Pat's Cabin from the knoll to the east (bobcat)

Looking down Pats Cabin Canyon to Sutton Mountain (bobcat)

Yellow-haired paintbrush (Castilleja xanthotricha), Pats Cabin Canyon (bobcat)

Old gate in Pats Cabin Canyon (bobcat)

Simpson's hedgehog cactus (Pediocactus simpsonii), Pats Cabin (bobcat)

GPS track for the route up Pats Cabin Canyon (bobcat) Courtesy: Caltopo

• Start point: Manning Pasture Trailhead
• End point: Pat's Cabin
• Hike type: In and out
• Distance: 8.6 miles
• Elevation gain: 1360 feet
• High point: 3,070 feet
• Difficulty: Moderate
• Seasons: All year
• Family Friendly: No
• Backpackable: No
• Crowded: No

Hike Description

Just west of Sutton Mountain, the area around Pats Cabin Canyon is also a wilderness study area. In 2021, Senator Jeff Merkley also proposed this area as a national monument, this proposal covering a larger area than just the two proposed wildernesses. This is typical juniper/bunchgrass/sagebrush country with gently sloping ridges and remote canyons. The hike up to Pat's Cabin first involves a crossing of Bridge Creek, which is a ford during the best season to visit (spring). The route follows a jeep road all the way to the cabin, but in many places the track is completely washed out. Also, you’ll need to carefully navigate with a topographical map so you avoid turning up some of the side canyons. This is remote country: only attempt this hike if you are experienced at off-trail navigation.

From the corral, walk across Burnt Ranch Road to a gate. Close the gate behind you after you pass through, and follow a vehicle track across a flat known as Manning Pasture. There are a couple of campsites here, and the BLM has planted aspen along Bridge Creek. A stranded bridge on the flat may be put in place later in the year but not when the creek is swollen in the spring. You’ll arrive at Bridge Creek, where there may be flagging to indicate the best route across. A plank assists you for the first few feet, and then you’ll need to bear left and then right to cross a submerged log. Even when the water levels are high in the spring, if you take the best route, you’ll only be sinking in about 15 inches (see Tips for Crossing Streams).

Wend through the willows and sagebrush to follow a wash below a fence. Cut up the side of the wash, and follow the faint trace of a jeep track into Lockwood Canyon. You’ll pass through a former gate in an old fence and then keep to the left side of the wash. Cockscomb cryptantha blooms profusely in this wash in spring. The route crosses the main wash and keeps more or less up the middle through sagebrush, rabbitbrush, bitterbrush, and juniper. You’ll see an open ridge ahead (Peak 2386 on topo maps). This is the division between Lockwood and Pats Cabin canyons. Keep to the right side of this ridge as you continue up the wash.

Head up the right side of Pats Cabin Canyon, and then cross over to the left side. Horse/mule droppings will be from hunters’ forays up here in the fall. You may also spot elk, deer, coyote, and maybe cougar sign. Soon you’ll pick up the old jeep track again on the right side of the canyon. The junipers become denser as you ascend, and in places the road bed is obliterated by debris washed down by side gullies. You’ll pass through an opening in another fence line and veer right. The jeep track is little sunken here and easier to follow. Bear right again up the open wash, and find the track again. Cut along a slope of basalt scree before crossing over the wash to pass around bitterbrush bushes above the narrower gully.

You’ll know you’re nearing Pat's Cabin when you pass above a circular stock trough below to the right. A broken pipe leads down to the trough from a fenced spring. From here, you’ll be hiking up a steeper track, passing above the spring. The route heads up to a meadow on a saddle. Pat's Cabin is above you to the right. Below the cabin, you’ll notice the borehole that supplied Pat, a fur trapper, with water. It is now capped by a rusting tin can. The cabin itself is spare, but there are still a table and a small wall shelf. Pat would have spent his winters here, driving his supplies in up the rough jeep track in the fall before any rains. Views from the cabin include the summit of Sutton Mountain and Keyes Mountain to the southeast.

Walk down the meadow below Pat's Cabin to the saddle and then ascend the little knoll directly east. Around the summit of the knoll, you’ll find healthy populations of bitterroot and hedgehog cactus, both blooming here in late May/early June. Scattered elk droppings indicate a favored spot for the local herd.

Maps

• Maps: Hike Finder
• Sutton Mountain and Pats Cabin Wilderness Study Areas (Bureau of Land Management)

Regulations or restrictions, facilities, etc.

• Unmarked route; bring a topo map
• Bridge Creek is a ford many months of the year
• Camping permitted at Manning Pasture

Trip Reports

• Search Trip Reports for Pats Cabin Canyon Hike

• Pats Cabin Canyon and other obscure trails 5-18 & 5-19-22

Related Discussions / Q&A

• Search Trail Q&A for Pats Cabin Canyon Hike

Guidebooks that cover this hike

• none

More Links

• Sutton Mountain and Pat’s Cabin Wilderness Study Areas (Bureau of Land Management)
• Sutton Mountain, Pat’s Cabin, Painted Hills Proposed Wilderness Areas (Oregon Natural Desert Association)
• Pat’s Cabin Trail (Trail Run Project)
• Sutton Complex – Painted Hills National Monument Proposal (Senator Jeff Merkley)

Contributors

• bobcat (creator)