solitude and stark beauty of the canyon.
Some hiking paths in the Otter Bench trail system are moderately challenging, and some are difficult. The trails down to the rivers are the most demanding and bikes and horses are prohibited on them.
After climbing back up the steep Pink Trail, I continued on toward the Opal Canyon Trail, which leads to more dramatic canyon views and makes a loop at the south end of the trail network.
The Opal Canyon Trail was uphill and rocky, and brought me to the side of a cliff that offered views of the deep, rugged canyon and the river far below. The terrain there calls for some caution, as the trail parallels the edge of the canyon, the drop-off just a few feet away.
I continued for a mile or so, the trail leading to a higher point on the ridge that showcased even more Crooked River Gorge scenery. Eventually, the trail looped back toward the Otter Bench Trail.
Another trail in the area, the Horny Hollow Trail, is hiker-only and is closed from Feb. 1 to Aug. 31 to protect breeding wildlife that are sensitive to human activity.
I hiked briskly back toward the parking area on the Otter Bench Trail, the last half-mile mostly downhill. I had hiked about eight miles in three hours, with an elevation gain of a little more than 900 feet.
Many of the BLM trailheads near Crooked River Ranch — Otter Bench on the Crooked River and Steelhead Falls, Foley Waters and Scout Camp on the Deschutes River — are reachable via public roads.
The hiker-only Steelhead Falls and Foley Waters trails, both popular among anglers, have existed for many years but are now defined and designated by the BLM.
As summer draws closer, more Central Oregon hikers will turn their attention to the forests and mountains. But during spring, the Crooked River Gorge offers some of the most breathtaking desert scenery in the region.
This story originally appeared in the Bulletin of Bend, Ore.
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