Wednesday, June 13, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 7
Flatiron Rock: an easy hike in the Badlands
By Craig F. Eisenbeis
Correspondent
Although we’re seeing
trails opening up in the high
country, it’s still worth tak-
ing note of alternative areas
that are (nearly) all-season
hiking destinations. After all,
not every day lends itself to
a high mountain expedition.
The Badlands Wilderness
east of Bend is always a
great place to get out and
do some free-range roam-
ing. The Oregon Badlands
Wilderness is a fairly recent
addition to our nation’s wil-
derness areas and was offi-
cially established in 2009 by
President Barack Obama.
This is the sort of hike
that can be undertaken at
the spur of the moment; and
that’s exactly what we did
on this occasion, late last
month. True, the Badlands
Wilderness is comprised of
juniper desert of the sort that
is not exactly in short supply
around Central Oregon. Still,
it’s a friendly tract of dedi-
cated land that is always just
out there waiting for you.
The hike to Flatiron Rock
is a nice little jaunt of 5.8
to 7.2 miles, depending on
which variant you travel.
The differing lengths depend
on to what extent you utilize
the Ancient Juniper Trail
option. If you skip it alto-
gether, it’s 5.8 miles; take
it just one way, and it’s 6.5.
Taking that option both ways
brings the total to 7.2; we
took a 6.5 mile one-way ver-
sion, which completes a loop
at the southern end of the
trail, thereby limiting back-
tracking on the same trail.
From the roadside trail-
head, we headed north on the
Ancient Juniper Trail, which
takes off to the left of the
trailhead kiosk. For the more
direct, shorter version, start
off by going to the right of
the kiosk. On our way back,
we would return by that
route, for the mid-distance
loop option. By way of full
disclosure, we also took the
loop trail through and around
Flatiron Rock itself, bringing
our total to about 7 miles.
Not surprisingly, the
Ancient Juniper Trail passes
many old and scenic juni-
per trees along the way and
offers interesting insight into
the desert ecosystem. The
Badlands area also features
trailside soils covered with
plant life called cryptogamic
crust. This layer of biotic
matter is composed of a
variety of living species that
include lichens, algae, fungi,
mosses, and cyanobacteria
that all share the habitat and
are collectively called cryp-
togamic crust. It is extremely
fragile.
When this cryptogamic
crust is disturbed, the soil
becomes more susceptible
to erosion; and pieces bro-
ken away from the crust are
unlikely to reattach. Minor
disturbances to the crust
may regenerate in five to
seven years. Major damage
to the crust, however may
take more than a century to
recover.
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An interesting phenom-
enon we noted along the
way was a tendency for
many of the most success-
ful juniper trees to grow atop
rock piles and outcroppings.
Obviously, the microclimatic
conditions among the rocks,
and the junipers’ ability to
send roots down into tiny
rock crevices, combine to
ensure the trees’ success.
All of these trails are flat
and easy, with plenty of two-
track mileage to walk side-
by-side. If a very short hike
is what you’re looking for,
yet another option is to just
take the loop at the south-
ern end of the trail. For the
3.1-mile loop, simply return
south to the parking lot at the
trail junction (1.9 miles from
the start), where the Ancient
Juniper Trail returns to the
Flatiron Trail. From there,
it’s only 1.2 miles back to
the parking lot.
When we hit that junc-
tion, we continued north to
the Homestead Trail junc-
tion, which we ignored to
continue north on Flatiron
for another 1.6 miles, where
we found ourselves at
Flatiron Rock. This is also
the junction of the Castle
PHOTO BY CRAIG F. EISENBEIS
Flatiron Rock is seen here at the junction of the Castle Trail.
Trail. The trail sign indicates
that the Flatiron Trail contin-
ues north, but Flatiron Rock
itself is right there on your
left. So, unless you want to
make your hike even lon-
ger, you have arrived at your
destination.
A nice little loop trail to
the left leads up into the fort-
like lava structure known as
Flatiron Rock. Ascending
the slight slope up to the
rock, we found ourselves on
a trail channeled between
lava-rock walls, with many
cracks, crevices, tiny caves,
and a jumble of interesting
rock formations. We stopped
for a leisurely lunch, then
continued to explore farther
west inside the structure.
Eventually the trail looped to
the left, around the big rock
pile, and headed back east.
By following the trail
along the contour of the rock
walls, we eventually looped
See HIKE on page 17
