Umatilla Forest Closes Trailheads and Campgrounds for Hagen and Horse Ridge Fires

Travelers headed for trailheads and campgrounds on the Umatilla National Forest still face a live fire closure package around the Hagen and Horse Ridge fires. An August 2, 2026 Forest Service update keeps named recreation sites offline while Phase C public-use restrictions cover the entire forest.

That combination matters if your plan still points at North Fork Umatilla, Umatilla Fork Campground, Corporation Guard Station, or Buck Creek. The forest is not closed end to end, but those listed sites and the fire emergency orders are not optional detours.

According to the Umatilla National Forest August 2 Paradise, Hagen, and Horse Ridge fire update, firefighters were holding key lines after a windy day, with 1,079 people assigned. The same package restates the recreation closure order and forestwide Phase C restrictions that change what visitors may do on open land.

Independent local reporting has tracked the same complex through late July growth and containment work, including East Oregonian coverage of Hagen growth while other fires tightened containment. Use those stories for context, then verify the current Forest Service lists before you leave pavement.

Which recreation sites remain closed

Forest officials say the Hagen and Horse Ridge fire emergency closure includes Corporation Guard Station and Trailhead, North Fork Umatilla Trailhead, Umatilla Fork Day-Use Area and Campground, Buck Creek Cabin, and Buck Creek Trailhead. Those names are the traveler checklist. If your map pins any of them, treat the stop as closed until the order is revised.

The closure order PDF linked from the Forest Service package is the controlling text for roads and areas inside the fire emergency boundary. Do not assume a commercial reservation system has already flipped every site offline. Call before you burn a long drive from Pendleton, La Grande, or Walla Walla.

A separate Paradise Fire package also sits on the forest alerts hub, along with Salmon and Olive Butte area closures. Travelers stitching multi-day eastern Oregon routes need to read the full alerts list, not only the Hagen and Horse Ridge names.

What the August 2 fire status means for plans

Hagen remained the large active problem in the August 2 brief at about 37,645 acres and 8 percent containment, roughly 4 miles southwest of Tollgate and 12 miles northwest of Elgin. Horse Ridge near Meacham was much smaller at about 838 acres and 95 percent contained, with crews mopping up interior heat. Paradise, about 10 miles southeast of Walla Walla, sat near 1,204 acres and was growing carefully inside the city watershed.

Those numbers are operations facts for managers. For travelers, the practical translation is that smoke, temporary road posts, and closed trailheads can still appear even outside the exact closed polygon. Carry alternate day plans and do not build a hard itinerary around a single high-country trailhead until containment rises and the recreation order shortens. Keep one flexible night near Pendleton or La Grande so a wind shift does not strand you with a cancelled forest camp and no second booking.

Evacuation levels can change faster than the recreation order. The Forest Service points the public to Umatilla County emergency advisories and sheriff channels for residential levels in Umatilla County, Union County, and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation areas. Check those the morning you travel even if your campsite is on private or state land outside the forest order.

Phase C restrictions still cover the whole forest

Even where a road or campground remains open, Phase C public-use restrictions apply forestwide for smoking, off-road travel, and chainsaw use. That is a separate rule from the fire-area closure polygons. It can cancel an off-road day or a dispersed campfire plan that would have been legal in a wetter year. Read the Phase C alert the same morning you check the Hagen and Horse Ridge polygons so you do not drive in expecting open motorized routes that are still restricted.

Temporary flight restrictions also sit over the wildfires. Drone flights near the fire grounds can ground suppression aircraft, so keep recreational drones packed away near the complex.

Fire information for the package is listed at 541-970-7128 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and at [email protected]. Use those contacts for current status, not social screenshots that lag after a windy night.

How to rebuild an eastern Oregon trip

If Umatilla Fork or North Fork Umatilla was the center of your weekend, shift first to open gateway lodging and lower-elevation options around Pendleton and La Grande while you watch the orders. Deep Arrival’s RV parks near Pendleton and RV parks near La Grande give vehicle-based backups when high-country forest camps stay closed.

Travelers who still want a cultural stop outside the fire polygons can consider nearby heritage sites such as Whitman Mission National Historic Site after confirming road and air quality. Smoke can still spoil an outdoor day even when the trailhead you wanted is not the one closed by name.

Keep nonrefundable outfitter deposits documented against the order number and the August 2 update language. Many outfitters will rebook around federal closures, but they need the official fire names and closed-site list in writing. Save the Forest Service release date, the listed acreage and containment figures, and the exact closed-site names in your cancellation note so customer-service teams can match the federal package without delay.

The Hagen and Horse Ridge complex is still an active management problem for visitors. Until the Umatilla National Forest shortens the emergency closure and eases Phase C rules, treat the named trailheads and campgrounds as offline and rebuild the trip around open gateways.