Willamette NF issues closure order for Linton Creek and Boulder Creek Fires

The Willamette National Forest has issued an emergency closure order for the Linton Creek Fire, Boulder Creek Fire, and other new fires resulting from the lightning storm on Sept. 6, 2024. With widespread fire suppression occurring across the McKenzie River and Middle Fork Ranger Districts and fire growth occurring on multiple fires, the expanded emergency closure area is needed to ensure public and firefighter safety. The closure order rescinds the previous Linton Creek Fire order.

A short stretch of the McKenzie River National Recreation Trail is closed due to the Boulder Creek Fire, from Paradise Campground to Frissell Boat Launch. The trail remains open upstream and downstream of this closure. Additional trails and trailheads that are now closed include portions of the Pacific Crest Trail within the Three Sisters Wilderness, Obsidian Trailhead, Erma Bells/Skookum Trailhead, Indian Ridge Lookout, and Box Canyon Guard Station. For the complete list of trails, recreation sites, and roads included in closure orders, visit our website at  https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/willamette/alerts-notices.

Oregon Department of Transportation has also closed portions of McKenzie Highway 242 and Highway 126. Updates to these closures are available on TripCheck.com.

With large areas of the Three Sisters Wilderness now closed due to these fires and the Bachelor Complex fires on the Deschutes National Forest, wilderness managers have also canceled all affected Central Cascades Wilderness permits; permit holders will receive a full refund of reservation fees.

Popular recreation sites and trails that remain open include Terwilliger Hot Springs, Paradise Campground, Clear Lake Resort and Day Use, Sahalie and Koosah Falls Day use areas and the King Castle/Castle Rock trail system.

The lightning-sparked fires in the closure area include the Linton Creek Fire, located in the Three Sisters Wilderness northeast of Eileen Lake, which is 1,288 acres and 0% contained; the Boulder Creek Fire, located 5 miles east of McKenzie Bridge, which is 501 acres and 0% contained; the 374 Fire, located in the Three Sisters Wilderness northwest of Packsaddle Mountain, which is 47 acres and 0% contained. All three fires are part of the North Willamette Complex Fires managed by California Interagency Incident Command Team 13.

There is also a cluster of fires northeast of Oakridge, including the Hiyu, Lowell Creek, Grassy Creek, and Young Grasshopper Fires, within the closure area that are being managed by the Willamette National Forest.

Please be aware of current restrictions before you head out into the forest and share information with others. As fire restrictions change, information will be available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/willamette/fire