Gold drew 10,000 miners to Canyon City and Canyon Mountain in 1862. Today this craggy peak is part of the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness, with a scenic, well-graded trail zigzagging along the mountain’s forested flanks.

Start in Canyon City, 2 miles south of John Day on Highway 395. At the Grant County Historical Museum turn east . . .

The Canyon Mountain Trail sets off through an open forest of scattered ponderosa pines and Douglas firs.  . . .

If you’d like a longer hike . . .

This chapter is an excerpt from 100 Hikes: Eastern Oregon