I had been noticing the Black Canyon Wilderness Trail in William Sullivan’s Eastern Oregon hiking guide for quite a while, so it worked out beautifully to stop for a short morning dayhike on our way back from Fall Mountain Lookout Tower. This 13 mile trail is supposed to be fairly difficult, but makes for an excellent summer hike criss-crossing back and forth along a creek to it’s confluence with the John Day River. We took a forest service road South out of Dayville, and after about 15 miles or so of scenic driving, had no trouble finding the pullout and trailhead on our right.
We forged the John Day River at the very beginning, and had a handful of
creek crossings to cool off our feet, which was a welcome treat in the hot July weather. The couple of miles we hiked was a lovely trail winding through the
bottom of Owl Creek canyon through pine forests, grassy patches with wildflowers, and majestic rock outcroppings towering overhead.
creek crossings to cool off our feet, which was a welcome treat in the hot July weather. The couple of miles we hiked was a lovely trail winding through the
bottom of Owl Creek canyon through pine forests, grassy patches with wildflowers, and majestic rock outcroppings towering overhead.
There were abundant birds and butterflies, and we were fortunate to have this beauty land on a thistle flower right in front of us on the trail to drink nectar for a spell.
Now that I’ve seen the first part of the trail, I’m set on coming back, and looking forward to bringing the kids for a Summer backpacking trip one of these day soon. I am feeling fortunate to live in a state where there are so many diverse areas to explore, new things to see, and enough hikes planned out to fill up a lifetime!
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