Rock Creek and Spanish Peak
- Moderate (Rock Creek to Fir Tree Creek)
- 7.6 miles round trip
- 620 feet elevation loss
- Open late May to mid-November
- Use: hikers, horses, bicycles
- Moderate (to rim cairn and Spanish Peak)
- 7.9-mile loop
- 1000 feet elevation gain
- Open early June to mid-November
A new trail on the crest of the Ochoco Mountains connects the views and wildflowers at Spanish Peak with a historic mining ditch along forested Rock Creek. For a day hike, try either end of this trail system. If you have a shuttle car, you can hike the entire route one way, mostly downhill.
Drive Highway 26 east of Prineville …
The trail that starts here ambles across a meadow of blue lupine and scattered pines, descends 0.4 mile to a footbridge across 15-foot-wide Rock Creek, and then follows the creek down through lovely meadows and stands of lodgepole pine.
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Drive east on gravel Road …
This chapter taken from the book 100 Hikes/Travel Guide: Eastern Oregon.