High Desert Wonderland Approach to "Monkey Face" Rock! | Smith Rock State Park | Central Oregon | 4K

This was an EPIC day-hike in Central Oregon at Sunrise exploring the INCREDIBLE “River Trail” at Smith Rock State Park, easily a TOP 3 State Park in the entire State of Oregon in my humble opinion! This hike was timed for the epic sunrise glow on the GORGEOUS canyon faces, starting at River Trail Trailhead before sunrise and hiking parallel to Crooked River ultimately to Monkey Face and a bit beyond as my turnaround point. I explored several of the primary “side trails” aka “climbers trails” of River Trail – Morning Glory Wall, Dihedrals, Asterisk Pass, and a few others with beautiful panoramic expansive viewpoints. Weather was below freezing chilly and quite windy with a low of 29, high of 54, with beautiful classic blue clear sky. This was hiked on 11/8/2021 with fall colors in transition or full bloom, the trail was completely clear of snow, and there were NO Mosquitoes! As far as road conditions, it could not be more easy, paved roads all the way to the parking lot. In my opinion, the road most definitely DOES NOT require 4-Wheel Drive. As far as permits, the River Trail Trailhead DOES NOT require a Recreation.gov permit but IS a State Park.