Central Cascades Day-Use Permit: Jack Lake (Canyon Creek Meadows)

Jack Lake (Canyon Creek Meadows): what makes it different

Jack Lake is the permit for the trailhead at the end of a long gravel road north of Sisters, and it opens the Canyon Creek Meadows loop under the north face of Three Fingered Jack. It sells 72 day-use people a day, the largest day quota in the Mount Jefferson group.^1,2,3

Getting to the start

The Deschutes National Forest page gives the route from Sisters: about 12 miles north on Highway 20, right onto Forest Road 12 for 4 miles to where it turns to dirt as Forest Road 1230, about 2 more miles to a Y, then left onto Forest Road 1234 for about 7 miles to the dead end at the trailhead.²

Oregon Hikers calls the dirt wide and passable in any car, and warns that a phone map app may send you onto Forest Road 260, which it describes as very poor. A 2018 SoCal Hiker report saw many sedans in the lot but advised slow driving through the ruts in the last six miles of washboard gravel.^3,6

The trailhead has vault toilets and no drinking water. Parking costs $5 per vehicle or a valid recreation pass. Oregon Hikers adds picnic tables.^2,3

The first leg

The trail leaves the lot along the east side of Jack Lake and enters the Mount Jefferson Wilderness almost at once. The first stretch runs through forest burned in the 2003 B and B Complex Fire, so there is little shade and a lot of standing dead wood.^2,3,4

At the first junction you turn left, because the lower part is a one-way loop. Oregon Hikers puts Lower Canyon Creek Meadow about 2 miles from that junction, where the two sides of the loop meet, and Upper Canyon Creek Meadow about 1 mile past it.³

Terrain and difficulty

Oregon Hikers rates the hike moderate and lists it at 7.5 miles round trip with 1,560 feet of gain and a high point of 6,485 feet. Other reports measure it differently: SoCal Hiker has 7.3 miles and 1,580 feet, a 2013 loop report has 6.5 miles, and a 2017 Bend Bulletin column splits it into a 4.5-mile lower-meadow loop with 400 feet of gain and a 7.5-mile upper route with 1,400 feet.^3,6,5,4

The harder part is the climb to the saddle on the east shoulder of Three Fingered Jack. Oregon Hikers calls it steep, exposed and sometimes crumbly, adding about 1 mile and 500 feet. SoCal Hiker says the maintained trail ends near 2.5 miles, and beyond it the tread is loose scree with braided social paths where trekking poles help.^3,6

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Jack Lake (Canyon Creek Meadows), day use: 72 people a day. The Forest Service splits it 29 permits at the 10-day release and 43 at the 2-day release.¹
• 2026 daily quota at Jack Lake (Canyon Creek Meadows), overnight: 3 groups a day. One group a day comes from the full-season release and two from the 7-day release.¹

Rules specific to this entry point

The Forest Service page lists Central Cascades permits as required here from June 15 through October 15, for day and overnight use. It bans bicycles and drones in the wilderness, caps groups at fewer than 12 people and 12 head of stock, and prohibits campfires above 5,700 feet.²

Rangers ask hikers to walk the loop clockwise to spread traffic. A 2013 hiker saw a group ignoring a closed-for-restoration sign in the meadow, so stay on the marked tread.^4,3,5

Where it leads

The loop is about the meadows and the mountain. Three Fingered Jack fills the skyline above the upper meadow. About half a mile past it, Oregon Hikers places an overlook above a turquoise glacial lake, and the saddle gives views south to Mount Washington and the Three Sisters and north to Mount Jefferson.^3,4

Longer trips branch off. Wasco Lake adds 1.4 miles, all inside the burn. The Old Summit Trail #4014 junction near the end of the loop leads toward the Eight Lakes Basin.^3,2

What trip reports say

A Bend Bulletin writer who hiked in August 2017 met only a couple of other people until the upper meadow. He saw four mountain goats asleep on a cliff, and found the exposed climb and the return through burned snags hot in the early afternoon.⁴

SoCal Hiker went on August 4, 2018. Blue lupine and red paintbrush were out, two goats showed on the way down, and the saddle had a strong, cold wind that called for a shell. The author called the trail busy on weekends and suggests a weekday.⁶

A hiker on August 9, 2013 took the left fork at the junction, climbed a scree moraine out of the trees to the turquoise lake, and recorded the water near 33 degrees F with a snowbank a few yards away. Smoke from a nearby fire hid part of the mountain that day.⁵

When to go from here

Oregon Hikers lists July to September, with flowers peaking in July and August. SoCal Hiker warns that snow can lie on the upper trail into late July, and the Forest Service permit window starts June 15, so early permits can still mean snow above the meadows.^3,6,2

Compare with nearby entry points

• Marion Lake: Marion Lake, also in the Mount Jefferson group, sells 44 day-use people a day against 72 here, but 7 overnight groups against 3 here. Pick Jack Lake for an open alpine day under a peak and Marion for forest and a lake with more overnight room.¹
• Duffy Lake: Duffy Lake sells 34 day-use people a day and 7 overnight groups. Jack Lake has more than twice the day permits but fewer overnight spots.¹
• Pamelia Lake: Pamelia Lake sells only 28 day-use people a day, so it is the quieter ask on the Mount Jefferson side. Jack Lake offers 72 a day.¹

Sources

1. Central Cascades Wilderness Permit System: Quotas for Day Use and Overnight, Deschutes and Willamette National Forests, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
2. Jack Lake Trailhead, Deschutes National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
3. Canyon Creek Meadows Loop Hike, Oregon Hikers Field Guide. Read 2026-10-15.
4. Hiking Canyon Creek Meadows near Three Fingered Jack, The Bulletin (Bend), September 2017. Read 2026-10-15.
5. Ted's Hiking World: Canyon Creek Meadows, Ted Muller, August 2013. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Hiking the Canyon Creek Meadows Loop in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness, SoCal Hiker, August 2018. Read 2026-10-15.
7. Central Cascades Wilderness Permits, Willamette National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a Jack Lake (Canyon Creek Meadows) permit