On a chilly, windy Wednesday afternoon in early spring it was a stroke of luck to quickly find a parking spot along the stretch of NE Crooked River Drive that serves as parking at Smith Rock State Park.

A walk up the road revealed the park’s visitor center, an unassuming green yurt at the beginning of one of the paths that lead down into the Crooked River canyon that cuts through the park. A sign on the door read, “closed.” The visitor center is easy to miss, and down in the canyon, a handful of people were enjoying a hike through one of the most stunning environments in Oregon’s High Desert.

Dozens of rock climbers were deeper in the canyon, a popular destination for climbers throughout the region.

Visitor numbers at Smith Rock have tripled since the park’s last master plan was adopted in 1991, and the increased traffic is straining Smith Rock’s limited resources.

In response to that growth, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is planning to build a new visitor center with expanded parking, and new trails and interpretive signs to make hiking more accessible, among other projects contained in a 20-year vision documented in a new park master plan. The public can provide input on the master plan through May 15.

“What we want to do is have visitors enjoy their experience here. If you show up at 10 o’clock on a beautiful Saturday in springtime, your experience might be less than enjoyable because you can’t find a parking spot,” said Matt Davey, the park manager at Smith Rock, “And when you do find a parking spot, you can’t find a map to figure out what trail you want to do, and you can’t find a ranger. And the visitor center may not be open. So, we want to change that.”

Davey said there is $4million to $6 million set aside for the visitor center, parking lot and trail accessibility projects. He said the hope is to break ground by 2025.

According to stats provided by Davey, there were an estimated 820,944 visitors to the park in 2022. In 2021, the park estimated 938,056 visitors passed through, the highest count in the park’s history. For contrast, 744,380 people visited Smith Rock in 2016.

A new welcome center: Accessibility, staffing and information

Davey said at this time, there are few accessible paths for people to enjoy, and one of the most popular trails, Misery Ridge, is too intense for many visitors, especially in the sweltering summer heat.

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Bridge replacement project to cut access at Smith Rock this summer

The new master plan includes construction of a new Rim Rock Trail around the rim of the canyon to provide more, shorter and easier hiking options for guests, Davey said.

“It would be a shorter stay at the park too, so we’d be able to turn people over a little bit faster,” Davey said. “With the new visitor center, it would be a place where people can come in, meet with park staff, and it would be staffed more consistently. It is where they can decide what they want to do with their day rather than just letting their day just happen to them.”

Currently, in the off season, there are only two full-time rangers and the park manager, Davey said. In the warmer months, that staffing increases by one part-time ranger and two assistants.

The new visitor center would also have bathrooms, a major improvement from the single undersized bathroom near the yurt, and a few composting toilets spread out throughout the park, Davey said.

In the warmer months, this picturesque location is swamped with locals and tourists, and people sometimes lose their tempers or injure themselves after venturing off into the canyon unprepared, said Sam Vanderbeek, a ranger at Smith Rock.

Vanderbeek said the main thing for him when it comes to the master plan is having a large and inviting visitor center to help direct guests who tend to wander past the yurt and down into the canyon.

“A big part of my day, especially in the busy seasons, is going and getting folks that are injured. It disrupts all the work that I do,” Vanderbeek said. “Folks go right by it (the yurt) and go right into the park and get sucked right into Misery Ridge, and they get sucked into a hike with a loop they are not really prepared to do or experienced to do.”

Having a visitor’s center and a parking lot nearby, would help guide visitors in the right direction so people can enjoy the beauty of the area in a safer and more efficient way, Vanderbeek said.

Parking at Smith Rock can be a nightmare

Parking is also a big problem at the park, Davey said, and part of the plan is to build a new parking lot, increasing capacity by about 100 spots. The new parking lot would be located near the new welcome center and could have both a reservable lot, and another first-come, first-served lot.

The plan proposes to eliminate on-street parking as well, and convert an overflow parking lot that is closed seasonally into a paved lot.

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Smith Rock’s stunning views and an ice cream parlor, Juniper Junction

Pam Potter is the co-owner along with her husband, David Potter, of Rockhard, or Juniper Junction, at Smith Rock. The Potters also run Smith Rock Climbing Guide located on NE Crooked River Drive south of the entrance and parking area at the park. Potter, who grew up in Bend and has been coming to Smith Rock for decades, said the parking situation can get difficult.

“Parking has been a problem for a long time,” Potter said. “When the park is full, people sneak over here and try and park their car in our parking lot and then just leave.”

Potter said she knows a lot of climbers who are parking in areas outside of the park and then hiking in to climb as a way to not deal with traffic and trying to find a spot. She said coming early is a must because the park does get crowded fast.

“Parking is a big deal, just because it’s a very popular place. If you don’t get here early, then you kind of lose out. Also there’s tricks to finding spots if you circle around one specific area you can often times catch people leaving.”

Potter said she goes to the park early, parks far away from the main area, and tries to hike routes that are less traveled. She said she’s optimistic about the future changes to the park she knows and loves.

“I know they’ve got their work cut out for them, and this place is just going to be more and more popular as the years come, but I’m sure they are doing their best,” Potter said.

Other features in the plan

The master plan also suggests a number of other upgrades and changes to the park.

Reservable group camping sites are proposed for the Bivouac Campground, the park’s only overnight use area that is currently first-come, first-served. The group camp area also would include dedicated parking spaces, a new restroom and shower facility and additional picnic shelters, the draft plan said.

Also suggested is the construction of additional bridges across the Crooked River at North Point and Phoenix Buttress to provide more loop options and reduce congestion elsewhere. The current single bridge in the park is a point of congestion.

Native species were also in the draft plan, with a proposal to collect data on vegetation and wildlife at the park and to take action to protect sensitive species, including closing certain habitat areas to the public.

Limiting the impact dogs, horses and bicycles have on the park environment is also proposed. Such uses could be restricted on certain trails.

Prohibiting drones and low-flying aircraft is also suggested. Currently, drones are only prohibited in the park during raptor nesting seasons. The increased use of drones could startle and potentially injure rock climbers. Drones and helicopter tours produce noise pollution that negatively impacts wildlife and can cause visitors to have a less than ideal experience, according to the plan.