I spent a couple nights on the lower Metolius River
Most of it is a road walk, but there are no cars:
For a few miles it's a typical trail, sometimes close to the river:
There's a couple nice campgrounds, Perry South and Monty. They're "closed" but you can still camp there. Unfortunately, the only outhouse that's open is the one at Perry South closest to the lake.
There's a gate between Perry South and Monty but it hasn't been closed the last couple years.
Being low elevation, east of Cascades, there is much less rain there. Sometimes there's snow on the ground which makes it difficult to drive there. It got down to 25 F when I was there, it can get colder than that.
I saw a few cars driving. I saw a couple walkers at Monty. Otherwise no people.
Lower Metolius River 1/17/2021
Re: Lower Metolius River 1/17/2021
Never been here yet. I don't backpack this time of year, but the time to start is coming soon and this looks like a good early season destination. Not sure about the relative pros and cons of lower vs middle. I don't mind walking on closed dirt roads now and then, especially if I get a nice campsite next to the river. I like the feel of those drier eastern forests - still forested, but not so crowded. Looks like a 3 hour drive to the trailhead though, so got to make it worth that.
- retired jerry
- Posts: 14404
- Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Re: Lower Metolius River 1/17/2021
don't you live in The Dalles? It's not that far from there.
drive to Madras, then another 30 minutes
there's about 5 miles on closed road, but it's pretty nice
then 2 miles on trail to one of the best campsites along the river
drive to Madras, then another 30 minutes
there's about 5 miles on closed road, but it's pretty nice
then 2 miles on trail to one of the best campsites along the river