Central Cascades Day-Use Permit (Scott)

Scott: what makes it different

Scott is a small lot off Forest Road 260 on the west side of McKenzie Pass, where the Scott Trail crosses Highway 242 and runs east to the Pacific Crest Trail. It is the quietest day-use door on the pass, with 16 people a day, and its overnight groups come from a pool of 7 shared with Obsidian.^1,2,3

Getting to the start

The McKenzie River Ranger District page starts from McKenzie Bridge: east on Highway 126 about 2 miles to Highway 242, then northeast 17 miles on 242 to Forest Road 260. Turn left onto 260 and take an immediate right onto a short spur to the lot.²

A 2016 Nugget column describes the same turn from the other end: from McKenzie Pass, go about 5.6 miles west and turn right at the Scott Lake turnoff. The parking lot is the next right. The Trails Club of Oregon puts the trailhead at about 4,800 feet, and the Nugget gives the same start elevation.^5,7

The Forest Service lists no drinking water at the lot and gives no restroom information. Parking is set up for stock trucks and trailers. The Scott Trail starts on the north side of Highway 242, so you cross the road on foot to begin.^2,3,5

Access ends with the winter closure of Highway 242. Recreation.gov says it traditionally opens on the third Monday in June, weather permitting.⁴

The first leg

The Scott Trail heads east from the highway, enters the Three Sisters Wilderness, passes through a meadow and lodgepole and hemlock forest, crosses an old lava flow and ends at the Pacific Crest Trail. The Forest Service lists no water along it.³

The Trails Club of Oregon counted about 5 miles on the Scott Trail to the Pacific Crest Trail, then 1 mile south to Minnie Scott Spring. The Nugget writer reached the same junction and then turned south over Opie Dilldock Pass, which he put at 6,320 feet, the high point of the loop.^7,5

Terrain and difficulty

Four trails start from this lot according to the Forest Service: the Scott Trail #3531, the Obsidian Tie Trail, the Obsidian Trail #3528 and the Pacific Crest Trail #2000. That makes it the west-side start for a long loop that uses the Scott and Obsidian trails together.^2,4

The Nugget columnist measured the loop at 13.3 miles, or 16.3 miles with an extension on the Obsidian Trail. He climbed a little over 1,500 feet to the meadow junction, and found the south side of Opie Dilldock very steep, so he advised going clockwise. A Trails Club of Oregon group called the full circuit 17 miles.^5,7

Lodgepole pine grows at low elevation and hemlock takes over higher up. The route crosses lava flows and cinder, and the Forest Service points to a viewpoint of Four In One Cone.^5,3

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Scott, day use: 16 people a day. The Forest Service splits it 6 permits at the 10-day release and 10 at the 2-day release.¹
• 2026 daily quota at Scott, overnight, Obsidian/Scott (one pool shared by both trailheads): 7 groups a day. Three groups a day come from the full-season release and four from the 7-day release. The pool is shared, so a group entering at Obsidian uses the same permits.¹

Rules specific to this entry point

Wilderness rules apply, and weed-free feed is required for stock. The Scott Trail page says Central Cascades permits are required when you reach that trail from either the Scott or the Obsidian trailheads.^2,3

Where it leads

Minnie Scott Spring, Opie Dilldock Pass, the Glacier Way connector down to a wildflower meadow, and Four In One Cone. The Trails Club group camped among trees west of the trail at the spring and used Glacier Creek where it crosses Sunshine Meadow for its second night. The Trails Club called the spring year-round with clear running water.^7,5,3

What trip reports say

A 2015 Oregon Hikers report from a mid-June day trip started at 12:30 p.m. with a 5 p.m. turnaround. Beargrass was already blooming, with the summer meadow about two months early. He saw one couple all day and then a crowded trailhead. Mosquitoes started at the meadow but were milder than at Mount Jefferson a few days earlier.⁶

The Nugget columnist met no hikers inside the limited-entry area on his loop. He warned that wildflowers peak in early summer and that mountain weather can turn fast, and he noted a small seasonal stream in the Pacific Crest Trail meadow that dries up late in the season.⁵

The Trails Club of Oregon found its trails in excellent shape, with only a few easy snow patches high up near Arrowhead Lake and a light frost on the second morning.⁷

When to go from here

Here the first constraint is the highway, which reopens around the third Monday in June. After that, the snow patches and mosquito reports in these trips point to July and later, with water the main worry: the Nugget writer flagged the seasonal stream drying up, and the Forest Service lists none on the Scott Trail itself.^4,6,5,3

Compare with nearby entry points

• Obsidian: Obsidian is the other Highway 242 start and takes 33 day-use people against 16 here. Both trailheads draw from one pool of 7 overnight groups. A connector off the Obsidian Trail leads to the Scott Trail, so the same long loop can start at either lot.^1,5
• Lava Camp: Lava Camp Lake sits closer to the pass and sells 50 day-use people a day and 4 overnight groups of its own. Its trails run south to the Matthieu Lakes, while the Scott Trail runs east to the Pacific Crest Trail near Minnie Scott Spring.^1,3,8
• PCT McKenzie Pass: The Pacific Crest trailhead sells 28 day-use people and 3 overnight groups. It sits at the gate before Dee Wright Observatory and heads north over the lava, while Scott is on the west side of the pass.^1,9

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. Scott Trailhead, Willamette National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
3. Scott Trail #3531, Willamette National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
4. Three Sisters - Scott Trailhead, Central Cascades Wilderness Permit (Day Use), Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
5. Scott and Obsidian trails combine for challenging loop, The Nugget Newspaper (Sisters), September 2016. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Three Sisters: Scott Trail - Obsidian Loop, June 15, 2015, Oregon Hikers Forum. Read 2026-10-15.
7. Obsidian/Scott Loop Backpack, Trails Club of Oregon. Read 2026-10-15.
8. Matthieu Lakes loop hike is a relatively easy trek in the Three Sisters Wilderness, The Bulletin (Bend), August 2022. Read 2026-10-15.
9. Pacific Crest Trailhead at McKenzie Pass, Willamette National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
10. Central Cascades Wilderness Permits, Willamette National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a Scott permit