Oregon Hikers

Lots of flowers along the hike up to the point.

Very pretty--looks like an early bloom. My recollection is that the trail to the point is on private property (Nature Conservancy) and is posted as being closed until May 1. Has that changed?

I wondered about that too. I drove by the Rowena Crest viewpoint this past Sunday and it was mobbed, so I wouldn't be surprised if ppl were ignoring the closure.

I used to go there around the first of May, but both last year and this year the blooms were several weeks earlier. I believe the Nature Conservancy wants to keep people off when the trail is muddy, but no mud either last year or this in mid April. Also, some of the trail has been reconstructed with gentler switchbacks

miah66 wrote:I wondered about that too. I drove by the Rowena Crest viewpoint this past Sunday and it was mobbed, so I wouldn't be surprised if ppl were ignoring the closure.

Yeah I drove by it on Sunday...just a complete Zoo... didn't even get out of the car, but I had fun going down to the next exit. Why can't we build more fun twisty roads?

I've completely given up on doing any gorge hikes on weekends now...

markesc wrote:

I've completely given up on doing any gorge hikes on weekends now...

We've hiked the Gorge just about every Sunday this year & have rarely seen more than 10 people outside of the trailhead, still lots of quiet places out there..

April 12, 2019: the balsamroot is not blooming yet this year, and the grass widows are mostly gone, but a lovely day!