Blacklock Point, Cape Blanco Horse Camp and North Bank Habitat, Oregon

After getting back at the end of October from a three week trip to Utah, I winterized my trailer and assumed my camping season was over BUT November was surprisingly mild, and so I found a window of four nice weather days to sneak off to the coast.
Since there was only one horse camp there that I had not yet been to, I drove the 7 hours over to Sixes, Oregon.

The North Beach at Cape Blanco.

I stopped at Floras Lake State Park just north of Cape Blanco, to ride to Blacklock Point and maybe further, if I had enough time. This trailhead is at the end of Airport Rd. which dead ends at an airport, not surprisingly, and the trail and small parking area is on the left. However there is also a nice large horse trailer friendly pullout on the right.

The trail follows beside the airport fence for awhile and then heads through the woods to the beach and consequently to the point. After checking out the views there, I got onto the Oregon Coast Trail which runs along the ridge. I followed it north for awhile but this is a hiking trail, and I knew from previous experience, that it has many non horse friendly areas, so it didn't take long before I had to turn around. Back near the airport there is an unmarked junction that will take you to Floras Lake, and I would have loved to have gone the whole way, but I could only follow that trail for a short time, or I was going to be setting up camp in the dark...darn time change!

On the trail to Blacklock Point.

Blacklock Point.

Blacklock Point.

I then drove over to Cape Blanco State Park to the horse camp, which was totally empty.

Cape Blanco is a cute little camp with 8 sites in a loop. There are new steel corrals, a quite clean porta potty, garbage cans, 5 potable water spigots that you can attach a hose to, a manure bin and a grey water dump.
Spots #6 and #8 have four corrals and all the rest have two. #1, #6 and #8 are pull throughs, the others are back in, and site #3 is the smallest. The spots are lengthy enough to fit larger rigs but not wide enough for more than one, the exception being #4 which is wide enough for two rigs. You are also allowed to put up your own corrals to accommodate additional horses.

Cape Blanco Horse Camp.

Cape Blanco Horse Camp.

Like most coastal camps you can reserve a spot, and in the busy summer you would be extremely lucky to get a site without a reservation.
It is $17.00 per night, and there are no additional charges like most camps have for extra vehicles. If you don't have a reservation, you have to walk to the people campground nearby, to camp host site #50 where there is a self pay station.
The people campground has flush toilets and showers, which I was happy to take advantage of since I did not want to unwinterize my trailer.

Spot # 6 at Cape Blanco Horse Camp.

The next day I left camp on the horse trail and headed south, there are around 7 miles of inland trails as well as a 150 acre open riding area across from camp. But the main goal, of course, is the beach so I went over to a viewpoint first, and then down onto the sand. It was sunny, the tide was out and there was no wind, which is a rarity at the coast. There were several curious seals watching me from the waves, they must really wonder what the heck kind of creature a horse is, with a rider, no less.

I always gallop when I am on the beach, so I did quite a lot of that. I headed north first to the point of the cape, passing Needle Rock. Then I went south until I reached Elk River. At the river there were quite a few fishermen, and I noticed one was just getting back into his car to leave the beach, so unbeknownst to him, I decided to race him... and I won!

Trail signage at Cape Blanco.

A south beach viewpoint.

On South Beach near Needle Rock.

Cape Blanco and the lighthouse.

After that I went back inland and rode around the perimeter fence line of the riding trails until I came to a dead end at the park road. From there I went up a trail that is deemed "extremely difficult", this just means that it is steep, and rode in the open riding area, meandering in and out of the woods for awhile.

The swampy area at the far east side of the trail system.

Looking over to the Sixes River from the horse trail system.

I'm not much for sitting still, so after my ride, which was pretty short, I went for a hike over to the lighthouse. The lighthouse and another attraction called The Hughes House, that I also walked to the following day, are fun places to visit and get tours of in the summer, however when I was there they were both closed for the winter.

The view down to the south beach where I had just ridden.

The Cape Blanco Lighthouse.

The next day I needed to find a way to get down to the beach on the north side of the cape, since you can't ride all the way around it. I started on the Oregon Coast Trail which I accessed by riding north on the camp road and then crossing the paved park road. I tried heading towards the Hughes House first, but the trail shortly became non horse friendly again. So I went the other way towards the lighthouse and made my way down to the beach from there. I was able to ride all the way back over to Blacklock Point, with the tide out and a spit of sand to follow between the ocean and the Sixes River. I also tried to ride the inland trails beside the river, but they were flooded and I didn't get very far.

On the Oregon Coast Trail.

The North Beach.

Riding on the North Beach.

The spit of sand between the ocean and the Sixes River.

Near the Sixes River.

I went back to the Coast Trail and then followed it south, so I was looping back along beside the people campground and then over to the horse camp road. Although you are not allowed to ride along the paved roads, just crossing over them is probably okay, at least at the time of year that I was there, since it was pretty quiet, not much traffic or tourists to contend with.

There was someone parked in the camp when I got back, using an empty spot as day use.
After my ride, I went for a long walk over to the Pioneer Graveyard and the Hughes House. The Hughes House was built in 1898 and was once the home of a dairy farmer, and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

On the Oregon Coast Trail heading south.

The Hughes House.

That evening as I was snug in my bed, I heard a strange noise coming from the back of my truck.... directly underneath me. At first I thought it was the wind knocking something over, but then there were some banging noises. It was pitch dark and I was not sure what I was dealing with, I had seen some deer earlier but I ruled them out pretty quickly. Then I remembered that I had left a container with senior equine in the back of my truck (which I never do), but once I heard it fall over I knew something was trying to get into it. Bear? I wasn't sure but I didn't want my truck to get all scratched up...priorities...so I went out and turned on my outside light. I saw something disappear off to the far side of my rig, so I went back into the trailer and shone my flashlight out my gooseneck window, right into the eyes of a portly raccoon who was staring right back at me.
After that I removed the tempting grain, and went back to bed, but of course the raccoon came back a little later when the coast was clear, and tried to find it again. I also heard him out there the following night, just in case I might have been complacent once more. All I can say is while he was hoisting himself up and over my tailgate, he was not particularly agile or graceful.

Early in the morning I got packed up, but instead of driving straight home, I took a little detour outside of Roseburg to the North Bank Habitat Management Area.
There are a couple of ways to access this large piece of BLM. Since it was a Saturday, I went to the Comstock Trailhead which is gated and only open Friday through Monday. The other way in, which is called the West Entrance is open all week.
The Comstock Trailhead has a bathroom and parking for quite a few horse trailers, in fact it was a busy place, and many more trailers arrived all through the day. There is a map you can look up online of all the trails, and also a large mapboard at the trailhead. They have a little covered manure bin where you can deposit any horse poop, which I thought was kind of nice, and certainly cuts down on the amount of times people just leave it in the parking lot.

The Comstock Trailhead at North Bank Habitat.

There were some ladies getting ready to ride at the same time as me, in fact they invited me to join them, but I was kind of pressed for time, since I still had to drive all the way home. They had warned me about chiggers (a tiny type of mite) being a problem, so I fly sprayed my horse just in case. They left before me, but eventually I caught up and passed them. There are a couple of gates at the trailhead to go through, and depending on which one you pick, you will have a few different trails/roads to choose from, all of them going up into oak tree covered rolling hills.

I started on the Blacktail Basin Trail, then veered off for awhile on to the top of a ridge, then passed Grumpy's Pond and headed back down the Soggy Bottom Road passing the Wrong Way Trail!
I passed quite a few wildlife cameras set up in several different places. They are easy to spot, but pick your bathroom breaks carefully, or you will be on camera!
I am sure in the spring and summer there are numerous wild flowers, but although it was November the hills were still green, and it was very pretty. This is grazing land so there are quite a few gates to go through, and a lot of electric fence set up throughout the area. Since it is BLM you could technically camp on the land, but you can't camp at the trailhead, or drive onto the land, so that makes it pretty tricky to do so, unless you pack in.

Riding up the Blacktail Basin Trail, the two ladies are ahead of me.

Views from the Blacktail Basin Trail.

Scott Mountain.

The junction with the Powerline Road.

This area is popular for hunting, and I did see a few hunters when I left the parking lot, but not again for the rest of the day.
Once I got onto the Soggy Bottom Road I ran into another group of friendly riders, and as I headed back downhill, I could see where the name of that trail came about, since there was quite a lot of mud in the shaded areas.

Going down the Soggy Bottom Road.

Lots of oak trees on the Soggy Bottom Road.

It was a beautiful, warm and sunny day, and I would rather have continued exploring some of the other trails, but I had to think about getting home at a decent hour, so I kept my ride on the shorter side. I may have to go back another time and see the rest of the area. I got back home just in time for winter to finally kick in and snowfall to curtail my adventures... at least for a little while.



GPS COORDINATES TO BLACKLOCK POINT TH

GPS COORDINATES TO CAPE BLANCO

GPS COORDINATES TO COMSTOCK TH

Hurricane Rim, Coalpits Wash (Zion NP) and Weber County North Fork Park, Utah

This is the fourth and final blog about my trip into Southern Utah in October.

On the Chinle Trail in Zion National Park.

My next destination was Washington Legacy Park just outside of Hurricane. This park is quite large and is a combination fairgrounds/rodeo grounds/racetrack.
There are two ways to stay there, rent a stall for $15.00 per night, and get a spot with hookups over by the barn (I don't know what they charge for hookups) or get an outside pen with water, and park near the pens behind the Grafton Building. The option I chose was the outside pen and it was very affordable at only $5.00 per night. There is a drop box in the stall barn where you pay, so if you call ahead, and they do not have an event going on, you can just drive over and make yourself at home.
They do not have much info on their website so call 435 652 4000 to get set up.
Every morning and evening the racehorses get exercised on the track, but other than the race horse people which are not especially close by, it was not a busy place, and no one else was using the pens.
They have several bathrooms, but they were locked when I was there.
They have cameras set up here and there, so don't do anything you aren't supposed to!


At this point my horse was ready for another day off, so I took advantage of having a safe place to leave her, and went on a hike nearby at the Red Cliffs Desert Preserve. You can ride there as well, and there are several different trailheads into the preserve. I checked out White Reef TH which has plenty of horse trailer parking spots, and a $5.00 day use fee.
But I ended up hiking from Cottonwood TH which is free, and a lot more rustic, but there is still room for a few horse trailers. You have to drive through narrow highway underpasses to get to both of these trailheads.

Parking at the Cottonwood TH in the Red Cliffs Preserve.

I hiked along an actual trail for awhile but then decided to go cross country and hop around on the red rocks for awhile, isn't that the whole point of being in Utah?! Hopefully without falling into a crevasse and having to cut off my own arm... yes, I saw the movie 172 Hours.

Rock hopping in the Red Cliffs Preserve.

After my hike I went to Hurricane to get a few groceries, and when I got back to the park the race track people had put a horse in a pen near mine, so my mare had company for the rest of the evening.

The next ride on the agenda was the Hurricane Rim Trail over on Sheep Bridge Rd. near the town of Rockville. Sheep Bridge Rd. is a very busy place because of it's proximity to Zion, and a lot of people primitive camp on side roads in this large expanse of BLM. The Hurricane Cliffs Trail System is mostly for mountain bikers, but there are a couple of horse trails as well.

I didn't go to a real trailhead, I parked at a pullout that is on private property, but can be used for the day. From there I rode a short ways to the Rim Trail which starts out along the Virgin River. It veers away from the river for awhile, and then back eventually to a much deeper part of the canyon. Then as per usual, I made it into a loop, by riding up Chinatown Wash and then back along the road. There are some pretty nice views of Zion from afar.

On the Hurricane Rim Trail.

The Virgin River, from the Hurricane Rim Trail.

The deeper part of the canyon from the Hurricane Rim Trail.

Views of Zion from  the Hurricane Cliffs Trail System.

Views of Zion from the Hurricane Cliffs Trail System.

The next day, sadly, was my last ride in Southern Utah. I had contacted Jon Tanner a local Utah rider to see about finding a place to stop and ride on my way home, which he was very helpful with, but he also recommended that I do Coalpits Wash in Zion, and so that is what I did. You access this trail by parking at a pullout alongside Hwy 9 near Rockville, by mile marker 25. There were a couple of park rangers about to hike in for the day who greeted me when I arrived, but just like the Hop Valley TH I had done previously, this is not an area that you have to pay a fee to access the national park.

The view from the parking area, before I even started the ride!

From the parking area you can ride in the actual wash, but there is also a perfectly good trail to follow above it, and eventually it leads to the Scoggins Stock Trail. This trail takes you up and out of the canyon, to the junction with the Chinle Trail, which then meanders through the scenic and beautiful cliffs of Zion.
The Chinle Trail keeps going for awhile, and I followed it keeping an eye out for pieces of petrified wood, it is illegal to take any home with you, but fun to try to spot them. It eventually heads back down to it's trailhead in Rockville so unless you have another rig parked there, you have to turn around and go back the same way.

Heading up the trail beside Coalpits Wash.

Trying to see how "blendy" my horse is with the red rock.

This trail goes up a short hill out of the canyon to the Chinle Trail.

On the Scoggins Stock Trail.

On the Chinle Trail.

On the Chinle Trail.

Heading back down the Scoggins Stock Trail.

It's a long drive to get back to Oregon, and although I did the trip to Utah in two days, I wanted to break it up a little bit on the way back, so I drove from Hurricane to Weber County North Fork Park outside of Ogden, which was one of Jon's recommendations. It wasn't too far out of my way and I could spend the night, do a ride the following day, and then spend a second night before continuing on my way home.

Weber County Park has several different campgrounds, but there is also an area with communal horse corrals. Presumably you are supposed to pick a spot right near them to camp, but there was a nice open area that was more level, and with access to sun, so that is where I set up instead, and the camp host did not care. There was only one week left of the park being open, so the bathrooms were locked and the water was turned off. It is $5.00 per horse, per night, and possibly $10.00 extra to camp. The reason I am not sure, is it said $20.00 on a sign, but there was no self pay station, and when the camp host came around to collect the money, he was kind of making it up as he went along, and gave me a deal for the two nights.
The corrals are in a large grid with two roomy ones in the middle, and then 12 very small ones along the outside. There is also a day use area with a loading ramp.

This is in a higher elevation than Ogden, you have to drive up and over part of the Wasatch Range to get to the park which is near the town of Eden. So not for the first time on this trip, I endured temperatures way below freezing overnight.

The corrals at Weber County North Fork Park.

The next day I started riding up the trail and I had not gone very far before I saw a moose. I was pretty excited to see the moose, because although a few may exist somewhere in Oregon, I had never actually seen one, but I was also a little confused about the situation, since she was lying down and did not get up when I rode by. I couldn't tell if anything was wrong, but it seemed weird....more about that later. I rode onward and followed some of the lower elevation trails that had no real rhyme or reason to them. I had seen an online map of the trail system, but it didn't really accurately depict what is actually there. At one point I ran into a group of school kids on a field trip, and they were much more excited to see a horse than continuing to listen to whatever the teacher was trying to explain to them. Eventually I ran out of trails down below, so I headed uphill. Jon had told me there was a nice loop to do on the Ben Lomond Trail, but I also knew there was snow up in the higher elevations already, so I wasn't sure if I would be able to ride the whole thing. It turns out I wasn't able to, but I climbed pretty high, and got some good views back down onto the park and over to Pineview Reservoir.

Starting off on the trail from the park.

Just a short way along the trail, I found this moose.

An apropos sign, on one of the lower elevation trails.

Most of the fall colors were already gone, except for this little patch.

On the lower elevation trails.

Climbing up the Ben Lomond Trail.

Looking back down onto the park from the Ben Lomond Trail.

Views from the Ben Lomond Trail.

Since I couldn't do the loop, I ended up going back the same way, and four hours later the moose was still there, which was clearly a bad sign. There was a family camping in the park that were there to do some hunting, and the wife was standing on the trail near the moose when I came back down. She said she didn't know what was wrong either, but the camp host had been notified. After that it was a matter of waiting around until a guy from the DWR came to the park, hiked up and shot the moose. He informed us that she had a broken back leg. A sad end to the day.

Early the next frigid morning, I left and drove most of the way home, stopping for one more night of  primitive camping in the BLM in Eastern Oregon. I enjoyed a lovely sunset that night, and got back home at a decent hour the following day.

An Oregon sunset, on my way home.

This concluded my three week adventure into Utah, a trip I had planned for a long time. Although I had seen many people's pictures and videos, and had even been to Utah before on a hiking trip, the riding I did during this visit exceeded my expectations, and was really something to remember.


These directions are to the pullout I parked at:
GPS COORDINATES TO HURRICANE RIM

GPS COORDINATES TO COALPITS WASH

GPS COORDINATES TO NORTH FORK PARK