Saturday, November 13, 2021
While staying at Link Creek Campground at Suttle Lake I did a hike in the Metolius Preserve, hiking on the Larch Trails.
I parked at the trailhead off of Road 1216 where there is a nice map and signboard. (Trail map available here.) There’s also a sign indicating that dogs must be on-leash at all times, but this sign is ignored by many visitors, unfortunately. Both times I’ve been here I’ve seen off-leash dogs:
I went clockwise on the loop and soon crossed this footbridge:
Hiking through the ponderosas:
Big tall ponderosa:
Despite the later date, there were still some western larch trees with color on them:
Many of the trails here are old roads:
The ground was carpeted with fallen larch needles:
It was a gorgeous fall day and this was a really lovely walk. I saw no one the whole time except for at the very end where I passed a family with an off-leash dog walking past the “dogs on leash at all times” sign.
Gaia stats: 2.8 miles, 100′ elevation gain