Black Crater

If you’re looking for a moderately challenging hike that’s both kid- and dog-friendly with sweeping views of the Cascades and Central Oregon, then the trail up Black Crater may be the ticket. Located east of the Dee Wright Observatory at McKenzie Pass, the massive cider cone tops out at 7,250 feet above sea level.

The 3.7-mile trail gains 2,500 feet from trailhead to summit, and though it's listed as “difficult” in William Sullivan’s 101 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades, we encountered numerous frisky canines and young teenagers easily navigating the mostly forested trail to the old lookout site on the summit of Black Crater.

The trail provides a constant climb and gains elevation quickly, while keeping hikers cool through groves of mountain hemlocks, Pacific silver firs and whitebark pines. About halfway up, the trail crests a ridge through a glacier-carved valley to another ridge shoulder into open alpine country. On this day, not a mosquito was in sight.

After several switchbacks through dwarf, weather-beaten pines known as “krummholz” (crooked wood) in German, the trail follows a path through red cinders to a 30-foot chimney at the summit. For those who perservere, the views are rewarding, from Broken Top and The Three Sisters in the south to Mt. Hood in the north.