Tam-a-lau Trail at Cove Palisades State Park is a 6.5 mile moderately trafficked loop trail located near Culver, Oregon that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
Good workout, great views, barely anyone around. A little icy and muddy in spots, would bring poles next time.
What a great spot! The trail starts off pretty close to the water and climbs up to the edge where you traverse the plateau (or you can hang a left). The views are absolutely worth the short climb but beware that it does get pretty wimdy at times. Lots of thriving Junipers and plenty of sage to pinch n’ sniff as you hike. Super duper neato and would highly recommend!
Muddy on the way up, but the views around the trail up top were worth it
Switch back after switchback after bloody switchback. This one was pretty intense but so worth it.
Best done over cooler months as the top of the trail has no shade from the sun (and it gets HOT and dry out here in the summer). Right now the trail is in fairly good shape with a little bit of mud up towards the top. The ascent stays pretty shady throughout the day right now so the ground is mostly frozen with spots of ice or frost mainly on some of the sections of steps. If you have any shade of vertigo or are aren’t as sure footed, bring poles of only to make you feel more comfortable. It’s not a technical trail (the top gets a little rocky but not bad) but for me, I definitely felt more confident with my sticks on the way back down. The views are gorgeous from the top and are worth the trek up!
There is a $5 entrance fee, but this hike is well worth the price of admission. Gentle incline that levels off for some great views.
its harder than it looks going up, but once on top, its amazing. bring poles and good shoes. it takes longer than you think so start early. the "trail" on top is basically a ditch for half of the length, so you will want to walk off trail. bring a camera!
gorgeous trail! exactly my favorite kind - big elevation gain right away and then a lovely amble with great views. it was a real butte! (rim shot) the trail is in impeccable condition which was very helpful when i did the entire descent in total darkness after having forgot to check what time sundown is post-time change! had the entire trail to myself on a sunday afternoon - what a treat!
Directions were misleading. Just before the directions say you have arrived, there was a campground on the left. This is the beginning and ending of the trail. Since the campground is closed for the winter, with locked bathrooms, there is a parking area just across the street. Pleasant surprise for this hike, with beautiful views along the way, and a very flat plateau on top. Enjoy!
Beautiful hike with mountain and lake views at the top. In Summer, best to go in the morning as there is no shade around the rim part of the trail. The ascent and descent have sporadic shade until mid day. There’s a huge rock formed into a natural seating area in good shade to rest and take in the views about 3/4 of the way up. We took a left at the top and had gorgeous views of the lake, bridge, and quite a few mountain peaks. If you go the right, you spend considerable time in the dry desert without much in the way of views. Many in our party stayed to the left and walked that side of the loop a few times (instead of taking the full loop) to get their miles in and said it was a much better view and experience so that’s what we did. There are a few spots that gave a couple folks vertigo with a narrow trail and a steep drop off to one side but the footing was fine so we felt safe. Enjoy this lovely slice of Central Oregon!