The Tumulus Trail, Oregon Badlands Wilderness, Oregon

While I wait ever so patiently (or not) for the snow to melt in the high country, and after having a couple of chilly days that dumped even more snow in our mountains, I figured it was time to visit the Badlands again. This will most likely be my last visit until fall/winter since it gets pretty hot in the desert in the summer.

One of the lava formations on the Tumulus Trail.

There are 5 main trailheads into the Badlands, the two on the south side, Badlands Rock and Flatiron Rock. I usually don't bother parking at Flatiron Rock, since it is very close to Badlands Rock which has a much better parking area. 
On the north side there is the Larry Chitwood Trailhead, at the end of Obernolte Rd. This has a very small parking area, but I have heard there are plans to enlarge it at some point.
The Dry River Tralhead, which is at the end of County Line Rd. and has sufficient parking, and lastly the Tumulus Trail.

To get there: From Bend take Hwy 20 east towards Burns for 6 miles, and take a left on Dodds Rd. Follow it for 6.7 miles and take a right on Walker Rd. At the 1 mile marker on a corner, take a right, although there is no street sign, this is still Walker Rd. This goes to the transfer station (landfill) for the east Bend area, and also to Reynolds Pond. Just past the transfer station you will see the TH sign and a parking area on the right.
Until recently this TH was just a dirt pullout beside the road but it has been renovated into a nice parking area, the road has been fixed up, and there has been a gate added to keep cars from driving into the BLM land.

TH sign.

New parking area for the Tumulus Trail.

To start the trail go through the gate, and follow the dirt road that runs beside the irrigation canal. This area is not the Badlands yet, there is about a mile and a half of BLM before you reach it.
There are other roads that veer off, but stay close to the canal.

Riding beside the irrigation canal in the BLM.

You will eventually get to a green gate, this is usually closed but it happened to be open on this day. If it is closed, there is a smaller gate with a metal bar that your horse can step over to continue on.

The first gate, if it is not open you have to step your horse over the metal bar.

You will be between two canals at this point.
You will come to another gate very soon, just like the last one. Here is where you cross over the canal, and take a left,  you will now be in the Badlands, and you will see the sign for the Tumulus Trail.

The beginning of the Tumulus Trail.

Once you follow this for half a mile there will be a junction, take a right onto the Black Lava Trail to do a nice little loop.

First trail junction.

Junipers growing in the lava.

The Badlands have their own beauty and at this time of the year there are others things growing besides just sage and juniper...flowers...quite a few species. I have no idea what most of the species are, but I appreciate the spots of color dotting the landscape!

Flowers in the desert.

A few bursts of color here and there.

Flowers in the desert.

As the trail name implies there are quite a few lava formations, and after passing (and ignoring, for now) one more junction which is the Basalt Trail, you will come to a really old corral which has been built by making use of the natural lava. No one seems to really know what it was originally used for, seems too small to be a holding area for cows, looks more like a horse corral to me.

One of the many lava formations on the Black Lava Trail.

Looking down on the corral from one of it's lava sides.

The trail does continue on, a new section of trail now joins up with the other trails that originate at the Larry Chitwood TH. But to continue the loop, turn around and go back to the Basalt Trail, take a right, and it meets up with the Tumulus Trail. If that is all the riding you want to do for the day, take a left from there and it will loop you back to where you came in, making it about an 8 mile ride, or you can take a right and follow the Tumulus Trail as long as your heart desires, which is what I did. It will eventually run into the Badlands Rock Trail in 5.5 miles.

Views of Powell Butte from the Black Lava Trail.

There are several formations in the Badlands that you can actually ride up and into.

One of the lava formations you can ride into.

On the Tumulus Trail.

Cozying up to a juniper while a brief rain shower passes over us.

Once it is time to head home, just turn around and follow the Tumulus Trail back to the canal crossing. Watch out for hares!...there are some really large bunnies that like to leap out from beneath the sagebrush when you least expect it, although my horse is so used to them now, she barely bats an eye.

Happy Trails!


GPS COORDINATES TO THE TUMULUS TH