Mckenzie River Trail to Tamolitch Pool

10 miles of hiking • 750' elevation gain •

We had originally planned a trip to Yellowstone for 10 days, but these plans were pleasantly interrupted by the potential expected delivery of our grandson in this time frame. So instead, we planned to stay within several hours of home by changing our plans to the Bend/La Pine area. Gratefully, our daughter-in-law gave birth to our grandson the day after our week long vacation ended!!! We were prepared to end our vacation immediately, but the timing of the birth couldn't have been better! Our grandson was born on Monday, July 6 at 3:44pm and both mom and baby have been doing well!!! Sorry for digressing.

Although it was a hot day, the Mckenzie River trail around the Fall area was cool and pleasant! We only planned on hiking south, but changed our destination to the Tamolitch Pool after bumping into some hikers. We hardly saw any hikers on the way out, and it was a pleasant forest hike past the Carmen Reservoir. All the bridge crossings were dry with plenty of shrubs, grasses and flowers growing where we expected water to be flowing. As we approached the Tamolitch Pool, the number of people and noise increased. We came around the trail and reached some cliffs, where we stood above the gorgeous Tamolitch Pool. This blue pool is deep and clear, and the view from above was breathtaking! What wasn't very nice were the HUGE number of people gathered around the pool in their swimsuits. This area felt more like a city swimming pool with yelling and screaming kids. I estimate that there were 30+ people on the shoreline and occupying the cliffs. It appeared that there must be an access trail from the nearby road as we saw none of these people on the trail. I will definitely come back here, but never when school is out!