Paradise Park, Riley Horse Camp and Frog Lake, Oregon

I have a little history with Riley Horse Camp from many years ago, camping there once and doing a day ride another time, but both times there were issues/ problems, and so I never really got to ride all of the trails. This time things worked out a lot better, so clearly the third time's the charm!

On East Zigzag Mt.

On my way to the camp I stopped at the Paradise Park Trailhead which has a gradual climb up 3000 feet to the base of Mt. Hood. There is no real room to park there for trailers, but if you continue up the road to the Hidden Lake Trailhead, you can turn around, go back to the Paradise Park TH and park along the side of the road.

Although I checked online beforehand I was not aware that a storm had tossed large trees across the last mile of this trail, leaving it impassable to stock. At the trailhead there was no warning sign, until I got down the trail quite a ways to the wilderness permit box, at which point I learned of this issue, but I was already on my horse, so I kept going. The trail is wide with good footing, you can move out nice and fast, and there are several viewpoints along the way. Once I reached the area in question, I was pleased to see that some clearing had actually taken place....but unfortunately only for a short while, at which point it was indeed time to turn around. It was frustrating because I could see how close I was to the mountain, but there are other ways to access this area, so I will try again next year.

On the Paradise Park Trail.

A viewpoint on the Paradise Park Trail.

I got under this log, but the clearing stopped shortly after.

I arrived at Riley and found the camp empty except for one other solo lady camper, which is rare to see. We ended up getting to know each other a little bit, she also likes to ride alone, so we had quite a few commonalities.

Riley has 14 spots, but the camp was built back before people had larger rigs. Consequently although some sites are long enough, the loop road is very narrow so getting in and out of some of the spots can be tricky. #5 and #8 are the only pull through's but although I picked #8 because it was more level than others, I ended up backing out of it when I left, since I would not have made it around the corner. Some sites have older log corrals, some have nice, much roomier new rail corrals, and then a few only have hitching posts.

Some of the new corrals at Riley Horse Camp.

Spot #8 at Riley Horse Camp.

There are two hand pumps with potable water, (there is also a creek nearby), two bathrooms, a day use area, and some dumpsters set up for garbage and manure disposal. It is $20 per night and you can get reservations. Non horse people can also camp there. This year it closes on Sept. 8th and it is a gated camp, so there is no access after the season ends.
Paying without a reservation was a little weird. On the board at the pay station it said to wait for someone to come around and collect the money, but on the envelopes it said to pay for only one night at a time and drop it in the box. This is in case you end up in a spot that has been reserved for future nights, but I wasn't going to write three separate checks, so I waited for someone to come by.


The next day I went up the Cast Creek Trail, to the top then veered off to go see Cast Lake and then got onto the Zigzag Mt.Trail where I found some great Mt. Hood views from the top of East Zigzag Mt. I then took the Burnt Lake Trail to the Devil's Tie Trail and then back down the Horseshoe Ridge Trail. This is about 16 miles but your horse needs to be in shape because there is a lot of climbing. Watch out for holes on some of these trails, they are definitely big enough to damage a horses leg.

The start of the Cast Creek Trail.

Mt. Hood views from the Cast Creek Trail.

Does anyone know who's stirrup this is?

There was an otter swimming about in Cast Lake.

On the way up East Zigzag Mt.

On the Burnt Lake Trail.

When I was about 3/4 of the way down, my horse alerted me to something ahead on the hillside above the trail. I kept an eye out and that's when I saw a bear drop down onto the trail, she was standing up on her hind legs and trying to figure out what I was, and so I stopped and called "hey bear" to her a few times. She then headed down the side of the cliff quickly, and that is when I saw the two itty bitty bear cubs following behind her.

On the Horseshoe Ridge Trail.

On the Horseshoe Ridge Trail. Sorry, no bear cub pics.

That night it rained for quite awhile and the next morning was not looking very promising weather wise either, but I headed out onto the Sandy River Trail. I was only gone about 20 minutes before a thunderstorm came through, so I found a big tree and sheltered there until it blew over. It continued to lightly rain for most of the morning. I arrived at the river crossing and was curious to see what it would look like this time around. Many years ago when my horse was much younger, we rode to the crossing but the Sandy River is a fast moving, rocky, silty situation where you cannot see the bottom, and my horse was pretty petrified to cross it, so we did not attempt it at that time.
Now the crossing is in a slightly different spot, but it is still pretty intimidating. I looked around to see if another area would be better, but settled on going through at the most obvious spot. It actually wasn't bad, but once you get to the other side you have to hop up an embankment with quite a large step up at the top.

Crossing the Sandy River.

Made it to the other side of the Sandy River.

From the other side, the trail takes you to the PCT where you can go north or south, but first the detour to Ramona Falls is a must. There is a dilapidated fenced area that you are not supposed to take horses past, right before the falls, so I tied my pony up and walked from there. After that I went south on the PCT until we reached a second Sandy River crossing, but from there the trail climbs steeply up and heads towards Timberline Lodge. Instead we rode cross country for a little while beside the river, then turned around and rode north on the PCT for awhile as well.

There is another river crossing at the Muddy Fork which looked easier than the previous crossing, but when I had almost reached the other side, we hit some kind of drop off or hole and my horse suddenly sunk drastically. On the way back I stayed more to the left, and that time we missed the hole!
Back at the Sandy River there was a bit of a traffic jam as a couple of hikers were attempting to get their pack goats to cross right where I needed to go. The first goat was willing to go across on a downed tree, but the second goat was having none of it, so I had to wait awhile, but it was fairly entertaining.

Ramona Falls.

Some cross country riding beside the Sandy River just off of the PCT.

The Muddy Fork crossing on the PCT going north.

Pack goats cross the Sandy River.

Friday morning I left pretty early and on the way back home I stopped at the Frog Lake SnoPark which is also a trailhead for the PCT. I've ridden north from there several times, but I had not done the section to the south that heads over towards Joe Graham Horse Camp.
I didn't know how interesting it would be, but there were some nice views way down below to some meadows and a couple opportunities to see Mt. Hood. I made this into a lollipop loop, by cutting across on a road to the Jackpot Meadows Trail, riding that for awhile, and then back onto the PCT via another short section of road.

Frog Lake SnoPark.

On the PCT heading south from Frog Lake SnoPark.

Mt. Hood views from the PCT.

That concludes my adventures at Riley Horse Camp. Check it out this year, very soon, before it closes, or put it on the list for next summer!


GPS COORDINATES TO PARADISE PARK TH

GPS COORDINATES TO RILEY

GPS COORDINATES TO FROG LAKE SNOPARK