Broken Top...the hike to do in BendWhen it comes to hiking, most of the time, the memory is much better than the actual hike. It's a great feeling to point to the top of a mountain peak just outside my front door and say, "I've been there" and here is the picture to prove it. But most of the time the hike isn't as much fun as the story later. Well, like I said, the Broken Top hike to the Eastern saddle from Todd Lake parking lot totally defy's that mantra. The Todd Lake trail-head is off of Cascade Lakes Highway, about 20 or so miles up the road. As you pass Mt. Bachelor it is just a little further down on your right, also known as NF-370. Drive up the dirt road about a mile and there will be parking. In our case, a lot of people hike up there just to go swim in Todd Lake. There is also another way to get to the Broken Top Trail-head, and I did it last year, but as of right now it is CLOSED, check the link to see for yourself. You take the 370 past the Todd Lake Trail-head, and yes it is a 4x4 road (I made it in my Subaru, but I do not suggest doing it yourself). Then you take the 380 left hand turn about 20 minutes up the road on your left and it tiers over into a small parking lot. However, that is not how we approached the railhead due to the closure. The hike is somewhere around 14 miles round trip, which is a little shorter than the South Sister I believe. FYI my fiancee did it in her rainbow flip-flops having forgotten her hiking shoes, she wouldn't advise it, but she made it work. So, I got the crew together. My fiancee, a few friends and my new golden retriever puppy and got on our way. It was about 4:30pm when we headed out from the trailhead and we were headed up ready to check out the sunset. The trail starts off fairly mellow as you wind your way up and around Todd Lake, which is simply gorgeous. As you ascend from Todd Lake you pass by stream after stream and head out to the west toward the Green Lakes trail. Just stay on the trail and keep cruising, it is beautiful up there, with all the streams and lakes there is a plethora of vegetation, beautifully fragile alpine flowers water for the puppy, and really cool scenery as Broken Top sits in front of you the Sisters in your peripheral and Mt. Bachelor and the Cascade Lakes Behind you. There are two small diversions on the way up the Eastside saddle of Broken Top. The first,is a left handed trail that is clearly marked, but will take you down to Soda Springs and the second is the split in the main trail take the right hand turn towards the East, do not continue to the left, you end up at Green Lakes. This turn is about 3.5 miles up the trail. This is where the trail flattens out. At this point everyone was enjoying the scenery and all that was in the area. We were able to walk, talk, and enjoy the next sections at an easy pace. Although a bit tedious, having to hike in a giant zig-zag pattern across the mountain, the hike has only two steep grades, and frankly, I don't think anyone had broken a sweat by this point. We were in complete solitude as a group. We ventured forward, crossing streams and eventually ending up next to an old canal. Just a little further down we ended up at a left hand turn and headed up towards the summit. The next three miles lead the summit. But, again even with the small steep grades I cannot emphasize this enough it is such an enjoyable and moderate-easy hike. Hike up through the trees and eventually you make it above the tree line- Ball Butte will be on your right hand side. Also, there are no more leash restrictions on this portion of the trail so my Golden, Lili got to roam free and for the first play in the snow. There are leash restrictions in the area in the picture shown due to "high traffic" from Todd Lake to Green Lakes as well as to the Broken top Trail Head to Green Lakes. But, not towards the saddle. Just a little bit of clarification because it had me confused. There is a river you will hike along for most of the rest of the trail. We stopped here to snap a photo and admire the beautiful waterfalls and alpine flowers. Once you make it above the tree line, it is time to head towards Broken Hand, the small butte to the right of Broken Top through a gorgeous valley where rivers trickle through and snow still sits in hibernation. There is a red pile of rock in front of you as you climb out of the valley and you head up towards a stream gully. This gully drops you right into what some call No-Name lake, but according to the 2008 topography map is called Ruth Lake. Ruth lake is a blast so check out some of the photo's on my photo page to see more. We decided it was worth while to jump out onto the glacier that sits in the middle of the lake where we "flipped out", literally. The trail continues past Ruth Lake and then climbs up to the saddle where you can over look almost all of Central Oregon from Sisters to the Cascade Lakes. It is an amazing view. We got to be there as the sun was setting over the mountains. The saddle is a great place to spend some time enjoying Central Oregon and a great place to take a break, because, even though the trail has been beautiful and is full of lakes, rivers, glaciers, and so much more, you still have 7 miles to hike back out. But, hey don't be worried, we did it as the sun disappeared behind the mountains. It was beautiful. We got to finish up our hike in the mountains with only headlamps to guide us. As I said before and will continue saying, if there is one hike to do in Central Oregon, it is to climb to the saddle of Broken Top. Make sure to bring your friends. It offers awesome views, great resting points, changing scenery, and an overall impression of what the Cascade Mountains are all about. Oh, and don't forget to take the right way down. There is a right at the canal, a left at the Green Lakes trail and stay left at the Soda Springs turn. Have a great hike! 5 Things to bring:
1. Your Friends-be it your pup, friends or family this is a great hike for someone who can walk 14 miles. 2. A headlamp-we like the sunrise/sunset hikes and a light is needed. 3. A backback-its always a good idea to have food, water and clothing with you on your trip. 4. A car- it is a short drive to the trail head from Bend. 5. A Camera-You are going to want to record this. I use my go-pro and Nikon d5000.
17 Comments
Andrew
9/29/2013 03:10:57 pm
Nice. That was an awesome hike!!!
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Mary
7/29/2017 11:14:10 am
Thanks for the excellent inspiration and instruction. We had a fabulous hike and we appreciate you sharing the directions!
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Torri Turner
5/17/2018 03:36:59 pm
Question about some of the instructions. We are doing this hike coming up and I was wondering if overnight camp is allowed? We wont need a campfire because we will just be using to it sleep and hike out the next day. Any suggestions would be great.
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Kylah Cook
6/11/2018 04:56:19 pm
Is the road to Todd lake very rugged?
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AuthorI'm Drew and outdoor loving, hard working, leisure loving, fun making Bendite who wants to share the world of Bend with you... Archives
September 2013
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