Summer Lake Wildlife Refuge and Chewaucan Crossing Campground, Oregon

Well that was a long winter, and then suddenly....it is finally warm enough to camp. This was also my maiden voyage with my "new to me" trailer that I bought last fall. Love it, and everything works!

Chewaucan Crossing.

I decided to head over to Chewaucan Crossing which makes it the sixth camp that I have ridden the Fremont National Recreation Trail from. I have camped at Silver Creek Marsh and ridden to Antler Trailhead, camped at Farmwell, Currier Spring and Moss Meadow. I enjoy the wide open spaces, remoteness and solitude of this area. There might be a few other people in some of the campgrounds, but I've never encountered another human being while on this particular trail, that runs for nearly 150 miles.

But first, on the way there, I stopped at the Summer Lake Wildlife Refuge. This is ODFW land so you need to go online first and get a parking pass/permit which costs $10.00. Once on the refuge there are several areas for parking and four primitive campgrounds. The gravel road is in good shape but there are sections that are narrow, with water on either side, so if you meet someone coming the other way, one of you will have to back up. 

There is an 8.3 mile driving loop for wildlife viewing so a few people might be doing that, but generally it's a pretty quiet place, and you can see someone coming for miles. The camping areas are large, with bathrooms and picnic tables and all of the side roads and dikes are closed to motor vehicles, so you can ride or hike on them in order to explore all of the different areas.

The second of four large camping areas.

I started out riding south right from the campground on Bullgate Dike, which eventually dead ended, so then I followed an offshoot dike, which took me out into more of an alkali area. There was a wooden tower that I was headed straight towards, and when I looked up I spotted an owl observing me from above. Not surprisingly, since Summer Lake is known for bird watching, there were a plethora of different kinds of birds, including a lot of white pelicans and some type of swan. It wasn't just birds that were flying around though. When I first started the ride I passed by some bushes and dislodged a giant swarm of some sort of fly. The flies proceeded to stick with me en masse for nearly the entire first half of the ride. This wasn't as unpleasant as it may sound, they swarmed directly behind and above my head in a huge cloud, like I was Pigpen, but they weren't landing on, or biting me or my horse.

Riding on Bullgate Dike.

Views of Winter Rim.

Quite a few white pelicans.

Looking over to a tower.

Lots of alkali in certain areas.

Found this guy up in the tower.

After I hit another dead end, I turned around, went back to the truck, had some snacks, and then did a second ride, heading towards some old buildings I could see in the distance. This turned out to be remnants of an old ranch and another parking area, but I was on the wrong side of a cable gate, that I couldn't get my horse through or around, so I followed another two track along the Ana River until I got to camping area number one, and I was able to do a loop back to my truck from there.

The fourth camping area has some old ranch buildings.

Nice old barn.

Inside the old barn.

These two had collars on them.

After my ride I drove about an hour over to Chewaucan Crossing Campground/ Trailhead which is about 8 miles outside of Paisley on a paved road. There were a couple of big RV's parked in the spots closest to the water and after looking at the remaining spots I just decided to park slightly outside of the actual camp loop, where I had a grassy area to put up my corral. 

Chewaucan Crossing has easy access on a paved road.

Chewaucan Crossing Campground.

 Chewaucan Crossing is a free camp and has five sites, all are back-in except for one that is pull through. Some of them can accommodate larger rigs, but the RV people stayed the entire time I was there so I was never able to examine the two that they were using. There is one bathroom, and of course stock water from the river, but no other amenities. If you look online the description of this camp says that there are corrals, but that is no longer true. I had no cell service there because this camp is situated in a bit of a ravine. There are a few other official campgrounds along this river and lots of nice dispersed spots as well, but the reason I went to this specific one is because it has a bridge. The Fremont National Recreation Trail runs right through camp and you can cross the bridge and follow it south from there.

The bridge on the Fremont National Recreation Trail.

The first night, although there were no mosquito's, there were a few bugs bothering my thin skinned horse, so I was spraying some repellent on her, when somehow the nozzle got turned around and I sprayed myself directly in the face. In the eyes to be exact, luckily I use a natural repellent for humans instead of fly spray, so it could have been worse, but I had a film of oil covering my eyeballs for the rest of the night. 

The next day I headed across the bridge and followed the trail for several hours until I reached a fence line with a gate, at a high point where the trail then crosses over to the other side of the mountains. This is where I turned around. Along the way there were short sections of burned forest from the recent fires, consequently there were some downed trees to navigate, but this is open country and you can get around them pretty easily. There are nice views back down to the Chewaucan River and it's a mostly easy ride, although with some elevation gain and one slightly cliffy section.

On the Fremont Trail, heading south.

A little watering hole.

 

Views back down to the river.

The Fremont National Recreation Trail is marked.

When I got back, a lady who had just arrived with her husband, took a couple pictures of me as I was crossing the bridge, we chatted for a bit and she took my number so she could send me the photos, but I guess she forgot, because I never heard from her! The night before a couple of kids had come by to say hi to my horse, so on the second evening as I was spending an hour watching her occasionally chewing on her fetlock, ( a sign that a tick is trying to crawl up her leg, at which point I remove it ) a guy with the same group dropped by to see her as well, and although he was a nice enough guy he wanted to tell me all about his knowledge of horses, which was about 95% extremely wrong! 

There was a fun, thunder, lightning and rain storm as I was crawling into bed that night. I'm always extremely grateful to be warm and cozy in my LQ in those kind of situations, after spending many years tent camping and freezing my ass off.

On the last day I started riding at the crack of dawn. I went north on the Fremont Trail for a short while, but saw there were some more downed trees, and so I changed my mind and decided to follow forest service road 3412 instead, which was going in the same general direction. To get to it I rode down the paved road past another campground called Jones Crossing, which looks like a nice spot, its a little roomier for trailers and putting up corrals etc. BUT you would have to ride on the tarmac for a little while to get to the trail from there.

Starting out on the north side of the Fremont Trail.

The Chewaucan River.

As I was riding along I saw something in the middle of the road up ahead. It stared at me for a bit and then ran away and that's when I identified it as a badger. Once I got to where it had been, I thought I would not see it again, but it was curious and was watching me from it's den. So I started taking pictures and the little guy stuck around and posed for quite awhile. He or she seemed pretty fascinated with my horse. They are nocturnal, and fairly elusive, so this was a treat!

The little cute badger.

I ended up following the road until I was in a pretty meadow with a spring and lots of Aspens, but after that I had to call it a day and head back, so I would had time to drive home. I rode six hours on both days at this camp, and could have ridden a couple more days there.

The spring runs into a pond in a meadow.

Views from the FS road.

Heading back down the FS road.

This was a slightly busier camp than the others I have visited in the Fremont Winema National Forest, and the others all had corrals, but there are plenty to pick from, and you will have some really pretty country to explore. It's a great area to hit up in the early season since snow melt happens faster there. I would recommend May or June, before it gets too hot. 

GPS COORDINATES TO CHEWAUCAN CROSSING

Pederson Sno Park, Rye Spur Horse Camp and Great Meadow Sno Park, Oregon

October usually has at least one week of good weather, which makes it easy to fit in a final camping trip for the season, so I decided to do a few rides in Southern Oregon, between Medford and Klamath Falls.

Rye Spur Horse Camp

Sadly, I started having a flare up of an injury I sustained back in July, so the rides were not as long as I normally do, or as enjoyable. But I started at Pederson Sno Park on Dead Indian Memorial Road, which is a PCT trailhead. Unlike a lot of sno parks this one is quite small, parking could be tight in the summer, but it was empty while I was there. It had become drizzly and misty, so the ride south along the PCT was a little chilly. Most of this section is forested anyway, but there was one open area where I had a brief view through the fog.

On the PCT from Pederson Sno Park.

A foggy, drizzly day on the PCT.

A brief view through the fog, on the PCT.

After the ride I drove over to Fourmile Lake Road and found Rye Spur Horse Camp. There is a trailhead just off of Highway 140 with the same name, but the horse camp is on a spur road about 3.5 miles up Fourmile Lake Road. There is no signage for the camp at all, until you actually get to it, and although I had the number of the spur road, it also had no signage, so I sincerely hoped I was going the right way. Once there, it opens right up into a rock quarry type of area, complete with a pond. There is a bathroom and a set of three steel corrals, but otherwise you can just camp anywhere in the large gravel lot. There is one picnic table near the pond, some home made fire rings, cell service that comes and goes, no manure bin, and it is free to camp.

The only sign is right by the camp.

Rye Spur Horse Camp.

No one else was there, I was wondering if hunters might use it, but apparently not, and the weather cleared right up for the next couple of days.

The following day I rode the Rye Spur Trail that leaves from camp. I knew it headed back down to the highway, but I found out it can be done as a loop. Not too far along, there is a nice viewpoint all way over to Klamath Lake.

Looking down onto Klamath Lake from the Rye Spur Trail.

On the Rye Spur Trail.

A great viewpoint over to Klamath Lake.

I rode to the trailhead at the highway first, then I doubled back and did the South Ridge Trail back to camp. For a lengthy stretch, this trail turns into a road, and from there I got some nice views of nearby Mt. McLaughlin.

The junction with the South Ridge Trail.

On the South Ridge Trail.

The South Ridge Trail becomes a road for awhile.

Mt. McLoughlin views.

The obvious other ride to do from this camp is over to Fourmile Lake, but because I had camped previously at Fourmile Lake Horse Camp in 2015, I did not go over there on this trip. To read about my previous trip, click here: Fourmile. Had I been feeling better I might have done it anyway, but instead, after my second night, I drove back down to Highway 140 and stopped in at Great Meadow Sno Park for my final ride.

Great Meadow.

I knew I could go up into the Mountain Lakes Wilderness from there, but since I have already ridden into that area in the past, I started following the High Lakes Trail, that skirts the meadow.

After awhile I started passing some campgrounds, that were closed for the season, and eventually made it over to Lake of the Woods. I was somewhat surprised that horses would be allowed on this trail, just because this can be a very busy spot in the summer. After riding for about two hours I got to the Brown Mt. Trailhead and suddenly there was a sign from that point on, saying no horses allowed.... AND also pointing back the way I had just come....there is no way to know this as you leave the sno park. I even passed a Lake of the Woods employee, who said nothing to me. Being a very quiet October weekday, I'm guessing nobody cared.

A coyote in Great Meadow.

On the High Lakes Trail.

Mt. McLaughlin at Lake of the Woods.

Lake of the Woods.

Lake of the Woods.

I figured that was my cue to turn around, and instead of going all the way back on the same trail, I cut across the meadow back to my truck.

Heading back across Great Meadow.

Great Meadow Sno Park.

This concluded my last trip of 2023...until next year!

GPS COORDINATES TO PEDERSON SNO PARK

GPS COORDINATES TO RYE SPUR

GPS COORDINATES TO GREAT MEADOW SNO PARK

Boundary Creek Trailhead and Bull Trout Horse Camp, Idaho

This is the last blog, of three, about my 2023 trip into the Sawtooth's, or in this case, the White Clouds and the Boise National Forest. For part two, click here: Champion and Tin Cup

The White Clouds.

After leaving Tin Cup, I drove over to Boundary Creek. The actual trailhead is up at the end of Boundary Creek Road, but closer to the highway is a spot to park and camp, with a corral and a pasture! On Saturday while driving by, I had seen a rig there, so I was hoping they would be gone by the time I needed it, on the following Tuesday, and I lucked out.

The camping near Boundary Creek Trailhead.

The camping area is first come first serve and there is a large corral that opens up into a very large field with a stream running through it. There are quite a lot of bushes, it is not wide open, so possibly if your horse is a wanderer, there may be a chance you might not find them the next morning. It's hard to say how far they could get, but I knew my particular pony would stay put. There are no amenities at this spot and it is fairly close to the highway. There is plenty of cell service, as there is a tower on a hill across the street. Not quite a whole mile away, is the actual trailhead, with a star feeder and enough room to park and camp in the rocky turnaround, or in a nearby grassy area. There is a creek nearby, but no other amenities.

The "pasture" area.

The next day I rode the Boundary Creek Trail which climbs quite steeply to the junction with Trail 616. There are great views of the entirety of Redfish Lake on the way up, and you can also see the White Cloud Mountains.

Redfish Lake from the Boundary Creek Trail.

On the Boundary Creek Trail.

The White Cloud Mountains.

I followed 616 over to the first Casino Lake, which you just look down on from above, and then I got to another junction where I briefly started riding towards one more of the Casino Lakes. However that trail was dropping way back down in elevation, so I turned around and went over to one of the Garland Lakes instead. These particular trails are shared with motorcycles and mountain bikes, but I did not see anyone all day.

One of the Casino Lakes.

One of the Garland Lakes.

On the way back down the Boundary Creek  Trail.

After completing that ride I had to ponder for awhile what I wanted to do next, extend my trip a little longer, or wrap things up like I had originally planned. I decided to wrap things up, but I wanted to try to do a ride off of Highway 21 on the way home. I had looked at my map and picked out a specific ride to a couple of lakes, but the next day when I got to that area, there was nowhere to park a horse trailer, so I continued driving and on the fly decided to check out Bull Trout Lake instead.

As I was puttering very slowly on yet another pothole ridden dirt road I started to wonder if this had been a good choice. There were a lot of dispersed camping spots along the way and just as I was thinking maybe I should park in one of them, a sign appeared saying "horse trailer parking" and lo and behold I had stumbled onto a horse camp that I had no idea was there, since my map of the area did not include this section.

The day use area, at Bull Trout Horse Camp.

Bull Trout Horse Camp has four spots that you can fit bigger rigs into. Three of the spots are near the entrance, and then another one is situated farther away near where the camp loop road ends, in a turnaround area. The sites have corrals, and there is a bathroom, a water hand pump, and a dumpster. There is also a creek very close by. The camp is gated and locked because it is reservation only, and they do not allow anyone in there without a horse. There is a day use area with a loading ramp, which is where I parked.

One of the spots at Bull Trout Horse Camp.

The last couple of nights at Boundary Creek had gotten really cold, with ice on my windshield, and when I started my ride from Bull Trout, it was still a little chilly. But like the weather in higher elevations, things change quickly, and I would be wearing a T shirt and shorts by the afternoon.

I decided to ride the Warm Springs Trail which started out very level and passed by Martin Lake as well as another unnamed lake. Then the trail headed downhill quite steeply into Deadman Canyon, following Deadman Creek. I got to an area where there was a small meadow, at which point I decided to turn back. The plan was, I needed enough time to drive at least halfway home that same day. The Warm Springs Trail continues on, (13 miles one way) until it reaches it's other end, at the highway. This is in the Boise National Forest and these trails are also shared with motorcycles and bicycles, although yet again, I did not encounter anyone.

On the Warm Springs Trail.

Martin Lake.

Where the Warm Springs Trail starts to get steep.

A little meadow on the Warm Springs Trail.

Heading back up along Deadman Creek.

Warm Springs Creek, near the horse camp.

I left that afternoon and drove to a random spot along the highway in Oregon, that I had stayed at before, and then cruised the rest of the way back the following day. So glad I made this second trip into the Sawtooth's. Many many, beautiful rides, and if you are set up for dispersed camping, there is no shortage of that, at nearly every trailhead.

GPS COORDINATES TO BOUNDARY CREEK

GPS COORDINATES TO BULL TROUT