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Little Belknap Crater 9/30/06

Posted by pcauldwe (2006-10-05)

I had a great hike last weekend with my two children (8 and 11) and a friend up to the summit of Little Belknap Crater, just north of McKenzie Pass. The trail is the PCT where it crosses Hwy 242, about .4 miles west of the Dee Wright Observatory. Most of the trail is through lava fields, but toward the beginning of the trail are two "islands" which the lava flowed around. They stand out starkly against the lava field, since they are the only ground for quite some distance around with trees.

This is the second island (uphill) as seen from the first one. You can see the shadows of the trees from the first island where we were standing. Looking back down the hill from the same spot, we had a great view of Black Crater, across the pass.

The trail keeps going up from there. In fact, it keeps going up, period. Smile

However, it never gets too steep, except right at the summit. My kids didn't have any trouble, and in fact the 11 year old outpaced us all going up. It's about 2.5 miles from parking lot to summit, so while there is over 1000' of gain over those 2.5 miles, I'd call it a pretty easy hike, since the gain is gradual along the whole length. The most challenging part is actually the surface of the trail. For long stretches, the trail is covered in egg-sized lava rocks, which makes things a bit shifty. I'd suggest wearing boots. After the first island, we wove uphill towards the second...

You can really see how the lava flowed between the two islands

After you pass the second island, it's all lava field from there on up. There's absolutely no shade, so bring your hat, and plenty of water. We had temps around 80, but there was a stiff breeze the whole way, so it never felt too hot, and up at the summit it was windy enough that I put on my wind shirt.
The landscape is very lunar, with almost nothing growing on it.

There are a very few dead snags, which I can only assume have been there since being caught in the lava flow.

As we got higher, we could see our goal, the summit of Little Belknap crater. It was the only place we saw where the rocks were red instead of gray, so it really sticks out.

From the ridge up to the summit we had great views of Mt. Washington

as well as Black Butte, Black Crater, Broken Top, and Mt. Jefferson.
The only place the trail got steep was right near the top

It's worth the climb, as the views from the summit were spectacular, even on the relatively hazy day we were there. You have great views of the undulating lava fields

as well are North and Middle Sister to the South.

We had a fantastic time, and this is definitely a hike I'd do again. It was no problem for the kids, although those with bad knees or ankles might have a hard time with the big gravel on the trails.
The trail head is around 44 15' 36"N, 121 48' 33" W, ~1100 ft. of gain over 2.5 miles (one way), not too strenuous, although the terrain is a little rough. The pass is closed in the winter, so this hike is open pretty much July through October.

Re: Little Belknap Crater 9/30/06

Posted by Bill Bens (2006-10-05)

Nice trip report and photos! I've driven by the trail head several times going over the McKenzie Pass but never had time to check it out, so I enjoyed taking your "virtual hike". I was surprised to see so much snow left on the north side of Middle Sister. What was the fall color like on the more vegetated parts of the McKenzie Pass?

Re: Little Belknap Crater 9/30/06

Posted by fettster (2006-10-11)

I really need to get down to that area. In your shots the terrain looks so interesting.

In your Black Crater shot, is that where the fire was along the left, or else did you see any evidence of it from the hike? Is it possible to camp at the "islands"?

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