Smith Rock is one of the Oregon Seven Wonders. Smith Rock is located in central Oregon, about 30 minutes North East of Bend. It is one of the most popular tourist destination for people visiting Oregon. Smith Rock is known as a volcanic rock and also a popular location for rock climbing enthusiasts. There are also several hiking trails in Smith Rock State Park and most of the trails are quite easy with very little elevation gain.
We got to Smith Rock State Park at around 8:30AM in the morning to avoid the crowd. The parking space at Smith Rock State Park is very limited, so it is better to go there early than late. The unfortunate part is that Northwest Pass cannot be used here. We had to spend $5 to purchase a day pass. The ticketing machine is on the right side of the information center.
Smith Rock looked beautiful at early morning with the sun light shine on the side of the beautiful rock. We walked down the ridge to the bottom along the river and went across the bridge. There are few trails after crossing the bridge. The most difficult trail here is the Misery Trail that heads right up the ridge of Smith Rock. We chose to hike the Misery Trail since it is more interesting. The Misery Trail has a lot of elevation gain along the 1 mile trail. We got up to the ridge within an hour and the view from the top is beautiful. We could see the farm land on the far side and the Cascade Mountains as well.
We headed down the Misery Trail and decided to take the Summit Trail to have more fun. The Summit Trail has less people there, and it is very easy to hike. We enjoyed the scenery along the trail. After reaching the summit, we headed back down the trail and went back to the bridge by taking the Riverside Trail. The Riverside Trail is quite crowded with the rock climbing people and people with kids. The hardest part is the part heading back to the parking lot. This is a lot of elevation gain and we had to take a rest at the half way point.
Smith Rock is quite an amazing place to visit and definitely did not disappoint for being one of the Seven Wonder. We highly recommend to visit Smith Rock while visiting Bend since it is so close by. Just keep in mind to go there early to avoid the crowd and get a good parking spot.
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