Low Snow Yields Early Access to Some of Central Oregon's High-Mountain Highways - The Source

As Chris Moor cycled toward the crest of 5,320-foot-high McKenzie Pass on a recent ride, he was stopped by a patch of snow shaded by walls of black lava rock flanking the road.

“I was not willing to trudge through the snow 100 feet,” Moor told the Source. “It was kind of cold, and I didn’t want to descend with wet feet and get cold from that.”

“You could ride through some of it, but I didn’t want to break a hip,” he added.

This type of obstacle is typical for the McKenzie Highway in spring — just not for late March, when the narrow, twisting mountain road would normally still be covered with snow. But this year, low snow has extended a window when the scenic route is free of snow but still closed to cars, a favorite time for cyclists.

“Being able to ride to the top basically a month early is pretty strange,” Moor said.

The extra riding on one of Central Oregon’s most scenic routes is one recreational side effect of this year’s abysmal snowpack. It’s left skiers with a shortened season, farmers preparing for drought conditions and communities bracing for wildfire.

Snowpack near McKenzie Pass is lower than any April at least since 1991, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Moor, a service manager with Sunnyside Sports, a bicycle and ski shop in Bend, said he often recommends McKenzie Pass to people renting bikes. The McKenzie Highway, or State Route 242, rises about 2,000 feet from Sisters to McKenzie Pass, cresting amid miles of ancient lava flows and a historic mountain observatory, threading Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters before descending through dense rainforest and landing near McKenzie Bridge.

“It’s one of the most scenic rides in Central Oregon,” Moor said.

Once the gate opens, the highway sees about 300 cars per day, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation, which maintains the road. Many cyclists then shy away because of the traffic and narrow shoulder.

But the state’s road department discourages cyclists to ride the road before it’s officially open, citing hazards like downed trees, inclement weather and lack of cell service.

“We do not open the road early for bikes before it is open to vehicles,” the state’s website for the McKenzie Highway says. “It is either closed or open to all vehicles. Under Oregon law, bicycles are considered vehicles. Signs are posted and gates are locked when the road is closed.”

Moor, who has been riding McKenzie Pass before it’s open to cars for 25 years, said the agency has seemingly grown less friendly to early-season cycling in recent years, which he attributed to bike accidents.

Still, Moor said car-free access to the McKenzie Highway is an asset for the community.

It’s very important to all of us in Central Oregon to have access to that before it opens to cars,” Moor said. “It’s scenic, it’s beautiful, it’s a great workout. It’s the thing I prefer to do with my weekends before the summer comes, that’s for sure.”

People who want to access the high country by car may also get early access to popular destinations including Elk Lake and the Three Sisters Wilderness via the Cascade Lakes Highway, or State Route 372. The Deschutes County Road Department anticipates opening a seasonal gate near Mt. Bachelor by late April or early May, a few weeks earlier than normal.

Crews recently started removing snow and ice from Cascade Lakes Highway and the seasonal road to Paulina Lake, said Kim Katchur, a spokesperson for Deschutes County.

“What usually takes about six weeks may take less than two this year,” Katchur said in an email.

Meanwhile, the reopening of another signature access road will open later than usual due to staffing issues.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department announced the delayed opening of the road to the summit of Pilot Butte, the 500-foot cinder cone in the middle of Bend. Spokesperson Jo Neihaus said the parks agency usually contracts with a company to open the road, but that’s not happening this year, and seasonal workers won’t be onboarded in time to open the road by mid-April as usual. The agency is targeting a May 1 opening date, which will be the norm going forward as long as they continue to staff the opening in-house, Neihaus said.

“We’re looking at other options,” Neihaus said. “We know people want to access Pilot Butte, especially when the weather’s this nice early on.”

The road is open year-round to pedestrians and bicycles.

As for McKenzie Pass, it’s still too early to say whether the road will open early to cars. Typically, it opens the third Monday in June.

“In some years, portions of the highway may open sooner depending on conditions,” Julie Denney, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Transportation, told the Source in an email.

The former wagon route became a state highway in 1925. Since then, the earliest opening date was March 25, 1934, and the latest was Aug. 16, 2008. In 2024, the opening was delayed until July 4 as the state finished a $4 million road project that included a fresh layer of pavement.