Willow Creek Canyon, Madras, Oregon

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
8/26/2018	10.1 miles	4 hours 11 minutes	1,092'	24:56

Map: Day Hiking Bend and Central Oregon
Parking: See book
Directions: Hike #81, Willow Creek Canyon

Even though last night the air quality as better in Bend, when we woke up it was back to smoky. We could see that west of the Cascades was supposed to be better, but we didn't know about in the Cascades. We decided to give it a try and drove to the trailhead for Moraine Lake. Glen stepped outside, smelled the air, and decided we should hike elsewhere. He chose the Willow Creek trail in the town of Madras, where the air quality was only in the "slightly unhealthy" range. We parked next to a skate park in suburbia. The first mile was asphalt. It was steep in the beginning. I was immediately disappointed, because I'm not a fan of urban trails. There was trash and graffiti. But, eventually the hike got better and better. The hike leveled out when you get to the valley. It was a dirt and gravel trail. It was hot out, and I had dressed for the cooler mountains. This hike is an out and back - though if you had 2 cars, it could probably be a point to point hike. If you hike the whole trail as an out and back, it would be 15 miles. We hadn't packed enough water for a 15 mile hike, so we did 10 miles. As for wildlife, we saw lizards and 2 bouncing deer. This was a desert hike.

Our turnaround spot