If you’ve never driven it, it’s worth putting on your routing plans. But don’t think about doing it until at least next spring. Oregon’s Old McKenzie Pass Highway is probably already closed for winter. Here are the details, and if you stick around, you’ll also get a little history lesson that may make you put the highway on your future trip planner.
Gates closed
Crews will close the gates on the east side of the Old McKenzie Pass Highway early Thursday morning, November 9. Gates on the west side were closed on October 30. Weather on each side of the pass varies, and it’s not uncommon to close or open each side of the highway separately.
Old McKenzie Pass Highway is a secondary, scenic highway. Weather, costs and logistics make it impractical to maintain for travel year-round. In the winter, Oregon reroutes its resources to main highways to keep them plowed and open. When McKenzie is closed, it’s not maintained, and nobody uses it. Travelers going past locked gates and closure signs could encounter hazards and working equipment on the road, and there are no services or cell coverage.
A little history lesson
McKenzie Pass became a seasonal scenic highway in 1962 with the completion of the Clear Lake-Belknap Springs section of Oregon Highway 126. Even during its time as the main route between the Willamette Valley and Central Oregon, the narrow, twisting roadway and high elevation (5,325 feet) made the highway too difficult to maintain and keep clear during the winter months.
Before it was the highway that it is now, the Old McKenzie Pass Highway was a wagon route over the Cascade Range, built in 1862. The highway for automobiles was constructed in 1924. At the time, it was the only highway over the Cascades going east out of Eugene, until 1962. That’s when the gravel road heading north from Belknap Springs to U.S. Route 20 at Santiam Junction was widened and paved.
Truly a SCENIC highway
Today the designation “scenic highway” well lives up to its name. On the west side, you’ll find huge forests of Douglas fir and red cedar. To the east, lodgepole pine is the order of the day. The route travels through lava fields, and travelers see clear lakes fed by waterfalls. The largest number of volcanoes and glaciers in terms of density in the Lower 48 is found here.
Sound like a good trip? If you plan a trip next spring, keep in mind a major road project. The east side of McKenzie Pass will be repaved in 2024. The timing depends on weather, and crews will start as soon as possible. It means that the east side of the highway will be shut down until the paving is complete.
To see what routes are open over the mountains, and to view current road and weather conditions, click here, or when in Oregon call 511. More information on the Old McKenzie Pass Highway, Oregon Highway 242, can be found via this link.
Thanks to Liz B. for adding this caveat from the website: “When the highway is open, vehicles over 35 feet long are not allowed. The narrow road has tight curves and many sections with no shoulder.”
##RVT1130b
We don’t recommend this route for big rigs. We drove this highway with a 34 foot motorhome. We will never do that again! We enjoy this route in a passenger car now.
When the highway is open, vehicles over 35 feet long are not allowed. The narrow road has tight curves and many sections with no shoulder. Oregon Department of Transportation : McKenzie Highway : Regions : State of Oregon
Your total length can only be 35 feet or less. The mirrors sticking out two feet are a problem also. I wouldn’t count on it being open by spring either. July maybe. Bad drivers and those ignoring the limit make it dangerous. When I was a kid the cutoff to other pass did not exist. It’s fun on a motorcycle.