Monday 6/15/2020 10.88 miles with 1919ft elevation gain
Started this hike at the Big parking area across from Skull Hollow campground. Took the Cole Loop trail west. To Gray Butte Connector trail. To Gray Butte trail. To Eagles Nest summit. Then back down to do a Traverse/Scramble up peak 4240 (I believe, the trail here is hard to follow at times as it disappears in real life, but you should end up at a mossy rock formation and a small road.), followed road to the mountain top (there is a grave site on the first hill you arrive to on the SW side downhill a little. Not sure what the story is there.) via the faint at times old road (that has been burmed multiple times to prevent Vehicle traffic.) to camp (on 5720 I believe) SE of Gray Butte and Back the way we came from there. There is supposedly a trail that loops this hike (on top of peak 4240 somewhere), but we did not see any trails and didn't have the energy to do more scrambling/route finding.
Big lot across Skull Hollow campground is on National forrest land, so make sure you display your America the beautiful, NW Forrest Pass, or day pass (there is no fee pay station in the area, so have one before you arrive.) If you start here. You can also park inside the campground when open and pay a $5/day use fee to the deposit box. Day use in the campground is 8am to 5pm I believe. There are vaulted toilets here and portable toilets here when open.
There is dispersed camping available on road 1395 West of Skull Hollow campground at marked sites in the canyon and beyond (More busy Wednesday than Monday).
Skull Hollow is another great camp option, but it can be loud outside of quiet time (10pm to 6am). Skull Hollow camp is primitive. $10/day for single sites + $5 second vehicle option. $20 for a double site for either 2 RV or 2 vehicles (More busy Sunday than Wednesday).
I would not recommend this exact hike/scramble for young children. Nor is this area handicap accessible as everything is gravel or dirt road. There is also not Handicap parking.
These trails are open to dogs on leash, ATVs, bikes, horses.
Make sure you close any gates you open as this is all cattle grazing area. Watch out for horse and cow poo. Watch out for Rattlers and tick check (not sure if ticks are a thing out here, but because of the bushwacking/scrambling up to peak 4240 you'll want to do one.) when you get home. We saw no Rattlers in the area, two horse's, one motorcycle and had no ticks as our clothes are pre treated.
Lots of people in this area even mid week (maybe due to Covid, school being out or Smith Rock Camp being closed). We were surprised as it's not usually that busy.
Make sure you have maps of the area and/or pre downloaded on your phone, there are no trail markers for the majority of the way.
Bring lots of water. I had 3 litres and went through all but a quarter of my water supply. There are a small amount of troughs for livestock along road 1395 west in the canyon, but nothing after that for this route. There is little to no shade when sunny out. Not many filtration options either.
- Flowers are blooming along Gray Butte Connector trail.
- A rock formation on the Gray Butte to Burma Trail.
- The trail to Eagles Nest
- Eagles Nest summit, overlooking Smith Rock State Park.
- View of Smith Rock State Park from Eagles nest summit.
- The scramble area to peak 4240.
- Views from the scramble trail, that disappeared and reappeared at times.
- The trail becomes more prominent and less bushwack when you get to the old road up top. This would also be a gorgeous camp site.
- We also missed the trail for the scramble in this area, close to the base of the scramble. This is a water irrigation project to provide water to animals in times of drought.
- The un-marked gravesite on the SW side of peak 4240.
- More of the trail on peak 4240 and the views.
- Wild flowers
- This critter was at the false summit of Eagles nest in the rocks.