Route over the Old Pass closes for winter

OLD MCKENZIE PASS: The east side gate to McKenzie Highway (OR 242), located near Sisters, will close for the season on Friday, November 1st ahead of an incoming storm, the Oregon Department of Transportation reported on Monday. ODOT is also clarifying a report from last weekend regarding whether it allows snowmobilers, skiers and recreationists into the closed area.

The west side gate near McKenzie Bridge was closed last week. When the east side gate closes Friday, highway vehicle access across the pass and to the Dee Wright Observatory will be limited until spring.

ODOT spokesperson Kacey Davey said the pass is closed so crews can focus on the more heavily traveled Santiam Pass.

Davey also addressed a report in the Oregon Statesman Journal over the weekend about the agency not allowing snowmobilers, skiers, or bicyclists into the closed area. Davey said ODOT’s policy has not changed and that anyone who chooses to go up there when the gates are closed are doing so at their own risk.

“Nothing has changed. It is a closed area. We’re asking folks don’t go in there for several reasons. But, if you go in, go at your own risk. But we are not an enforcement agency. We’re not going to be up there chasing folks out, and we have not asked (Oregon State Police) to enforce anything up there either,” Davey said.

She said one cross-country ski event, the John Craig Memorial Race, happens each year, which obtains a permit to go up to McKenzie Pass.

An online petition started by Christian Sammons Sunday called for ODOT to keep the pass open.

Officials report it’s not uncommon for bicyclists to go up to McKenzie Pass in the spring after the roads have been plowed but before the gates open. Davey said cyclists are advised not to do this because there may still be debris on the highway, and crews will be up there felling trees and removing debris.