Linton Lake offers great camping, fishing and swimming in Three Sisters

It can be a day-hike or adventure — an easy backpacking trip with kids or bushwhack to one of Oregon’s most impressive waterfalls.

You can go fishing, or swimming, or exploring, or just put your feet in the water from a sandy beach in this narrow canyon in the Three Sisters Wilderness just off McKenzie Highway 242.

The destination is Linton Lake, a multifaceted spot that can accommodate plans that span age ranges, adventure appetites and styles of adventure with a fairly quick trip from the Willamette Valley.

First off, yes, you do need a Central Cascades Wilderness permit to day-hike or camp here, so make sure to take care of that before coming via Recreation.gov.

Once you do, you’ll need to plan for the type of adventure you can have.

Day-adventure to lake or falls

One option is a day-trip, and it’s a pretty fun place for that.

It’s just 3 miles out-and-back to Linton Lake, which is swimmable from a nice sandy beach, and in a few different places. In other words, it’s a nice and very easy day hike.

Beyond, there’s a difficult-to-reach scramble to Linton Falls. I was visiting with my young kids so didn’t make the trip because it is somewhat dangerous. But on my visit multiple people did hike to it and return. It’s about an extra mile add-on but takes people on an unofficial trail up Linton Creek.

“I’m not sure it’s a good idea for normal people to go up there. There’s significant fire damage and the viewpoint of the lower falls is at the edge of a cliff; it would be easy to fall into the canyon,” guidebook author Matt Reeder said.

Good backpacking spot for kids

The reason I visited Linton Lake was for an easy backpacking trip with my kids. The nice thing about Linton Lake is that it’s just 1.5 to 2 miles to a few campsites, with limited sections of steep trail. That makes for a pretty good beginner trip.

The hike begins at a parking area for Alder Springs Campground — where there is a toilet — before you cross the road up a pair of wooden steps and begin on the Linton Lake Trail.

The pathway travels through old-growth forest to begin, then crosses through lava fields and over a pass before dropping down to the lake. You see the lake pretty quick, but it takes a bit longer to reach a place where it’s safe to access it.

The most obvious spot — and the place where the trail seems to officially end — is at a large campsite where Obsidian Creek rolls downhill. The sheltered campsite here is a good one and you are allowed to have campfires here as long as it hasn’t been banned by a high wildfire danger season.

From the campsite, there’s a nice little path out to the lake and a sandy beach with nice swimming access (although there is seaweed, which is an issue for some kiddos).

Beyond the first campsite, a rougher trail continues to a second campsite near where Linton Creek rolls down into the lake. This area offers more good lake access and a second possible campsite complex.