The Bend area has no shortage of amazing hiking. In fact that’s one of its best attractions, the highly diverse, spectacular menu of day hiking adventures available within a one hour drive.
Among the plethora of day hikes available around Bend, you’d be hard pressed to beat Smith Rock State Park and specifically the Misery Ridge Loop Trail. Challenging but not too long, stunning views, the Crooked River, strange rock formations, and easy access combine to make this a day hike winner.
Misery Ridge Loop Trail Basics
We’ve hiked this multiple times have tips from our trips below. But let’s start with basics.
- Location: Smith Rock State Park
- Parking and Fees: Day Use Parking Lot by the Welcome Center, $5 / Day
- Total Hike Distance: ~5 Miles
- Elevation Gain: ~1,000 feet
- Difficulty: Moderate with one Difficult Uphill Climb
- Start and End: Smith Rock Welcome Center by the Parking Lot
Hiking this Smith Rock Classic
One of the great things about this trail is the diversity of experiences despite being only around a 2-3 hour hike. You start by climbing down from the Welcome Center along the Chutes Trail to a small bridge that crosses the Crooked River, which is central to the entire park.
Once crossing the river you quickly reach the Misery Ridge Trail and you begin the strenuous, difficult switchback laden climb up to the top of Misery Ridge.
Take your time and push through, and reward yourself with amazing views along the way of the river valley and the characteristic rock formations of the valley. The ‘Picnic Lunch Wall’ and ‘Red Wall’ are continuously to your left as you climb, and you’ll gain several hundred feet of elevation.
Reaching the summit of Misery Ridge is incredibly rewarding. We stopped to rest here and ate our packed lunch.
You’ll begin to see the next cool feature of the hike (Monkey Face), and will also see several of the Cascade Peaks in the distance. Our hike day was clear and we could easily see Mount Jefferson.
The way down will be more switchbacks along the other side of the ridge. Monkey Face is prominent and you’ll probably see rock climbers here or in other parts of the park. Smith Rock SP is a premier Oregon rock climbing destination.
Oh and seeing the ‘monkey’ in Monkey Face seems to be a highly personal experience. Some people (Nicole) see it right away. Others (Glenn) don’t get it.
The Hike Down From Misery Ridge Summit
The descent is steep but not too long or strenuous. The views continue and eventually you’ll reach the next intersection with the Mesa Verde trail, where you take a left to begin the final section of this loop hike.
The Mesa Verde trail eventually merges with the River Trail, and together these trails will take your around the perimeter of the ridge, along the river and back to the starting point.
At this point you should be in cruise control, hiking a flat trail, lovely views of the river and rock formations, and keep an eye out for rock climbers. This easy peasy 2 mile stretch eventually takes you back to bridge where you started.
Final Thoughts on this Amazing Bend Day Hike
- Bring plenty of water. Its dry, partly strenuous
- Sunscreen is a good idea
- You can do this hike in reverse
- It will be crowded on weekends and vacation season
- Smith Rock has other great trails to explore. You can also camp.
- Get an annual permit if you visit Oregon State Parks frequently
