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Turpentine Trail-Duffy Lake-Pine Ridge Loop

Distance:
20.6 Miles
Type:
Loop
Difficulty:
Strenuous
Time to Hike:
10 hours, ~18 minutes
Features:
Surface Type:
Dirt
Park:
Willamette National Forest
Town:
Sisters, Oregon
Directions:
44.553965, -121.933951
Added:
September 26, 2017
Updated:
November 27, 2017

Hike a spectacular mega-loop full of views, wildflowers, past burns, and.... an overgrown trail! Cumulative elevation gain is 3,000 feet. 

A major warning for this hike: Do NOT attempt this hike without GPS and route-finding skills. Be prepared to get scuffed, crawl on your belly under logs, step over hundreds of logs, and hike through termite-infested snags. But if you carry along a GPS, you will have a memorable adventure worth telling about, be glad you did it, (and never wish to re-do!) The views are constant throughout this hike. By providing a GPS track, you will hopefully have less issues finding the trail than I did.

Start out on the Pine Ridge TH, turn right onto the Turpentine Trail, pass under thick green forest before reaching the burn. Cross and pass under hundreds of fallen logs, descend a series of extremely overgrown switchbacks, then reach the Duffy Lake Trail as you exit the burn. Turn left at the junction, pass by Duffy Lake, re-enter the burn, pass by Mowich Lake, little Alice Lake, and cross over a pass before descending down a forested trail to Jorn Lake. Jorn Lake is the centerpiece of the popular Eight Lakes Basin. Turn left onto the Blue Lake Trail. 

Once on the Blue Lake Trail, pass Blue Lake and ascend over a burned, exposed saddle between Saddle Mountain and a lava plug, then descend down in a series of switchbacks before re-entering the forest. Turn left onto the well-graded Pine Ridge Trail and take this forested trail back to your car. To add the optional half-mile hike to Marion Mountain (extremely recommended!), once on the Pine Ridge Trail, take the Marion Mountain Trail detour. See the hiking guide on MyHikes for Marion Mountain via Pine Ridge.

Explore 4 trails near Sisters, OR

Seasons

Summer, Fall
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1,090 '

Total Change
2,849 '

Ascent
2,886 '

Descent
Turpentine Trail-Duffy Lake-Pine Ridge Loop default picture

Photo Albums

2 Trip Reports

No Star-Ratings
Trail added
September 26, 2017
Updated on
November 27, 2017
18.8 miles
June 22, 2020
This is a cool loop. I'm grateful to the first write-up as it was the only link up of these trails that I could find across all of the interwebs. This trail has a little bit of everything: great vistas, forests, burn areas, lakes, ridgelines, a few streams, etc. I found the trail relatively easier to follow then the original write-up suggests as I think the forest service has had the chance to clear some of the trees blocking the trail. There was still several blocking, but easy to navigate around or over. We went clockwise, camped near the top of marion mountain (w a great view of mt jeff) after 4+ miles the first night, then split the next part of the loop into 7ish mile days over two days. We camped around Duffy lake the second night. Only trouble was there was not a water source between Turpentine Creek and Jack Creek. Luckily Jack Creek was there for us to refill before we went over the ridge in direct sunlight. Once you descend into the lake regions you are obviously good for water. We went in late June and there were heavy mosquitoes on almost the entire trip, but that is just par for the course this time of year. Also I think the mileage is 20 only if you include up and down Marion Mountain.
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