California to Oregon and back...

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Crispy

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It's official. I'm planning my loop through Oregon. I have May 25th-June5th off of work. It's still not enough time for all the things I'd like to do, but I am getting a nice list of places to visit.

EDIT: I was originally going by myself, but I have a buddy who's never been that wants to tag along. So we are taking the coast to Oregon and our first camp will be near Avenue of Giants.

From here we are going to the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. My friend who lives in Oregon was able to get 1 of the last 3 campsites available.

The details are not finalized, but Hood River will be next with some mountain biking. We will also be looking for a campsite near Lost Lake.

Smith Rock is one of the Seven Wonders of Oregon and we will be checking this out for sure!

The Painted Hills, Mt. Bachelor and Sun River to follow and then I was told about some waterfalls near Diamond Peak. If time allows, I want to check Crater Lake, camp, and mountain bike a little more. From there I think we can check out Klamath Falls and Ashland for some more brews on my list.

Lastly we will check out McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park on our way back to California.

There's more I'd like to see, but I don't think 10 days and 9 nights is enough. The next trip my rig will be more equipped for more back country driving, but I will do a few routes from a Oregon Byways book I picked up.

 
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Steve

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If you're north as far as Mount Bachelor, try to allow a day hiking at Smith Rock State Park NW of Redmond (north of Bend.) It is a rock climbing mecca, and an absolutely beautiful place. It was one of the rare surprises on our cross-country trip last fall. Try for a weekday, as it can get short on parking quickly.

We tried doing Crater Lake in a day, but drove there from Roseburg and stopped too many places, and ended up only getting halfway around. Luckily, we found a cancellation at the National Park Lodge for the night. I'm sure it i.e. easy to do in a day if you start closer and don't meander around as much as we did.
 
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Crispy

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If you're north as far as Mount Bachelor, try to allow a day hiking at Smith Rock State Park NW of Redmond (north of Bend.) It is a rock climbing mecca, and an absolutely beautiful place. It was one of the rare surprises on our cross-country trip last fall. Try for a weekday, as it can get short on parking quickly.

We tried doing Crater Lake in a day, but drove there from Roseburg and stopped too many places, and ended up only getting halfway around. Luckily, we found a cancellation at the National Park Lodge for the night. I'm sure it i.e. easy to do in a day if you start closer and don't meander around as much as we did.
I almost forgot about Smith Rock. There's an off road route there near in my Oregon Byways book. I'm definitely putting this on the list. It's one of the 7 wonders of Oregon.
 
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Crispy

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I updated and edited my first post! I can't wait to see Oregon. Three more weeks until vacation!!
 

John Galt

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We leave Friday to do our OBDR Route 4 to Route 5 (section 3) to Route 5 (Section 4). Have heard as of this last weekend that the upper part of Route 5 section 4 still has significant snowpack. So we dont know if that portion will be passable. Will let you know how it goes when we get back. Your trip sounds like fun.
 
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Crispy

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We leave Friday to do our OBDR Route 4 to Route 5 (section 3) to Route 5 (Section 4). Have heard as of this last weekend that the upper part of Route 5 section 4 still has significant snowpack. So we dont know if that portion will be passable. Will let you know how it goes when we get back. Your trip sounds like fun.
That's awesome! Will you be recording your tracks? If so, post up your gpx files as well as your trip report.
 

onedaatmc

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Here's your chance to hit the lost coast campground at Usal Beach for that first nite camping , instead of Ave of the giants .... just down hwy 1 from ave of the giants ... not too far out of the way and "way" better camping .... !
 

Crispy

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Here's your chance to hit the lost coast campground at Usal Beach for that first nite camping , instead of Ave of the giants .... just down hwy 1 from ave of the giants ... not too far out of the way and "way" better camping .... !
That did cross my mind. I was thinking about going to Usal Beach my first day and driving through Avenue of the Giants on day 2. The more I think about it, the more I think, "why not?"
 
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onedaatmc

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so when your within a mile or 2 from coming out to the beach on hwy 1 ... you'll see these signs to the right ( coming down from 101 ) ...take that rd ! ... thats Usal rd !

 
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Crispy

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so when your within a mile or 2 from coming out to the beach on hwy 1 ... you'll see these signs to the right ( coming down from 101 ) ...take that rd ! ... thats Usal rd !

Thank you. I also downloaded @Michael 's KML file and have it loaded on Gaia GPS. I'm planning on going to Glass Beach on the way to Usal Beach. I'm so stoked to camp there.
 
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onedaatmc

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Cool ! ... here's another tidbit of info ... on Usal ... "15 miles west of Leggett on Highway 1 from Highway 101. Look for mile marker 90.88 on Highway 1", then you'll see the signs
 
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NorCalTRD

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Sounds like you're headed up 101, then over 26 and coming back down 97. If you're looking to mountain bike and find some good brews, Bend area (about 15 minutes south of Redmond) will have plenty of both. I was up there a few weeks ago with a bunch of buddies and we even hit up the lava tubs!


Check out oregonstateparks.org to reserve campsites, easy site to use.

You're going to have a great trip!


Sent from my iPad using Overland Bound Talk
 
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Crispy

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Redmond, OR, USA
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Sounds like you're headed up 101, then over 26 and coming back down 97. If you're looking to mountain bike and find some good brews, Bend area (about 15 minutes south of Redmond) will have plenty of both. I was up there a few weeks ago with a bunch of buddies and we even hit up the lava tubs!


Check out oregonstateparks.org to reserve campsites, easy site to use.

You're going to have a great trip!


Sent from my iPad using Overland Bound Talk
This looks awesome! Where was this?