When you move to a new town, you have a whole slew of mundane tasks to endure. You’ve got to figure out which grocery store has the best selection of produce. And what day the trash and recycling needs to be at the curb. Plus, you need new doctors and dentists for the whole family. The list is endless.
So color me surprised when one of these boring tasks resulted in a great hiking recommendation! As I sat with that silly blue paper bib pinned around my neck waiting for my dentist to check out my teeth, I got talking.
I mentioned that I enjoyed hiking, and suddenly my dentist erupted with tons of recommendations. Had I hiked this local trail yet? Or that trail? As we went back and forth comparing our notes, and she gave me a one recommendation I knew I had to go out and explore immediately – the Blue Pool along the McKenzie River Trail.
Blue Pool
Tamolitch Falls (the Blue Pool’s official name) isn’t actually in Eugene. The trailhead is located on 70 miles east, just beyond the tiny town of McKenzie Bridge. Nonetheless, it seems everyone in town knows about this turquoise gem tucked into the forest.
My dentist warned me that the place was popular. In the summertime, people are out looking for that next Instagram-worthy spot to post about. And Blue Pools just happens to be one of those impressive, scenic places in Oregon.
Learning about the destination’s colossal popularity nearly caused me to avoid a visit altogether, but the dentist promised me it was worth the trip. Her advice was to get an early start. That would would help me nab a good parking spot and avoid all the 20-something wanna-be “influencers” trying to do handstands for the camera or hold ridiculous yoga poses in their skimpiest sports bra.
So, with my 14 year old son in tow, I drove out to the Tamolitch Falls Trailhead to see if the trek actually lived up to the hype.
The ride out of town took us parallel to the McKenzie River nearly the entire way, making for a stunning drive into the mountains. If there was one drawback though, it was passing entire hillsides of trees being harvested next to charred remains of homes.
Last September, the Holiday Farm Fire raged along the river destroying more than 500 homes and killing 9 people. The entire town of Blue River was wiped off the map as the fire ripped through the valley. Clean-up was slow going and, even a year later, the area remains singed and sad.
Shortly before the town of McKenzie Bridge, the tall trees resumed once again. The area was now dotted with rustic Forest Service campgrounds with names like Paradise and Limberlost and Ollalie. With no reliable cell signal, I kept my eyes peeled for Trail Bridge Reservoir because I knew the trailhead supposed to be at the far end of the lake.
Just beyond the Carmen-Smith hydroelectric powerhouse, we spotted a sign for the trailhead. Then we saw the bridge leading to a dry, dusty forest service road. A line of cars was already parked along the side of the dirt road leading to the trailhead, but it was only about 15 cars deep thanks to the early hour. We may have actually beat the crowds with our early start!
The hike would take us two miles up the McKenzie River Trail, a 26.5-mile National Recreation Trail that parallels the McKenzie River through tall conifer forests and along old lava flows.
Overall, the trail is an easy hike with a gradual incline and some small rolling hills. The first mile was nice soft dirt as it wound its way thorough the old-growth forest, providing us with a nice shady reprieve from the summer sun.
Several wooden bridges took us over larger streams running down toward the river. It felt as if we were being submerged in the forest with the sounds of birds chirping serving as a relaxing soundtrack. This hike already reminded my of my childhood adventures in the Oregon forests.
About a mile in, the trail’s tread transitioned from soft forest ground to pumice. The evidence of Oregon’s volcanic history was on full display here, and we found ourselves weaving though and around lava rocks on a regular basis as we climbed further above the river.
We were passing handfuls of people returning to the trailhead, and most of them had dogs in tow. Clearly this was the place to come with Fido! I knew that already though thanks to the occasional blue bags filled with dog poo tied up along the side of the trail. Man I hoped these hikers intend to reclaim on their “treasures” on their way back to the trailhead.
As we continued through the lava rocks, the trees were becoming a bit more spread out and the sunshine was breaking though. We caught glimpses of the river, which was now down below us thanks to the gradual climb this last mile.
Then, we could suddenly hear voices. Lots of them. Following the noise, we popped out onto a ledge overlooking a heart-shaped pool of aquamarine water so stunningly clear that it didn’t seem real. The Blue Pool sat immediately beneath the shelf in front of us.
The steep ledge of pumice and rock had to be 50 feet above the water, and there was no apparent access down to the basin. Nonetheless we could see a handful of people on the opposite side standing down near the water’s edge, while some of them dared the others to jump in.
Tamolitch Falls
After gaping at the sheer beauty of the Blue Pools, I began looking around for the waterfall, but there didn’t seem to be one. So why it was called Tamolitch Falls?
After returning home, I’d mine the internet for the answer and learned that Belknap Crater – a shield volcano in the Cascade Range – erupted about 1,500 years ago and sent lava flowing into the McKenzie River Valley. As the lava covering the valley cooled, the river carved its way around the pumice, rerouting itself and plunging the edge of this pool before continuing on.
In 1933, William Parke, a recreation engineer for the Willamette National Forest, named the cliff-rimmed basin Tamolitch, which is a Chinook word meaning bucket. In my opinion, he was spot on. A bucket or pail was a perfect description for the circle of rock walls dropping vertically toward the water.
But then fast forward to the 1960s, when the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) built a series of three dams on the river to harness the river’s power. The uppermost these dams is just a 3.5 miles upstream of the Blue Pool, resulted in the creation of the Carmen Reservoir.
The hydroelectric project also rerouted part of the river through a diversion tunnel to the Smith reservoir five miles downstream. This deprived the arm of the river that fed the falls of water, so now Tamolitch Falls only flows during extremely heavy rains or during in the spring snow melt.
If I wanted to see a waterfall on the McKenzie River these days, I’d need to head upstream above this project to Koosah Falls or Sahalie Falls instead.
Ice Cold Water
With the river mostly diverted, the pool is now primarily fed from an underground spring that seeps up through the porous lava rocks. Rumor has it this spring water is a frigid 37°F degrees too!!
We wanted to see if the water really was that cold, but there wasn’t a defined side trail from the McKenzie River Trail to the path down the slope on the opposite side. I suspect the USFS wants to discourage people from swimming in the lake (and getting hypothermia!), so they’ve refused to build an actual trail down to any access points.
After a bit of trial and error though, we figured out what thousands of other determined visitors must have done. We worked our way around the ledge above the pool toward the opposite site. And once there, we found a steep path that made its way down the hillside toward the water’s edge.
When we finally got all the way down to the pool, it was just as stunning at its surface as it was from above. Near the water’s edge, everything was an turquoise color. But the deeper the water got, the more it transitioned toward cyan then azure blue. And as the bottom drops down to 30 feet below the water’s surface, it shifts to an even deeper sapphire blue.
We dipped out hands into the water to feel it’s temperature, and sure enough, it was ice cold. So cold you could barely put your feet in before they turned painfully numb. I cannot imagine actually jumping in and taking a swim in this ice bath, but there were a few brave souls who persisted.
One of those errant fools was my 14 year old son. After begging for my permission, he stripped down to his underwear (because we didn’t think to bring our swimsuits) and shoved himself off the rocky ledge into the water. He made it about 15 feet away before immediately making a u-turn to get himself back to the dry warmth ashore.
Once back on the rocky edge of the shoreline, he quickly toweled himself off with his dry t-shirt as he shivered like a madman and his teeth chattered. Yes, the water really was THAT cold! But the experience was supposedly invigorating. Or so he says. I’ll just have to take his word on it!
We began our hike back just a large group of 20 people emerged on the ledge on the opposite side. We’d beat the crowds, but not by much!
After making our way back up to the rim and around to the trail again, we began the 2-mile trek back to the trailhead. Every 200 yards or so, we’d pass another small group of hikers heading toward the pool. The sun was now directly overhead and our stomachs were grumbling for the sack lunches waiting for us back at the car.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I have to admit my dentist was absolutely spot on. This was a nice easy hike, with a huge payoff. The pool was stunning and the experience of making our pilgrimage out there was one that will remain in our memories for a while.
If you’re thinking about visiting this spot, here’s a few recommendations:
- Wear good shoes. Although there isn’t a tremendous amount of elevation change on this 4.5-mile roundtrip trail, the tread changes considerably once you hit the section surrounded by lava rock. Protect the soles of your feet and your toes by wearing closed toe shoes with plenty of cushioning.
- Plan to arrive up early. This was the best advice we got for this trip. When we arrived, there were only 15 cars parked on the forest service road before the trailhead. By the time we made it back – less than two hours later – at least triple that number was lined up.
- If you bring a dog, pick up after it. This is my #1 pet peeve (no pun intended). I don’t get why anyone takes the effort to bag their dog’s poop, only to chuck it to the edge of the trail. Sure, maybe these “pet parents” plan to grab their bag on the way back to the trailhead, but by the time they return, how are they going to sort out which (of the many) blue poop bags is theirs? If you brought Fido on his leash, then just tie the bag to the leash. Or double bag it and tie it to the outside of your pack.
- Bring a swimsuit. If you have any intention of jumping into the water, bring a swimsuit and a towel. According to the USFS, the water really is 37 degrees. Even on the hottest summer day, the sun doesn’t get the opportunity to warm up the water because the outlet on the end of the pool drains the water right out to the river. So, if you decide to go in, you are definitely going to want to hike back to the trailhead in dry clothes.
If you’d like more information on this particular hike, here are a few links I found super helpful:
- Tamolitch Falls (US Forest Service)
- Tamolitch Pool Hike (OregonHikers.org)
- McKenzie River Trail: Trail Bridge to Tamolitch Falls (Outdoor Project)
- Blue Pool / Tamolitch Pool (Hike Oregon)
Looking for more Oregon Hiking adventures?
Check out the following posts from my blog: