Easy (around Walton Lake)
0.8-mile loop
No elevation gain
Open May to late November
Use: hikers only
Difficult (Road 42 to summit)
10 miles round trip
1720 feet elevation gain
Use: hikers, horses, bicycles
Difficult (entire trail, with shuttle)
10.5 miles one way
1720 feet elevation gain
For a sample of what's great about the Ochoco Mountains, camp beneath the ponderosa pines at Walton Lake, stroll around the shore, and then hike to the sunny wildflower fields atop Round Mountain, where views swivel from Big summit Prairie to the distant snowpeaks of the Cascades.
From Prineville, drive . . .
Walton Lake is actually a shallow 18-acre reservoir, partly covered by duckweed. It was originally dammed to provide water to miners at Scissorsville, a few miles southwest. The Izaak Walton League, a conservation group that promotes fishing, bought the water rights, improved the dam, and renamed the reservoir in 1960. . . .
This chapter is an excerpt from 100 Hikes: Eastern Oregon