SPORTS PULLOUT & CLASSIFIEDS INSIDE
• B SECTION • FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2021
THE REGION’S HUB FOR
OUTDOOR ADVENTURES
Each week in this section, you will find the area’s
most complete guide of what’s open and closed;
outdoor activities and events; top picks of places to
explore; conditions of hiking and biking trails,
fishing holes, water flows, camping spots, parks
and more — as well as features from outdoor
writers and field experts.
Impromptu escape
to
Chush Falls
(New wilderness permit NOT required)
Chush Falls is located along
Whychus Creek in the Three
Sisters Wilderness, just
south of Sisters.
Views of the Three Sisters
and Whychus Creek can be
found along the trail to the
falls.
Mark Morical/Bulletin photos
BY MARK MORICAL • The Bulletin
I
TRAILS
t is going to be a hiking season unlike
any other in Central Oregon.
Starting May 28, access to many of
our favorite trails in the Three Sisters
Wilderness will require a Central Cascades
Wilderness permit, purchased in advance
and subject to availability.
Gone are the days of an impromptu mid-
summer Saturday trek to the summit of
South Sister or up to Green Lakes. But most
trails in our beloved wilderness will still only
require a free, self-issue permit available at
the trailhead.
One such trail is Chush Falls. Located
south of Sisters off Forest Road 16 and along
Upper Whychus Creek, the 5-mile round-
trip hike to this beautiful waterfall is a per-
fect way to kick off the hiking season.
The trailhead is not easy to find, as it requires
driving about 6 miles on gravel forest roads.
On a cold, high-overcast morning last
week, I started the trek from the Chush Falls
Trailhead, following the path of destruction
of the 2012 Pole Creek Fire. Trees on both
sides of Whychus Creek were charred black,
and North Sister and Middle Sister rose to
the west, blanketed white with lingering
snow.
The first portion of the trail passes
through the severely scorched forest. Wide
and not at all technical, the trail — which
ascends moderately from 4,800 feet to 5,200
feet in elevation — cuts through a mixed-co-
nifer forest and crosses two small tributary
creeks.
See Chush Falls / B9