McKenzie River Highway August 24, 2011

What a GREAT ride this was. I covered just over 400 miles spending most of my time on Forest Service Road 19 (Aufderheide National Forest Scenic Byway) which is just outside Westfir, Oregon then on Hwy 242 (McKenzie Pass/Santiam Pass Scenic Byway) and Hwy 126 from Sisters, Oregon to Springfield, Oregon.



Office covered bridge near the start of the Aufderheide National Forest Scenic Byway


Entering the McKenzie Pass/Santiam Pass Scenic Byway at Hwy 242 & Hwy 126



Information about McKenzie Pass Scenic Byway
The Byway follows the path of an 1860s wagon route, emerging from the forest at Windy Point to a jaw-dropping vista of Mount Washington and a 65-square-mile lava flow. When you reach 5,325-foot McKenzie Pass, you're enveloped by lava on all sides. The Dee Wright Observatory, a lava rock structure constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935, and named for their foreman. From the observatory, you can take in six Cascade peaks on a clear day. You are on the boundary here of two wilderness areas: Mt. Washington to the north and Three Sisters to the south.



Three Sisters Mountians in background


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