McKenzie Highway 242 closed, massive land closure issued due to four wildfires

McKenzie Pass Highway 242 is closed and a massive public lands closure was issued Monday for the McKenzie Corridor, McKenzie Pass, South Santiam area and Three Sisters Wilderness due to multiple wildfires in the area.

The closure will have a major impact on recreation in the Cascade Range between Eugene and Bend, as more than 100 campgrounds, trailheads and trails, boat ramps and other recreation sites are closed. Segments of the Pacific Crest Trail are included in the closure (see details below).

The closures are due to four active and growing wildfires in the area. including the Lookout Fire (21,135 acres) and Horse Creek Fire (616 acres), which are just north and south of Highway 126 near the town of McKenzie Bridge.

The other two fires include the Pothole Fire (74 acres), which is located south of Highway 242 and the Pete's Lake Fire (300 acres) in the Three Sisters Wilderness.

"Due to very dry conditions and forecasted warmer temperatures today and tomorrow, firefighters anticipate increased fire activity," a news release said. "For the public’s safety, the Willamette and Deschutes national forests are temporarily closing all trails within the boundary outlined in the attached map. Forest Service wilderness rangers are in the area alerting anyone already camping within the closure area."

The new fires ignited following a lightning storm last week that brought more than 1,600 strikes across Western Oregon.

Highway 242 closure

Highway 242 is closed on the west side at the winter snow closure gate, 7 miles from its intersection with Highway 126, and on the east side, 14 miles east of Sisters.

That closure cuts off large parts of the Three Sisters and Mount Washington Wilderness areas, including iconic sites along the highway such as Dee Wright Observatory.

Three public lands closures in place

All totaled, there are actually three different closures in place, all in the same general area.

Separately, they include the Lookout, Bedrock and Pete's Fire closures. But they're all in generally the same area, in the Central Cascades between Eugene and Bend.

An online version of the map can be found here at https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd950391.pdf.

Trails, campgrounds and boat ramps closed from McKenzie up McKenzie Pass

The Lookout Fire closure shuts down one of Oregon's more popular areas for hiking and camping this time of year, including McKenzie Pass favorites such as Linton Lake, Proxy Falls, Obsidian Trail and Benson Lake. People who got special permits to hike those areas will be out of luck.

Closures extend up to the South Santiam area

The closure includes parts of the Highway 20 and the South Santiam Corridor, including Tombstone Pass, Iron Mountain and the Santiam Wagon Trail.

Pete's Lake Fire closure includes chunk of Three Sisters Wilderness

The Pete's Lake closure includes a large chunk of trails west of the Cascade Lakes Scenic Highway to French Pete Trailhead and Cougar Reservoir.

Pacific Crest Trail closure

A large segment of the Pacific Crest Trail is closed from the junction with Winopee Lake Trail (#16) and Elk Creek Trail (#3510) to the junction with Mirror Lakes Trail (#20).

The Pacific Crest Trail Association posted the following note about the expected closure.

"It is recommended that northbound travelers exit the PCT at Highway 58 (mile 1908.9). Southbound travelers can exit the PCT on the Mirror Lake Trail, heading southeast to the Sisters Mirror Trailhead. The closest paved road to the north where it would be convenient to leave or rejoin the PCT is Highway 20 at Santiam Pass."

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. To support his work, subscribe to the Statesman Journal. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.