Tamolitch Pool
Tamolitch Pool
- Easy (to Tamolitch Pool)
- 4.2 miles round trip
- 200 feet elevation gain
- Open April to mid-December
- Use: hikers, bicycles
- Difficult (entire trail)
- 26.5 miles one way
- 1800 feet elevation gain
Perhaps the most astonishing part of the 26.5-mile McKenzie River Trail is the short stretch to Tamolitch Pool, where the river vanishes into a lava flow, tumbles over an eerily dry, phantom “waterfall,” and then reemerges from a small turquoise lake. The 4.2-mile walk to this pool is easy enough for hikers with children. For a serious trek—or a mountain bike ride—start at the McKenzie Ranger Station and follow the McKenzie River Trail upstream past two visitable hot springs to Tamolitch Pool.
For the easy walk, start by driving …
This chapter is an excerpt from 100 Hikes/Travel Guide: Central Oregon Cascades.