November has snuck up on us.

Snow is accumulating in the high country, Mt. Bachelor is reporting a total of 40 inches of snow as of Tuesday, and some trails are now more appropriate for snowshoeing than hiking.

The list of hikes I hoped to tackle once mosquitos disappeared and snow melted will have to wait until next year. I’m not quite ready to embrace winter and all of its chilly activities (especially after wearing shorts in Florida last week), which made the Crooked River Gorge’s Otter Bench loop trail a fitting expedition last weekend.

The trail belongs to the larger Otter Bench Trail System, which consists of almost 10 miles. Two loop trails are open to hikers, mountain bikers and horses along the canyon’s bench, a strip of relatively level land, bounded by the rock walls of the gorge. Two additional short, steep paths descend into the canyon and are restricted to foot traffic: the Pink Trail, between the two loop trails, and the Lone Pine Trail, which spurs from the trailhead.

Right up until the trailhead, my husband and I drove past neighborhood homes until Horny Holly Road ended with a circle loop and a few spots for trailhead parking.

Once parked, we embarked on an out-and-back along Otter Bench Trail, tacking on a portion of the Pink Trail.

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Canyon vistas

Otter Bench is a singletrack trail with wide-open views of the Crooked River Canyon. Sagebrush, rabbitbrush and junipers line either side of the uncrowded path, where I came across just two other hikers last Sunday morning. Glancing at the opposite side of the gorge, I saw views of the basalt rimrock of the upper canyon’s edge.

But it wasn’t until we arrived at the Pink Trail that the scenery took my breath away.

The Pink Trail revealed a panoramic view of the Crooked River and the surrounding canyon with a drop-off of about 400 feet. The river below was sea green, broken up in several places by rushing whitewater.

The trail descends quickly to the bottom of the canyon with switchbacks and a section of stairs fashioned from boulders.

We were starting to feel woozy from the steep drop-offs and were hesitant to lose too much elevation, so we turned around before making it all the way to the bottom. Those willing to put in the extra effort will be rewarded with gorgeous canyon views, some of the hike’s only shade and a place to rest along the river’s edge.

Otter Bench Trail System

We returned from whence we came along Otter Bench Trail. We could have looped back to the parking lot along Horny Hollow Trail, which is currently open to non-motorized recreation, but the decommissioned dirt road offers fewer vistas than the slightly higher elevation bench trail. Horny Hollow Trail will close from Feb. 1 to Aug. 31 to protect nesting birds.

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The exposed paths of the Otter Bench Trail System make the cooler months of fall, winter and spring an ideal time to explore this area, which was designated by the Bureau of Land Management’s Prineville District in 2010.

The trail system is open year-round (aside from the aforementioned trail) and the canyon offers more solitude than nearby Smith Rock State Park. No day passes or permits required.

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I clocked in about 4 miles hiking Otter Bench and soaking in the views of the Pink Trail, but the length can be adjusted to what suits you best. For the full experience of the trail system, add the Opal Canyon Trail loop after climbing back up from the canyon on the Pink Trail.

Otter Bench is located just north of Terrebonne, a little under an hour’s drive from Bend.