Rockpile Lake Hike (Mt. Jefferson Wilderness)

For a beautiful wilderness lake without any crowds, Rockpile Lake is the place. It is situated right on the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) between Mt Jefferson and Three Finger Jack in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness.  It gains 2100 ft over 5.4 miles so plan for an all day outing to really enjoy it. The trail starts out gradually wandering uphill through a burned forest. Most of the trail in fact was inside the 2003 B & B forest fire. The forest is in various stages of re-growth with islands of untouched habitat. This makes for a very interesting hike and one that can be repeated yearly as the landscape changes. There are some grassy knolls and openings in the forest that provide great views of Three Finger Jack and the whole Metolius Valley.  As the trail continues up a ridge it becomes steeper and finally enters a hemlock forest. At last you reach a small pond and then Rockpile Lake. The lake has a few campsites on the east side and great picnic spots. We were up there in late September and found reds, yellows and vibrant greens. The PCT is very scenic as well if you have time to follow it out from the lake. I would suggest coming in the fall to avoid the mosquitoes that can be plentiful, and only hike in the burned portion on days without wind. It is unlikely, but dead trees can fall over the trail without much warning.  You can reach the trailhead off of Highway 20 near Santiam Pass. Turn North onto Road 12 Jack Lake Road. Follow this paved road for 4.4 miles, then turn left on road 1230 for 1.6 miles. Turn left on road 1234 for .8 miles and finally turn right on road 1235 for 3.9 to its end. The roads turn to gravel but are maintained and signed.
Molly Johnson, Bend