Each hike has a flavor of its own.

One’s heavy on the arduous. Another is weighted toward the utilitarian, i.e.: there’s a little beaver pond with big caddis-sipping brook trout at the end of the line.

The Soda Creek trail is just plain gorgeous. Eye candy for the terminally office-bound. And the trailhead is just a hop, skip and a jump – 28 miles – from Bend.

You begin the hike at the hugely popular Green Lakes Trailhead parking lot.

But instead of looping around the lot to the Green Lakes Trailhead and following the herds of humanity, you can pull in and hang a quick left to park. This trail begins on the right, close to the entrance off Cascade Lakes Highway.

There’s a kiosk where you can pay your $6 daily trail fee (on the honor system) if you forgot your annual Northwest Forest Pass. There’s also a permit to fill out (free) for the Three Sisters Wilderness.

Scribble quickly. You came here to get away from paperwork, remember?

Soda Creek Trail quickly leads you away from the drone of internal combustion and into the wilderness.

While the trail to Green Lakes, which starts from the same parking lot, is well-pounded by tens of thousands of boots every season, this path is different; it’s trodden, but you’ll find solitude here, too.

A mile or so through the woods, the trail tops a modest rise and opens out onto the kind of high mountain meadow someone might try to reproduce at a theme park, but couldn’t. With Soda Creek meandering through this broad, green park, it’s a good place to picnic, or at least linger a spell and take it all in. Wilderness Land: pay one admission at the gate and take in all the attractions free.

You can turn around here and feel like you’ve had a fine brush with nature. Or, better yet, you can continue on up the trail, searching for scenics.Within 10 minutes you’ll come to Soda Creek again.

This time, though, it’s got a head of steam up after tumbling down a falls.

Ford it carefully (you’ll get your feet wet) and on the other side you’ll be sloshing through a dark forest of mixed conifers and switchbacking up the side of a mountain.

Soon you’ll be crossing another beautiful open green space, this one a steep sidehill that should be awash in wildflowers very soon. Just around the corner, you’ll start hiking across intermittent patches of snow.

Keep going, you’ve come this far.

A close-up glimpse of Broken Top, all jagged and snow-capped, is just ahead.

The Soda Creek Trail meets Todd Lake Trail a bit farther on.

You can hook around to the lake, hang a left and loop around past Cayuse Crater and on to Green Lakes or go back the way you came.

The third option is better than it usually sounds, especially if you don’t have all day; those meadows and the commanding view from the sidehill are worth a second look.

Kind of like riding Splash Mountain a second time just to get your money’s worth.

But this is not Disneyland, it’s wilderness. And as such, it commands a respect and reverence no theme park could duplicate.

The Wilderness Act defines wilderness as an area ”untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain … with the imprint of man substantially unnoticeable … having outstanding opportunities for solitude and primitive types of recreation.”

Tread lightly.

IF YOU GO:

– GETTING THERE: From Bend, drive about 28 miles west on Cascades Lakes Highway. Sparks Lake is on the left, the Green Lakes Trailhead parking lot is on the right.

– ROUND-TRIP DISTANCE: About 2 miles if you stop and turn around at the first meadow. About 9 miles out to Todd Lake and back. The loop back to the trailhead via Green Lakes is almost 12 miles.

– DIFFICULTY: Easy to difficult, depending on distance.

– ACCESS: Hikers. Motorized vehicles and mountain bikes are not permitted in the Three Sisters Wilderness.

– PERMITS: Northwest Forest Pass required at the trailhead.

Jim Witty can be reached at 541-617-7828 or jwitty@bendbulletin.com.