Smith Rock State Park encom­pass­es 651 acres on the Ore­gon high desert plateau which hov­ers around 3000 feet in ele­va­tion. The park and camp­ground are open year-round. A $5 day use per­mit or a cur­rent state park camp receipt is need­ed for each vehi­cle. A year­ly per­mit is avail­able for $30. Hik­ing trails offer spec­tac­u­lar views of the sur­round­ing area. You can spend 30 min­utes walk­ing along the riv­er or a half day mak­ing a loop on the entire trail sys­tem that extends out­side of the park. The major rock faces are com­posed of weld­ed tuff (com­pressed vol­canic ash) reach­ing a height of up to 550 feet. The pic­nic and camp­ground areas sit on top of the rim­rock which is made up of colum­nar basalt. There are over 1400 climb­ing routes in and around the park rang­ing from some of the best sport climbs in the world to. AWhy would any­one want to climb that pile of choss?. Peo­ple climb year-round, but sum­mer tem­per­a­tures can reach 100+ degrees (f), and in the dead of win­ter the ther­mome­ter stays close to the freez­ing mark (32f) dur­ing the day. Spring and fall are the most pop­u­lar climb­ing months.