Looking up at the Twin Pillars, Mill Creek Wilderness (bobcat)

• Hikes including this location:
  • Twin Pillars Hike   (TH | <—   —> | LOG)
  • Mill Creek Wilderness Loop Hike   (TH | <—   —> | LOG)

• Weather forecast: NWS/NOAA
• Maps: Oregon Hikers Maps Google Maps
• Latitude, Longitude: 44.4833, -120.5363
• Elevation: 5720 feet

Description

The Twin Pillars Trail goes just west of the Twin Pillars. This pair of 200-foot-high rocky prominences are actually rhyolite intrusions (batholiths) in the ancient strata and have been exposed over millions of years of erosion. Other rock outcroppings around are part of the same formation. The withering Hash Rock Fire in the year 2000 torched the ponderosa pine forest to the south of the pillars, making them more visible from a slope now crowded with thickets of snow brush.

Just north of the Twin Pillars is a nice flat area and a fire pit. This would be a nice place to camp, but you'd have to bring water from the North Twin Pillars Trailhead or Mill Creek.

More Links

• "Field trip guide to the middle Eocene Wildcat Mountain Caldera, Ochoco National Forest, Crook County, Oregon" (Oregon Geology)

Contributors

• retiredjerry (creator)