Whitefish Horse Camp, Oregon

Some friends of mine have started an annual group trip to Whitefish Horse Camp. Last year I couldn't make it, but this year I was able to fit it in. I had been there already about 5 years before, but there a lot of trails, and I certainly hadn't seen the whole area yet. If you like lakes, and lots of easy trail options then this is the place to go.

Diamond Peak from Diamond View Lake.

I got there pretty early in the morning before most everyone else in my group had arrived, and as I drove through camp I saw there was still someone in my reserved spot. Reservations are usually a good idea for this popular place, especially on weekends. Check out time wasn't until 2:00 pm so I proceeded to try to find somewhere else to park in the meantime. (There is no day use area.) The people in my spot who were from the Yakima area came over to talk to me, and mentioned they wanted to spend another night. So knowing that we had cancellations within our group, I moved into another site which was nicer than the one I would have had originally, so that worked out well. When the Hoodoo guy came through later in the day to collect everyone's money, he didn't care about the swap, but I am bringing this up because a lot of spots ended up being empty while we were there, although online it deceivingly appeared that the camp was booked solid.

Whitefish Horse Camp.

I got tacked up and got onto Whitefish Creek Trail which takes you to a really good view of Diamond Peak. I was going to do a loop, but I noticed that the trail continued on to Odell Lake from there, so I got distracted from my original plan and went that way instead. When I got about halfway I came upon Trapper Creek, and then eventually the trail ends at some railroad tracks, and I was suddenly back in civilization, at the Shelter Cove Resort and Marina and the Kokanee Lodge. This is an out and back ride, which is just over 20 miles.

Diamond Peak.

Odell Lake.

Lunch at the tracks by Odell Lake.

Trapper Creek Trail at Odell Lake.

Back in camp I said hello to my friends who had arrived in my absence, and a plan was made for riding the following day.

Whitefish is located close to the town of Crescent about 65 miles south of Bend OR. It has 17 sites, toilets, garbage, a manure bin with wheelbarrows, and potable water from spigots. The sites have either 2 or 4 horse steel corrals. They are $14.00 and $18.00 per night respectively. Crescent Lake is directly across the street within walking distance. The Pacific Crest Trail is accessible from here as well as the Metolious Windigo Trail which runs right through camp.

Crescent Lake.

The view from Crescent lake.

Six of us started out the next day to ride to Snell Lake, but we had to make a detour and ride along the road for awhile and then get back over to the Met Win since the bridge was out and we were not able to cross there. Update: The bridge is still out as of Sept. 2016. The remains of the bridge have been removed and people have been riding down the bank into the creek, but some friends of mine that camped there recently, reported that it may not be the best option for a green horse, since there is a large rock to step over before getting into the creek. Update #2: Apparently this descent into the creek has been leveled out by the forest service, and it is no longer a problem.

Bridge is out on the Met Win.

Riding up Rd. 6010 with Lori directly behind me on Bella.

We rode up dirt road 6010 until we got to the Snell Lake Trail and then continued on for awhile towards Effie Lake. Since I had planned a much longer ride than anyone else in the group wanted to do, I bid them all adieu and rode over to the trail to Meek Lake. This took me on a 18 ish mile loop past about a million other lakes, ( not kidding, there is a lake about every couple of minutes) until I reached Summit Lake. Summit is huge, but can be pretty quiet, since access is only by 4x4 or high clearance vehicles.

Meek Lake Trailhead.

Meek lake.

Although there was some trail clearing that had happened the weekend before we arrived, most of the trails I rode were not actually cleared. Most of it was not too bad, and I never had to turn around. Mosquito's were at a minimum, with it being such a dry year, there were just a few here and there, but don't count on that not being a normal occurrence.

Lots of forest in between the lakes.

Summit Lake.

Summit Lake.

The next day I went over to Oldenburg Lake, passing Bingham Lakes, Darlene Lake, Suzanne Lake, which was my favorite, and then Windy Lakes, making a loop of about 16 miles.

Darlene Lake.

Suzanne Lake, it's pretty deep and has some rocks for jumping off of.

Found this at Suzanne Lake.

There is another large loop that can be done to Fawn Lake, Pretty Lake and Stag Lake which I had done on my last visit, as well as some other trails to explore, making this a particularly good camp for any type of rider. Lots of options for long distance, but also a lot of easy out and backs, for people that want shorter rides.

Happy Trails!


GPS COORDINATES TO WHITEFISH

Currier Spring and Farm Well Horse Camps, Oregon

So this heat wave is something else. I had to find a way to escape for a little while. There are quite a few trail heads and camps that access the Fremont Winema Trail, and Currier Spring is the highest at almost 7000 feet. I figured that would do nicely.

The view of Summer Lake from Winter Rim.

Directions are correct in the OET book, but there is not much other info to be found online about this camp.

Just outside of Paisley OR you drive up to the top of Winter Rim and "voila" a nice little obviously underused camp and trail head. The drive is on a gravel road that is fairly steep, with a couple of narrow areas. On the way up I saw a bear, I was driving and he was running away, so no chance for a picture but it was great to see him since I rarely see bears in all my travels. As I pulled in I was greeted by a herd of cows and a very large bull congregating by the spring that the camp is named for. The bull was making some loud noises and pawing the ground a bit, so we eyed each other for awhile until he finally decided to saunter back over to all his womenfolk, allowing me to safely wander around and figure out where to park. There are three smaller campsites in a half circle and I found another site just around the corner from the trail head with a lot more room, enough for several rigs.

Currier Spring Horse Camp.

This is a primitive camp, with no bathroom, only one site has a set of steel corrals, two of the spots have picnic tables and fire rings. There is the spring nearby for stock water, but no potable water, and no fee.

Currier Spring Horse Camp.

The spring.

Local critter.

I headed out to ride the trail along the rim. Beautiful views, copious amounts of flowers, large birds soaring overhead, and a ton of bugs! Mosquito's were few and far between, but we were followed and harassed by a cloud of various other insects. I learned to keep my mouth firmly shut lest I ingest some unwanted protein. I was riding with my left hand and using my right hand to swat and kill deer flies that were attaching themselves to my poor pony.The trail heading north is very scenic but sometimes faint and I did lose it several times, but it is well marked. It became a game of "spot the national recreation trail signs" posted on trees, also there were a lot of large cairns, and sometimes orange trail tape. This section of trail has been maintained in the past, so as far as blow down, there was some, but it was easy to get around for quite awhile.... until suddenly it wasn't. I rode back down to the dirt road that runs parallel and then found the trail again later on.

Summer lake below Winter Rim.

So many different flowers.

Riding along the Fremont Winema Trail on Winter Rim.

Fairly well maintained for awhile.

Out in an old burn area.

Summer Lake.

Riding south however was another matter. On the second day I got about two miles along it and then the trail became a complete mess, which makes sense since it leaves the rim and no longer has a view so nobody has maintained it for a long time. I rode the rest of the day either on dirt roads or cross country.

Riding cross country through meadows and aspens.

Purple dirt road anyone?

I decided to leave that night and go to my next destination, Farm Well outside of Silver Lake. It is lower elevation, so it was hotter, but I wanted an early start for riding in the morning. Last year I did a day ride from Farm Well to the top of Hager Mountain, while I was camped at Silver Creek Marsh which I describe in another blog about that camp. Silver Creek Marsh Horse Camp
But this time I planned to ride the Fremont Winema trail to the south.

Farm Well is a really nice free camp, with lots of room between the 5 sites, there is a bathroom, a manure bin, and two large stock water ponds/swamps. The sites do not have corrals but there are four large communal corrals. I just parked in a spot close to them. I could see that this camp does get quite a bit of use but both times I have been there, there were no other horse people. I did have company though, some very quiet non horse campers. One fellow wandered over to say hi and to look at my horse.

The communal corrals at Farm Well.

Stock watering hole at Farm Well.

Stock watering hole at Farm Well.

I entertained myself that evening by photographing the local wildlife. There were a lot of vultures hanging about in the trees. I counted 16 that night. In the morning there were easily twice that many out by the watering hole.

Vulture.

Riding south the next day, the trail started out in the trees, headed into an old burn area for awhile, passing under some of those huge crackling power lines that make me worry my brain is being fried from exposure, through a few small canyons, across some grasslands, and then about 6 miles later, back into the woods. This whole section of trail was well maintained.

Riding south on Fremont Winema trail from Farm Well.

One of the small canyons.

Hager Mt.

Driving back to Silver Lake I learned that their gas station is only open three days a week, and Monday was not one of those days, so.... note to self, and anyone reading, make sure you have plenty of gas before heading out into this area. I barely made it back to La Pine!


GPS COORDINATES TO CURRIER SPRING

GPS COORDINATES TO FARM WELL