Central Oregon outdoors and trail conditions
Published 4:05 pm Thursday, October 26, 2023
Hiking and Day Use Sites
Deschutes National Forest
Bessie Butte Trail: Open
Boyd Cave Day Use Area: Open
Horse Butte Trailhead: Open; light deadfall above Swamp Wells Horse Camp near junction with Crater Rim
Pine Mountain: Open
Ochoco National Forest
Alder Springs Trailhead: Open
Cyrus Trailhead: Open
Giddy-Up Go Trailhead: Open
Gray Butte Trailhead: Open
Henderson Flat OHV Trail System: Open
Henderson Flat Staging Area: Open
Rimrock Springs Trailhead: Open
Scales Corral Trailhead: Open
Skull Hollow Trailhead: Open
Tam-A-Lau Trailhead: Open
Trail Crossing Corrals Trailhead: Open
Bend Park & Recreation Trails
Riley Ranch Nature Reserve Trails: Open
Rockridge Park Trail: Open
Bureau of Land Management
Badlands Rock Trail: Open
Black Hills ACEC: Open; climbing and geocaching are prohibited
Chimney Rock Trail: Open
Christmas Valley Sand Dunes: Open
Cline Buttes Recreation Area: Open
Crack-in-the-Ground: Open
Dry River Canyon Trail: Open
Derrick Cave: Open
Flatiron Rock Trail: Open
Fossil Lake ACEC: Open; motor vehicles and fossil collecting prohibited
Green Mountain: Open
Horny Hollow Trail: Open
Huntington Wagon Road: Open
Lost Forest: Open, vehicles restricted to designated roads only
Lower Crooked River: Open
North Fork: Open
Oregon Badlands Wilderness Tumulus Trail: Open
Redmond Caves Recreation Site: Open
Scout Camp Trail: Open
Steelhead Falls Trail: Open
Tumalo Reservoir: Open
Trout Creek Trail: Open
Oregon State Parks
Cline Falls State Scenic Viewpoint: Open
Cove Palisades State Park: Open; ABC (Deschutes) Campground, South and Middle Loops of E (Crooked River) are open, Lower Deschutes Day Use open, marina open
Fort Rock Cave: Open; cave tours available by reservation
Fort Rock State Natural Area: Open; rock scrambling Closed in southeast area to protect nesting falcons
Jasper Point: Open; boat dock closed due to repair
Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Viewpoint: Open
Prineville Reservoir State Park: Open
Smith Rock State Park: Open
Camping
Deschutes National Forest
China Hat Campground: Open
Pine Rest Campground: Open
Ochoco National Forest
Cyrus Horse Camp: Open
Dry Creek Horse Camp: Open
Haystack Reservoir Campground and Day Use Area: Open, closes Tuesday
Haystack Reservoir Group Site: Open
Haystack West Shore Campground and Day Use Area: Open, closes Tuesday
Skull Hollow Campground: Open
BLM — Prineville District
Barr Road North Staging Area: Open
Big Bend Campground: Open
Buckhorn Staging Area: Open
Castle Rock Campground: Open
Chimney Rock Campground: Open
Cobble Rock Campground: Open
Lone Pine Campground: Open
Macks Canyon Recreation Site: Open
Palisades Campground: Open
Post Pile Campground: Open
Steelhead Falls: Open; no potable water
Stillwater Campground: Open
Cycling
East of Bend trails
All trails Riding Well
Prineville and Ochoco trails
All trails Riding Well
Maston complex
All trails Sandy/Loose
Redmond trails
All trails Riding Well
Madras East Trails
E-Bikes allowed on all trails
All trails Riding Well
Fishing
Updated at 1 p.m. Oct. 26
Lower Deschutes (Pelton Dam to Columbia River): 4,680 cfs; redband trout, steelhead, whitefish
Middle Deschutes (Benham Falls to Lake Billy Chinook): 4,160 cfs; brown trout, rainbow trout; anglers should use caution on the river margins where shelf ice may be present; open year-round for trout, artificial flies and lures only, no limit on brown trout
Crooked River (below Opal Springs): 197; rainbow trout and mountain whitefish; any trout over 20 inches are considered steelhead and must be released, bull trout must be released unharmed and reported to the USFW at crookedbulltrout@fws.gov
Prineville Reservoir: 59% full; rainbow trout, small and largemouth bass, catfish, crappie, crayfish; anglers report fair fishing for trout, crappie and bass. Currently experiencing an algae bloom
Ochoco Reservoir: 32% full; rainbow trout, black crappie, smallmouth bass; fishing has been good near Ochoco Dam with reports of nice size rainbow trout
Haystack Reservoir: 76% full; rainbow and brown trout, kokanee, largemouth bass, black crappie, bluegill and bullhead catfish; slow fishing until restocked and populations rebound
Lake Billy Chinook: Bull, brown and rainbow trout, kokanee, smallmouth bass; anglers in the Deschutes arm are seeing bull, brown and rainbow trout, while a few bull trout are being caught in the Metolius arm; Tribal fishing permits are required for the Metolius; for the remainder of the reservoir, harvest is limited to one bull trout over 24 inches under the daily trout limit; anglers can now keep five kokanee in addition to daily trout limit; no bag or size limits on brown trout and bass