Rooster Rock Trail Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Rooster Rock Trailhead (Menagerie Wilderness)
- End point: Rooster Rock Viewpoint
- Trail Log:
- Hike Type: Out and back
- Distance: 4.2 miles round trip
- High point: 3,567 feet
- Elevation gain: 2205 feet
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Seasons: April into November
- Family Friendly: No
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: No
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Hike Description
The Menagerie Wilderness, a small forested area in the South Santiam drainage, protects a singular section of the Old Cascades. Here, rock spires and arches jut out of the forested slopes, the eroded plugs of primeval volcanoes whose cones have been whittled away from erosion. Climbers have found this an intriguing challenge, and the various pillars have been given names like Rabbit Ears, Hen Rock, The Possum, Camel Head, and Turkey Monster. Most of these are only accessible to climbers only part of the year, as a six-month closure to protect nesting peregrine falcons is in effect. There are only two trails in the wilderness. The Rooster Rock Trail is the shorter but steeper approach, while the longer, more gradual Rooster Rock via Trout Creek Trail Hike, ends up in the same place, at a rocky viewpoint far above the South Santiam River.
Fill out a wilderness permit at the kiosk, and hike into lush forest along the bottom of a slope. Cross a perennial creek under young Douglas-firs and moss-draped vine maples. Here, the trail skirts private property, but soon begins its relentless rise. Traverse up under Douglas-firs and big-leaf maples. A short spur leads to a viewpoint down to the South Santiam River and the highway. Continue up the slope through salal, Oregon grape, and sword fern, and pass a trickling spring issuing next to an old Douglas-fir. Continue up, making a couple of switchbacks, to begin a lengthy traverse. Note insulator coils on some of the trees: These once carried the wire to the lookout atop Rooster Rock (Menagerie Wilderness). Walk around a mossy outcrop hosting a few madrones, and then, hiking higher, round a rocky prominence. Rhododendrons, vine maple, and bear-grass also appear in the understory. Later, pass through a slope of madrones, and traverse up to reach the Rooster Rock-Trout Creek Trail Junction, and make a right.
The trail continues to rise from the junction. Soon, you’ll enter the top end of the madrone corridor with a few attendant patches of poison oak. Switchback twice, and make a steep traverse up. You’ll glimpse Chicken Rock below through the trees, and then come to a rocky outcrop next to Rooster Rock (Menagerie Wilderness). You can make your way to the north face and note the large bolts which once held the ladders that led to an exposed lookout, dismantled in 1963, that once perched atop the Rock. For a better look up at Rooster Rock (Menagerie Wilderness), find the climber’s trail leading steeply down the east side of the rock. This will eventually allow you to get a view up the vertical south side from near the base. You can also make your way across the steep slope about 80 yards to the east to get a view of the Rooster’s Trail, a more colorful (and crumbly) climber’s destination.
From the switchback, the trail heads up through manzanita bushes to a switchback. A climber’s trail leads left. To get to the Rooster Rock Viewpoint, go right. This exposed prominence was once the site of the small staff cabin for the lookout. Nothing remains today, but there are views up the South Santiam valley. Cone Peak and Iron Mountain can be distinguished to the east. Over the ridges to the south, the snowy tops of the Three Sisters can be seen, well at least North Sister and Middle Sister. Looking north through the trees, you may make out the rocky cliffs of Panorama Point, a headland that looms above many of the other volcanic pinnacles in the wilderness.
To add a little to your hike, you can take the climber’s path that leads north along the ridge crest from the switchback below the Rooster Rock Viewpoint. Keep looking northeast through the trees to get glimpses of some of the other formations: you should be able to get partial glimpses of the Rabbit Ears, below them The Spire, and farther back Turkey Monster. This is about as good as you’re going to get. The user trail continues to a logging road and Panorama Point, but the northern area of the wilderness is closed from January 15th to July 15th to protect nesting peregrine falcons from disturbance.
This hike can be done as a hike-and-bike loop with the Rooster Rock via Trout Creek Trail Hike. Leave a bike at the Rooster Rock Trailhead, and hike to Rooster Rock from the Trout Creek Trailhead. Descend via the Rooster Rock Trail to the Rooster Rock Trailhead, and cycle back along the Santiam Highway the 2 ½ miles to the Trout Creek Trailhead. Be careful: there is not much of a verge on the highway, so keep strictly to the edge of the lane.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Sweet Home Ranger District
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Willamette National Forest
- Pacific Northwest Recreation Map Series: Willamette Cascades
Regulations or Restrictions, etc.
- Self-issued wilderness permit
- Share trail with horses
- Information kiosk
- Campgrounds nearby
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Rooster Rock Trail Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Rooster Rock Trail Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- 100 Hikes in Oregon's Central Cascades by William L. Sullivan
- Central Oregon Wilderness Areas by Donna Ikenberry Aitkenhead
- Hiking Oregon's Central Cascades by Bruce Grubbs
- Hiking Oregon's Three Sisters Country by Bruce Grubbs
- Oregon's Wilderness Areas by George Wuerthner
- 60 Hiking Trails: Central Oregon Cascades by Don & Roberta Lowe
- Oregon Hiking by Sean Patrick Hill
- Pacific Northwest Hiking by Scott Leonard & Sean Patrick Hill
More Links
- Rooster Rock Trail #3399 (USFS)
- “Rooster Rock makes for fun hike” (The Bulletin)
- Rooster Rock - Menagerie Wilderness (Oregon Wild)
- Rooster Rock (Summit Post)
- The Menagerie (Portland Rock Climbs)
- Menagerie, OR Peregrine Closure (Cascade Climbers)
- Menagerie Wilderness (USFS)
- Menagerie Wilderness (Summit Post)
- Menagerie Wilderness (Wilderness.net)
Contributors
- bobcat (creator)