Take a bite out of Tidbits Mountain in Blue River

Published 5:30 am Friday, August 25, 2023

(Editor’s note: A number of fires are burning around Oregon, and Tidbits Mountain Trail has temporarily closed due to the Lookout Fire, which began due to lightning strike.)

Somewhere on the spectrum of summertime leisure between strolling along a Central Oregon river and summiting a mighty Cascade peak, Tidbits Mountain beckons from its semi-lofty perch above the small town of Blue River.

Some 40 million years ago, Tidbits Mountain and the rest of the “Old Cascades” were formed by volcanic activity, and what remains today is a heavily eroded volcanic plug. The newer, higher Cascade Mountains may look down on their older siblings, but they lack the seniority and old-growth forests of their elders to the west.

Standing (sort of) tall over the Willamette National Forest like a crumbling citadel, Tidbits Mountain isn’t exactly a showcase peak. At just under a mile high and sandwiched in the Cascade foothills between Highways 126 and 20, one of its best features is its lack of popularity. On a Saturday morning in early July, my wife, our two pre-teen boys, our energetic black lab and I encountered only a handful of fellow hikers striving for its modest, 5,100-foot summit.

Don’t be fooled by its relatively short stature. Tidbits’ summit provides stunning views of nearly every major Central Oregon mountain from Mount Hood to the north to, on a particularly clear day, Diamond Peak to the south. If you’re visiting from Bend, you’ll gaze a bit longer thanks to the novelty of a west-side view of Mount Jefferson, the Three Sisters, and Mount Bachelor.

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First, however, there’s the drive and the climb. The Tidbits Mountain South Trail is a solid 20 minutes up a rough logging road from Blue River, which itself sits just over halfway on the 2½-hour journey from Bend to Eugene.

From Highway 126, turn north on Blue River Reservoir Road. Continue straight on Forest Road 1509, and travel about 8 miles of narrow logging road to a juncture with the steep, rutted, 0.2-mile-long road to the official trailhead. I was sure my 4×4 Tacoma could make the drive to the top, but we chose to park below the upper parking area and hike up to the trailhead.

That 0.2 miles will get your heart rate up in a hurry, but the trail itself eventually flattens out relative to the gravel access road. That should leave you with enough breath to gasp at the display of flora on the well-shaded first mile of the hike. We were too late in the season for the rhododendron, but Cascade lilies, bear-grass blooms and massive old-growth Douglas firs and western hemlock line the trail, which itself is often overgrown (a side-effect of low trail use).

The trail winds its way among the old growth before hitting a juncture with the Gold Hill Trail. Continue to the left and travel around the north side of the mountain, and you will skirt along a rocky, exposed ridge with stunning views along each step. Another junction (stay left) leads you to the rocky summit, where remnants of a fire lookout station are the only signs of civilization to greet you. Its 360-degree view showcases Tidbits’ twin outcropping in the foreground, a crumbling remnant of the massive mountain that Tidbits used to be.

At roughly four miles round trip, you may be forgiven for estimating the South Tidbits Trail to be longer — scrambling over fallen logs as you climb 1200 vertical feet tends to elicit that feeling. You may also be forgiven for submitting to Blue River Reservoir’s cool invitation on the drive back down.

My wife, brother-in-law, and I attempted this trail the first weekend of June, but the snowpack stopped us about a half-mile short of the summit. Wildflowers peaked in late June until mid-July, and by August the huckleberries should be ripe. If the huckleberries don’t fill you up, cool your heels at Obsidian Café in McKenzie Bridge with a microbrew and a pulled-pork sandwich. You earned it.