day 2

salem→Tamolitch→smith rock→painted hills→bend

Day 2 of our road trip! If you can’t tell from the route of this day, we really packed it all in! We took off from Salem at 7am and headed to Tamolitch Blue Pool 2 hours away. Along the drive there are several beautiful camp spots on Detroit Lake as well as several trails that will lead you to views of Mount Jefferson. We joke that we always had 1 fail a day, and our fail was trying to find a trail that was unfortunately blocked by an active logging road. We laughed it off and headed to Tamolitch Blue Pool only 45 minutes away from our failed hiking attempt.

Stop 1: tamolitch blue pool

We arrived at Tamolitch Blue Pool trailhead at 9:30am, the parking lot was empty when we arrived. On the way out however, there was limited parking remaining since its all parallel parking on the side of the road. The hike itself was very easy, 4 miles round trip with only 300 ft of elevation, so very flat. Along your 2 mile walk to the Blue Pool you’ll see a blue river, mossy trees, and some volcanic rocks. When you arrive to the pool, there are multiple viewpoints. The water is so clear you can see every outline of the rocky bottom. The pool’s reflection is so clear mirroring the trees surrounding. We sat on some cliff rocks and had a snack as we admired the color and reflection. On the way out, the trail was very crowded so make sure to bring a mask.

cool pit stops

From Tamolitch we headed to Smith Rock State Park only 1 hour and 15 minutes away. Our drive views included several lava fields, gorgeous mountain views, several massive forests, and lakes. On the way we took 2 pit stops, one at Black Butte Ranch and another at the town of Sisters. Black Butte is a gorgeous ranch that offers places to stay, dining, and several recreational activities. We stopped because they have an amazing view of Three Finger Jack, Three Sisters, and Mount Washington across their lake. Our next stop was in the cute town of Sisters. We got sandwiches from Sisters Meat and Smokehouse that were absolutely delicious, especially their homemade cookies! On the road again we passed several farms with cattle, lambs, goats, and alpacas, and then arrived to Smith Rock.

stop 2: smith rock state park

Arriving to Smith Rock State Park feels like you’ve left the state of Oregon and landed in Arizona. The climate is hotter, drier, and you’ll notice really cool rock formations. The park has multiple trails for all experience levels. We started out doing the Rim Rock walk that goes 1 mile around the park to see the views from above. We then went into the canyon and did the 2.5 mile River Walk trail. Both are easy walks where you get great views of the canyon, river, wildflowers, and rock climbers. There are harder trails available, but given our time constraint, we enjoyed the 3.5 miles of easy walking. We still feel like we got the full experience. After our mini hikes we did the 1.5 hour drive to Painted Hills. There’s not much to see along this drive aside from Ochoco National Forest where you’ll go up and down mountain ranges until you hit Painted Hills.

Stop 3: painted hills

Painted Hills is part of John Day Fossil Beds National Park. When you get there, you’ll feel like you’ve entered outer space and landed on Mars. Absolutely incredible to see how millions of years of fossils have turned these hill sides into beautiful banded colors.If you go in the evening, the sun makes the colors pop. There are no major trails, so it’s an easy visit. We walked along the Painted Cove Trail (0.25 miles) where you can read more about how the colors of the hills formed. Make sure you always stay on the trail as the dirt is fragile. Painted Hills Overlook gives you the best view point for pictures. After we gazed at the hillside for a bit, we started our two hour drive to Bend. Also, random but fun fact I learned on this drive, if you see a tumbleweed go around it!

stop 4: bend

When we got to Bend we did the first thing anyone should do, hit up the local taco joint. We decided to sample tacos from Sancho Taco Shop. Our favorites were the Carne Asada and the Chipotle Chicken, not to mention the chips and guac were delicious. Next stop, most important, we went to get beer from Deschutes Brewery. We got the Da Shootz Pilsner and Hazy IPA. Luckily, we had friends staying in Bend the same weekend and they let us crash at their cabin for the night. We sat in the dining room watching the sunset through massive windows overlooking the Deschutes river. It was the perfect ending to our day 2 adventures!