Outback Station, Oregon

When the spring weather is incredibly bad and then suddenly incredibly good, you decide to go camping in a hurry, but with not too many places to choose from, due to snow levels, I picked the area near the privately owned horse camp called Outback Station, east of La Pine.

You would have to call ahead to see when they officially open for the season, but on this trip I decided to just disperse camp nearby, since there is a good place close to a canyon, with lots of spots.

Hole in the Ground.

My last trip to Outback Station was in 2013, and at that time I surprised the owners by just showing up one day, and they were kind enough to throw up some panels and welcome me and my pony. Back then they had not finished making their place quite as habitable as it is now, with added showers and hookups etc. I stayed for a couple of nights, but wasn't able to write a blog about it, since my camera crapped out after the first day, so I only had a few pictures of the trip.

One of the only pics from my last visit in 2013.

After pulling into my camp spot which was close to Hwy 31, but not so close as to be bothered by traffic, this highway is not busy anyway, I got tacked up and went riding. I decided to head around the west end of the canyon, and then go south. I also made it almost all the way up a nearby butte, but got into some pretty big snow drifts and had to turn around. It was quite a warm day but since it was the first of a few warm days after a dreadfully cold spring, the snow hadn't quite had a chance to melt yet.

My dispersed camping spot.

Looking down into the canyon near my camp spot.

Came across this random water tank, checked it out, but no water came out of the pipe.

Following roads towards the butte.

Halfway up the butte I got some good views of Fort Rock in the distance, and then after getting back to the bottom, I rode around yet another canyon. Eventually I ended up near some private land, which I skirted, and then had to make my way down into the canyon, and back up the other side. It was not particularly steep, but the top of it is pretty much all rock wall, so I had to find a deer trail to pick my way down.

Fort Rock views from atop of the butte.

I had a quiet evening, and the the next day I knew exactly where I was going, passing by the actual horse camp and over to the big attraction of the area which is Hole in the Ground, a giant hole in the earth, (not a meteor crater, but looks like one). 

I've been to Hole in the Ground a few times over the years, but this was the first time seeing it with water in the bottom, not much, but a good spot in the dry desert for critters to get their thirst quenched.

Hole in the Ground.

Riding into Hole in the Ground.

Inside Hole in the Ground.

After riding back out up the steepest side, good thing my pony is always in shape, we headed north east, and out into the open land that is near Fort Rock. Fort Rock is a large rock formation, shaped like a fort, and there is a nearby small town of the same name.

There were a few fence lines I had to follow to find gates, and then some more private property to skirt, but the amount of public land out there is immense, and I rode for seven hours that day.

Parked my horse by a tree and took some photos.

Fort Rock.

On the last day I drove back along Highway 31 to the 22 mile marker and parked nearby. There is another butte in that area, which was snow free, and I wanted to explore. It ended up being quite a nice ride, after checking out the top of the butte, which had remnants of an old fire lookout, I then continued along a ridge which went all the way around a really really wide canyon area. Eventually I crossed back over the highway and was going to extend the ride on the other side of the road when I smelled smoke. On a beautiful, warm, fresh air, blue sky day, the forest service decided to do a controlled burn in the exact area I was riding. When the wind picked up it actually got quite nasty for awhile, so I figured I would just go back to my truck a little earlier than planned. When I arrived, the wind shifted and everything cleared up, but by then I was done for the day, and so I headed back home.

Views of the Cascades from atop another butte.

Found a way to ride around the ridge.

Got smoked out by a controlled burn.

For anyone who may want to camp at Outback Station, they have all the amenities you will need, and room for any sized rig. Also if you want to leave horses there, and take a day off from riding, there are some other sights to see in the area. Besides Fort Rock, there is Crack in the Ground, which I have been to, (but can't find my picture of it,) and if you want to explore even farther afield, there are the Sand Dunes and the Lost Forest. The Lost Forest might not seem like a big deal, 9000 acres of ponderosa pine trees, but it is the location that is perplexing, trees like these don't normally grow in this type of dry desert, but this is the remainder of an ancient forest that somehow still survives.

Outback Station, a recent photo.

Outback Station, a recent photo.

The nearby Sand Dunes, photo from 2020.

The Lost Forest, photo from 2020.

GPS COORDINATES TO OUTBACK STATION

La Pine State Park, Oregon

This state park in La Pine, which is south of Bend, it is one of the few that are not only free, no park pass required, but except for a couple of small areas, horses are allowed throughout the entire trail system, AND there is more than one parking area big enough for trailers.

The Deschutes River at La Pine State Park.

The largest day use parking area is just as you enter the park on the left. There is another smaller one just before crossing over the bridge, but although I have parked there in the past, it's probably best to leave it for cars, and lastly there is a decent sized horse trailer area at McGregor Point. 

Parking at the paved day use area.

There are about 14 miles of easy designated trails, but there are also occasional dirt roads and other short detours off the beaten path to explore. These trails are shared with cyclists, but I haven't run in to very many when I have ridden there, at least during the week.

On the Deschutes River Loop.

Junctions are marked and many of them have a map.

The Deschutes River.

One of the longest rides is the Fall River Loop, you start out riding beside the Deschutes, but then continue along the crystal clear spring fed Fall River, which also has a side trail to a small waterfall. 

Fall River.

Fall River.

The waterfall at Fall River.

McGregor Point.

Views of Paulina Peak from McGregor Point, along the Deschutes River.

One of the short trails that you are no longer allowed to ride on, (this changed in 2020) is the Big Tree Trail which features Oregon's largest Ponderosa, which is supposed to be over 500 years old. 

The Big Tree.

Crossing the bridge at La Pine State Park.

The park is open all year, but it's a pretty snowy area in the winter, so spring and fall is when I usually visit. There is a people campground, with no horse camping, but luckily just 19 miles away, and a lot higher in elevation, is the Newberry National Volcanic Monument, that has a horse camp by the name of Chief Paulina. 

Happy Trails!

GPS COORDINATES TO LA PINE STATE PARK

LA PINE STATE PARK TRAIL MAP

Sevenmile Marsh Equestrian Trailhead, Oregon

This was one of the only trailheads that I had not yet visited in the Sky Lakes Wilderness. I've always liked this area because there is a lot of really nice scenery, without the trails being especially difficult.

 Not to be confused with another horse camp in Oregon, also called Sevenmile, this trailhead is located outside of Fort Klamath in Southern Oregon.

Devil's Peak.

There was a fire burning to the south, and also to the north, but right in the middle was actually smoke free, at least for the short time that I was there. 

The gravel road to get to Sevenmile Marsh is in good shape. This is just a very large trailhead with ample parking for many rigs. There is a bathroom, a couple of picnic tables and one fire ring, and it is free to park or camp. But there are no other amenities, corrals, or water. This equestrian trailhead is located 1.6 miles before the hiker trailhead, and so that adds 3 miles to the rides. You could drive up the road to the hiker trailhead, but it gets a lot steeper, and once you arrive, there is not a lot of room for parking trailers, hence the reason they built a separate lot.

The equestrian parking area.

Huge parking area for equestrians.

When I do these shorter trips, I leave home early, so I have time to do a ride the same day. I had the choice of riding the equestrian trail that switchbacks up and over a butte, or just riding up the road. So since I had to do this section more than once, I chose the trail this time and the road the following day. Once at the hiker trailhead it is another 1.8 miles to the junction with the PCT. I rode north on the PCT, with a detour on a side trail to check out Ranger Spring.

I continued on the PCT until I got up on a hill, with a very limited view. It was a very hot day, so I didn't mind that this was mostly a forested ride with not much to see. In fact at Ranger Spring I doused my shirt with the ice cold water to cool myself down.

On the PCT.

Ranger Spring.

The next morning a strange thunderstorm rolled in very early. I was in the bathroom when I saw a lightning flash under the door and then an unholy loud gunshot/cannon noise. I had visions of exiting the bathroom and finding my truck/trailer with a large smoldering hole in it, but luckily it was intact. The strike must have happened on the ridge above me. The weather stayed a little cloudy and gloomy at first, but I had a long 20 mile loop to do into the Seven Lakes Basin, so I started riding and eventually the weather cleared.

On the Sevenmile Trail.

I reached Grass Lake first, and I rode across the slightly marshy ground towards the water, where I learned that this area, and it turns out, any other area that I passed with water on this loop of lakes, had a zillion little Cascade Toads underfoot. The ground was literally alive!  We took a brief break and while my horse ate some of the grass, I ate some of the copious amounts of bilberries (similar to a blueberry) growing in this area. Then I continued on to Cliff Lake which is very beautiful. There were also some side trails that led to a couple of other lakes, but I did not follow them, so I only saw five of the seven lakes in the basin, however once I was on the upper part of the loop on the PCT, I could see an amazing view of Alta Lake from afar. There are designated horse camps near the lakes for packing in, but they don't seem to get much use.

Grass Lake.

Cliff Lake.

Cliff Lake.

On the PCT.

The view of Alta Lake from the PCT.

The loop continued around Devil's Peak, which is the mountain you see as the backdrop of Cliff Lake, and then back to the junction with the Sevenmile Trail. It was not a busy area, no hunters, even though it was bow season, and I only saw one hiker all day, near the end of my ride.

Skirting Devil's Peak on the PCT.

Devil's Peak.

On the way back I had to cross a bog again that I had already done that morning. It is right on the PCT and the spot I chose to cross was not great, two of my horse's legs sunk up to the hock and knee. So this time I found a better way, off to the left, to skirt the entire water area.

The bog on the PCT.

The next day I had planned to do a ride in Chiloquin, on the way home, but once I got out of the mountains and back over to the highway, I changed my mind pretty quickly. I had left the clear blue skies behind and encountered nasty thick smoke all the way until I reached La Pine, where I stopped and did a quick ride at the state park. I guess I can count myself lucky I did not end up having to camp in that kind of hazardous air.

 GPS COORDINATES TO SEVENMILE MARSH

Sahara Creek Horse Camp, Elbe Hills State Forest, Washington

This is a continuation of my 10 day Washington trip that was in the freakishly warm month of October. I drove to Sahara Creek after leaving Margaret McKenny. To read about the first part of the trip click on this link. Margaret McKenny

On the Lower Elkspur Trail at Sahara Creek.

My GPS took me slightly past the entrance, there is not much along the highway, just an easy to miss, small brown sign that says Nicholson Horse Trails. A third name for this area is Elbe Hills, and this state forest is DNR land, which means it is free to park and camp, with a Discover Pass.

This is a big camp, and when I drove in on a Monday there were quite a few people there, although none of them with horses. I drove around the entire big loop but did not want to be jammed in next to the RVers or hunters, so I picked spot #10 which is across from the day use area.

Site #10 at Sahara Creek Horse Camp.

That evening a man was walking around the camp blowing on his elk caller thingamabob, which was a little annoying. Also, just like when I was at Margaret McKenny there were shooting noises periodically, from a gun range nearby.

This is a really nice camp and it was obviously made with a lot of attention to detail for horse people. There are 30 spots all together, but 8 of them are in a separate loop that is gated and has signs saying it can be reserved. While I was there, there were some hunters camped in the smaller loop, which has a bathroom, and two frost free water spigots you can attach a hose to. 

The larger camp loop is set up so that on the left all of the sites are pull through, and on the right they are back- in. There are high line posts arranged in a row all around the entire perimeter of the camp so if you are in a back-in spot they are directly behind you, but if you are in a pull through, they are across the camp loop road. At the end of the loop there are some more smaller spots, as well next to the day use area, which is where I ended up. There are two bathrooms, a mounting ramp, lots of mounting blocks, hitching rails, and two manure bins. There are two frost free water spigots you can attach a hose to, on either end of the camp, and one behind a large picnic pavilion. Some of the sites, but not all, are reserved for horse people M-F until 8:00pm. Apparently you can only stay 7 days in a 30 day period. Not sure how they can tell who's actually abiding by that...? Pretty much any sized rig could fit into the majority of the spots. Update: Just recently things have changed and camping in Sahara Creek Campground will now be by RESERVATION ONLY. Reservations will be made by emailing: saharacreekcampreservations@gmail.com. See the bottom of the blog for all the info.

I had pretty bad cell service in camp, I was able to sporadically get texts, sometimes just walking a short distance away from my truck, sometimes in my truck, but never in my trailer.

The day use area at Sahara Creek.

High lines line the perimeter of camp.

I had a map from the DNR website and I knew ahead of time that some sections of the trails were closed. So the first day I started on the Lower Elkspur Trail, continuing to the bottom of  Rosie's Hill, where the trail started to look a little less used. I turned around, climbed back up the steep hill and took the Buck Crossing Trail up to the Upper Elkspur Trail. The trail system consists of the Lower and Upper Elkspur and then there are quite a few ways to do long or short loops with other trails and /or old roads that are interspersed between the two.

On the Lower Elkspur Trail.

I came across the Valley View Picnic Area, which has a bathroom, and then as I was on the Upper Elkspur, on a switchback section heading back downhill, and almost at Beaver Creek Trailhead, I ran into a couple of people on horseback. They told me exactly where the trail was closed but I knew I could ride the 8 Road about a mile, and get back onto the trail past the closed section. They said the closure had really screwed up their ride, they had been forced to turn around, since they did not have shoes on for road riding. The trail sections that are closed are because of logging, so they are impassable, for now. At one point I encountered a hunter stealthily creeping along looking for his prey, I said "hello" and scared the crap out of him, I guess a large horse coming right towards him escaped his notice!

At the Valley View Picnic Area on the Buck Crossing Trail.

 

On the Buck Crossing Trail.

I actually wasn't sure I even wanted to try to ride again the next day, with all of the closures, but I managed to figure out a way to only retrace my steps a little bit, and do another loop.

I started on Lower Elkspur again, but this time I went up Doe Crossing, (yes, most of these trails are named after elk), to Holly Connector Trail, which clearly was named after me, but from there I had to back track because Fawn Crossing had a closure, then I got back on 8 Road from the day before, and once I was back at Beaver Creek Trailhead, I took the 6 Road that parallels the Upper Elkspur until I could get onto the Anvil Loop. Sound complicated? Not really, the DNR website has a map and all of the junctions are well marked. 

The Anvil Loop was nice and a little more open, so I was finally able to get an unobstructed view of Mt. Rainier. On the way back I went down the Bull Run Trail and coincidentally ran into a bull elk hanging out amongst the foliage.

Big Bridge on the Lower Elkspur Trail.

The Holly Connector Trail.

On the Anvil Loop.

Rainier views from the Anvil Loop.

My horse hears the elk.

Bull Run Trail.

That concluded my visit to Sahara Creek, doing two rides of just over 7 hours each, I covered everything on the east side. There is another trailhead on the west side of the Elbe Hills that a person could trailer over to, but since there were even more trail closures over there, it wasn't worth the effort on this visit. Instead I drove over to Rock Creek Horse Camp on my way home, to do a long loop, that I had not done on my previous visit last year. I have already written a blog about that camp, so I will update it with the new info.

GPS COORDINATES TO SAHARA CREEK

New Sahara Creek rules:

Sahara Creek Campground Management Change (Effective 11/01/2022)

Due to multiple factors including: Inadequate law enforcement coverage, overwhelming non-recreational camper misuse, trash dumping, vandalism, and chronic overstaying,

Camping in Sahara Creek Campground will now be by RESERVATION ONLY.

Reservations will be made by emailing: saharacreekcampreservations@gmail.com

Reservations are available with a minimum of 3 DAYS and a maximum of 3 MONTHS notice. Requests outside of those parameters will not be considered.

RESERVATIONS ARE NOT AVAILABLE OVER STATE HOLIDAY WEEKENDS. ALL CAMPSITES WILL BE OPEN THE THURSDAY BEFORE TILL THE MONDAY AFTER THE HOLIDAY ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS.

All MOTOR VEHICLES and TRAILERS must have valid DOL registration.

All LICENSED MOTOR VEHICLES must display a DISCOVER PASS to camp in Sahara Creek Campground (towed trailers do not require a Discover Pass to be displayed).

Sahara has 30 campsites. Sites 1-20 are Equestrian Camping ONLY. Sites 21-30 are open to non-motorized campers (including equestrian campers). Site 28 is a designated ADA campsite which requires a differently-abled DOL placard to camp in.

Stay limit in Sahara is 7 DAYS IN A 30 DAY PERIOD.

When making a reservation, please send the following information:

First and last names:

Phone number:

Start and end dates of reservation:

Site number requested:

Total number of vehicles:

Total number of campers:

Primary vehicle license plate AND STATE:

Primary vehicle Discover Pass number:

It can take up to 48 hours to process a request.

NOTE: DNR Recreation Permit Event Holders will automatically get their permit dates reserved for the entire campground, unless they indicate that they do not want DNR to do so.

DNR is making this management change to improve the recreation user experience at Sahara Creek Campground, driven by feedback provided by multiple users and stakeholders.

If you have questions, comments, or concerns regarding this, feel free to contact myself at joe.chavez@dnr.wa.gov

Joe Chavez

Elbe Recreation Manager

WA DNR