The 3.6-mile loop that includes the Misery Ridge and River trails is great – natural beauty and the physical challenge of the climb. From the parking area, one walks down to the newly completed bridge over the Crooked River then the climb of roughly 1000 feet to the top. Enjoy the views on the way and once you reach the top. Continue to see multiple views of monkey face rock then down near and along the river until you are back to the bridge. It a great hike and a great park.

Wonderful experience. Easy walking on rim trail and parking lot past the visitor center. Clean, clean porta potties too $5 day use fee We were here on a 70 degree sunny day. I think in the summer would be scotching hot.

Smith Rock is absolutely amazing!! We went one day at sunset and were so thrilled with the beauty that we returned for sunrise. We hiked several easy trails, but avoided the one called “misery” which looked like it went straight uphill. The reflections in the river are gorgeous. However, you can also see 4 snow-capped mountains in the background and that too is magical.

I think this is a great place to visit if you enjoy hiking. The initial decent is a bit rough. There are several paths to choose from. We took the river trail to the left and saw several people climbing the shear face of the rock which was exciting. On our way back we saw several river otters, one that dove down in the water and brought up a fish and climbed on a rock and ate it, then did it several more times (bad day to be a fish).

Amazing and beautiful! We came back to central Oregon and enjoyed the views of Smith Rock. We are in our 60's and decided not to walk the trails, but enjoyed visiting while sitting on one of the benches there.

We did Smith Rock after spending the morning at Painted Hills. The two places are not comparable really as there you very different, but if you only have time for one, Smith Rock is the place to go. We started with the Rim Rock Trail, which gives an excellent view down into the canyon. There are some excellent photo spots. We then walked down the into the canyon and did part of the Canyon Trail. That was amazing. The bridge to the other side of the river was being repaired at the time, se we could only wander the south/east side, but it was great. We took all sorts of photos, watcher rock and boulder climbers, and wen up to the edge of the river and watched River Otters, which was really cool. The walk back up the hill was a 2 stopper for water (it was a hot day), but its worth it. We did go down to the Amphitheater Viewpoint at the end of the road to take a look too. I highly recommend. It's beautiful.

We stopped by for an hour as we have been passing through wish we had the day. The park views are amazing from the top and I wish I had the time to hike the park. We had some very high winds that came out of no ware that stopped our hike down. This is a special place