Craft Cabin, Joaquin Miller Horse Camp and Myrtle Creek, Oregon

It seems like everybody has heard of Joaquin Miller Horse Camp, but not many people have actually been there, possibly because there is not a lot of information out there about it. But it does exist, and the camp is actually really nice, and has a lot of amenities.

Joaquin Miller Horse Camp.

I've ridden with friends in the Malheur National Forest before, but we were not on designated trails at the time. I wanted to check out the two trails that are close to Burns Oregon, and in the general area of the camp.
I drove straight  from home to the Craft Cabin Trail, or I tried to, there are supposed to be two trailheads, north and south. I passed by the road going to the north one first, but there was recent logging activity and a sign that said "trucks" so I thought maybe I would drive the extra two miles to the south trailhead. I got to where it was supposed to be and there was nothing, no sign, no clue whatsoever, so I drove a little further and found myself on a dead end road with a gate into private property. Consequently I had to back up for awhile until I could find a place to turn around. Obviously I then went back over to the north trailhead, but since it was becoming clear to me that this is a lightly used area, I had lost my trust that the north road would actually get me to my destination. Since it's only a mile to the trailhead from there, I parked along the main road instead, tacked up and rode down to find this elusive trail.

Proof it exists.

Once at the traihead it was obvious it was not a well used trail, but it was marked with orange diamonds and I followed it for about five minutes until I ended up in a lovely meadow with a stream.

The meadow on the Craft Cabin Trail.

At this point the trail disappeared, there was a fence with a gate, but you had to go down a steep bank and cross the creek to get to it, and I saw no more orange markers. I looked at a map later and apparently the trail does follow the creek, but to be honest I was getting a little fed up with the Craft Cabin Trail and it was getting late. Or at least I thought it was later than it was, because apparently I had passed over the invisible line into Mountain Time and didn't realize it for awhile. The meadow was so nice that I rode through it instead, and then up into some nearby mountains, spending about three hours just exploring.

Heading towards the mountains.

As the crow flies I was almost parallel to Joaquin Miller so instead of driving all the way back out to Hwy 20 and then back north again, I cut across on gravel forest service roads to Hwy 395. This was actually very easy, as the gravel roads out there are in pretty good shape. I came out on the highway only about 1.5 miles from camp and arrived to find, as expected, that I would have the place all to myself.

Joaquin Miller is a large camp that has 13 official spots, most of which are big enough for trailers. There are also 15 other spots that are not numbered and have no picnic tables, most of those are small, and would only fit a car. Oddly the FS website says there are only 8 sites!
The numbered sites are not all numbered correctly, and in fact mine had no number at all.
But mine was one of only two sites that have steel corrals, and there are two more spots with hitching rails. These are all in a row, they are all pull through spots and have the best access to the water. While driving in the gate, take the far right road for the easiest way to get to the corral sites, otherwise you will be looping around needlessly on other roads for awhile.
There is a bathroom, two manure bins that are right in front of both of the corrals, and potable water from a spigot that is attached to a solar powered well house. Although there is no day use area, there are plenty of extra pull outs and places to park.
This camp is gated and is open from May 1st all the way through Dec.1st.
There is no garbage service and it is $8.00 per night.

One of the two corral sites.

Potable water!

The following day I rode out the gate that is located behind site #6 and takes you into the national forest. There are no designated trails from this camp, but if you are happy to just explore there is plenty of land, and you can ride for days. Update: A friend camped there in 2023 and reported that there are now junctions and diamonds/decals for some of the roads, to mark and designate them as horse trails. I rode north until the road I was on petered out, then headed west for awhile. I saw several antelope along the way and although they are not keen on sticking around, I managed to get a photo of one that was curious enough to stop briefly.

Riding north on forest service roads.

This antelope stopped briefly to check me out.

Since I like loops I just rode in a big circle, at one point going up onto a couple of small hills to see if there were any views. (there weren't). This is grazing land so there were a lot of obvious signs of cow traffic.

The Malheurs are not all forested, there are a lot of meadows, open spaces and creeks. Sometimes it is sagebrush flat lands and other times you are in the pines. The higher the elevation, the greener and lusher it is.

Looking out across a meadow area.

In the national forest.

A bull by a watering hole.

Just following our nose.

I eventually headed back to camp doing about 6 hours of riding that day.
I could have explored more on the west side of the highway, but there was a whole other east side to check out, so the next day I did just that.
There is no access into the forest directly across the highway, I had to ride along the road until I found a way in that had a wire gate. The highway is not very busy and there is plenty of land beside it, so I did not have to ride right alongside traffic.

I could see mountains in the far off distance and my goal was to get to them. It took a little while but eventually I did. I ended up bushwacking for some of the time, and then came upon a ravine that I needed to follow until I could find a way to cross it. I picked my way through some areas where tree thinning was happening, and then ran up against a fence and private property.
As I ate my lunch a herd of curious cows decided I was the most exciting part of their day and gathered for observational purposes.

Came across a ravine.

Curious cows.

Because of these cows, there are fences and cattle guards in a lot of places, and I did have to change direction a couple of times to find a gate in order to continue east. On the way back I followed along a fairly well used road that popped out onto the 2820 Rd which is the one I had used to drive across from Craft Cabin. This passes the Idlewild Campground and Snow Park, which is just 1/4 mile off of Hwy 395.

Views from a small hill over towards John Day.

On my last day I packed up and trailered over to  Rd 31, which is only about a mile south of Joaquin Miller, and from there it is another 13 paved miles to the Myrtle Creek Trailhead. I saw no one on this road other than more cows, the kind that don't care to move at all as you are driving straight at them, but then at the last minute, panic, and start running amok usually right in front of the truck, instead of getting off the road. Once I got to the trailhead I was at a much higher elevation, and it was nice and cool for the first part of the day. This trail follows Myrtle Creek for 8 miles one way, and there are mileage markers on the trees as you ride. I was prepared for this trail not to be cleared, but it was actually in good shape. I came across a couple of downed trees, but nothing that was a problem. Once I got to the 6 mile marker, I only rode a little bit further as I wanted to get back home at a decent hour.

The Myrtle Creek parking area is not huge.

The start of the Myrtle Creek Trail.

On the first part of the Myrtle Creek Trail.

This bridge has seen better days.

Mile markers on trees, on the Myrtle Creek Trail.

On the Myrtle Creek Trail.

Quite a few flowers in bloom.

Photo opportunity.

After I turned around, I had only been riding a few minutes when I spotted a bear cub on a hill on the other side of the creek. Two things went through my head simultaneously. One: Oh my god a bear cub, how cute! and Two: Where is the mother bear? Because as everyone knows, you don't want to be between her and her cub if possible.
So I froze on the trail and scanned the area, but I did not see her, so I continued riding, keeping an eye on the cub. The little fella was climbing higher up the hill and then he stopped on a rock and looked down and I took his picture. He may not even have had his mother with him anymore, since the mother kicks them to the curb after about 18 months.

Bear cub!

Myrtle Creek.

I definitely saw more wildlife than people on this trip and other than in hunting season the Malheurs can be a nice place to get some solitude. A friend camped at Joaquin Miller in April and the ranger she talked to said they may shut this camp down if horse people aren't using it.... so check it out!

GPS COORDINATES TO CRAFT CABIN TH

GPS COORDINATES TO JOAQUIN MILLER

GPS COORDINATES TO MYRTLE CREEK TH