Central Oregon – La Pine to Eugene

For this leg of our journey we explore in and around Bend, visit a few waterfalls, take one of Oregon’s Scenic Bikeways, and hike a trail rated as one of Oregon’s toughest; but most scenic. We accomplish our reason for coming to Oregon, and are reminded of why we try to avoid larger cities.

La Pine, OR

Our journey begins in the town of La Pine with a hunt for a recycling center and a laundromat. We find both within a block of each other and are able to empty the back of the truck of cans and bottles as well as get all of our accumulated laundry clean. We visited the La Pine Laundromat, and I have to say this place is the nicest laundromat we’ve ever been to. The town itself is very small; but has a quaint charm to it.

La Pine State Park

The Oregon State Parks website boasts that “La Pine State Park occupies a scenic spot along the trout-filled Upper Deschutes River in a high desert subalpine forest.” We found this to mean that the park has numerous hiking trails through a dense forest, split by the Deschutes River and offers a few, very unique scenic spots.

Big Ponderosa Pine – Oregon Heritage Tree

Oregon’s Heritage Tree is the biggest of its species ever recorded and is thought to be over 500 years old, making it a giant long before the Oregon Territory was even established. At last recording, it is 28 feet, 11 inches around and 162 feet tall. Unfortunately, a recent severe weather event decimated half its crown, making another Ponderosa Pine taller; but it still retains the title of being the biggest of its kind in circumference.

The trail to see this giant also affords us an incredible view of the Deschutes River as well as some of the local wildlife.

Fall River Falls

This fall is located on a pristine mountain stream in the northern section of the park. With a length of only nine-miles, the Fall River is spring fed, with clear, cold water that runs steadily all year long.

With a drop of only 14 feet, this fall’s majesty comes from it’s width. It averages 75 feet across and with the amount of snow melting this year, it’s even wider than that today.

Don McGregor Viewpoint

Offering a sweeping view at one of the many bends in the Deschutes River, this viewpoint was dedicated to Don McGregor in 1973 for his many contributions to preserving Oregon’s scenic and recreational resources.

Bend, Oregon

Next, we head into Bend to do some shopping, pick up some packages and explore. We begin on the east side of the city to pick up some packages and then visit Pilot Butte.

Pilot Butte State Scenic Viewpoint

Pilot Butte is a Cinder Cone in the heart of Bend. There’s a small park at the bottom with parking and a trail that goes up and around the butte to a summit viewpoint that provides a 360 degree view for miles. In addition, there are information boards giving a history of the summit as well as a landmark/sculpture that provides a directional arrow identifying each visible mountain peak and how far away it is.

Old Mill District

We then head over to Bend’s famed Old Mill District; which we’ve been told shouldn’t be missed. It’s a giant outdoor shopping area along the Deschutes River with live music, trails along the river, and a few parks. They’ve obviously put a lot of time, effort, money, and advertising into this area.

Our impression… The area is extremely busy, with very little parking. The people we encountered were very rude, generally unhappy, and there were notices everywhere warning about auto break-ins. In addition, homeless people were very apparent. I was so uncomfortable in the area, I didn’t even think about taking out my camera. Needless to say, we didn’t stay very long and were very happy to get out of there.

Terrebonne, Oregon

On the road to Steelhead Falls this morning we come across this field of adorable alpacas with the snow covered Three Sisters mountains in the background. We couldn’t help but stop for some photos and it seems the Alpacas are used to people; because they started to come over to investigate. We didn’t wish to disrupt them any further, so we quickly hopped back in the truck and went on our way.

Steelhead Falls Trail

Offering excellent views of the Deschutes River, this trail is relatively short. However, it is steep and rocky in spots, so hiking poles are helpful if you’re even slightly unstable.

Steelhead Falls

The trail approaches the waterfall from the back and when we first catch sight of the top, the instant reaction is… “That’s so small. Why is it ranked as one of Oregon’s top waterfalls?” But as we continue to walk, we begin to see the breadth and beauty of the falls and it’s an instant… “Ok, now we get it.” It definitely earned it’s spot at #27 on the list of Oregon’s best waterfalls.

Smith Rock State Park – Misery Ridge & River Trail

Touted as one of the hardest hikes in Oregon, this path provides stunning river views, as well as ample opportunity to see wildflowers and wildlife. So, despite it’s difficulty, this trail easily earns it’s place among Oregon’s best hikes for scenery. Come along the trail with us…

Misery Ridge – going up the east side

Misery Ridge – east side

Misery Ridge – west side

Misery Ridge – coming down the west side

Misery Ridge Trails joins the River Trail

Climbers

The park is also well known for it’s rock climbing opportunities. There are several thousand climbs in the park with over 1k being bolted, drawing climbers from around the world.

We encounter climbers all along trail, speaking many different languages. It seems every time we see a rock face there are climbers on it, or preparing to go up it.

Redmond, Oregon

Cline Buttes – Barr North OHV Staging Area

We set up camp here for a few days while exploring the surrounding areas. It’s free, quiet, and provides easy access to use our bikes to get to a few of the sights we wish to see.

Cline Falls State Park

With easy access via bikes from camp, we set out to explore this very small park along the Deschutes River. The park offers a few opportunities for swimming, fishing, and one hiking trail that leads down to the waterfall.

Cline Falls

Tumalo, Oregon

Twin Bridges Scenic Bikeway

This 36 mile scenic bikeway is one of Oregon’s premier cycling routes. Going through some of the most sublime scenery in central Oregon like high desert rangeland, snow capped mountains, and the Deschutes River, this route has it all. The official route begins in Bend; but we modify it to cut off the Bend portion and ride down from our campsite through the Cline Butte Recreation Area. It’s about the same distance; but with dirt roads and a lot more wilderness.

The entire route is wonderful; but we are so focused on riding that we don’t stop very often to take photos.

“The Bite”

However, we did stop for lunch at “The Bite” in Tumalo. As we were planning our route, we found this unique place on the map and are very glad we chose to stop here. The options are varied, the pricing reasonable, the atmosphere relaxing, and food incredible.

Trail Bridge Reservoir

On the way to Coburg we stop at this very pretty spot in the Willamette National Forest.

Coburg, OR

True Topper

We have reached the reason we ended up in Oregon this summer vs going to Wyoming as originally planned. We’re here to have True Topper install their unique product on our camper’s slide. Per True Topper’s website… “The True Topper® is a solid aluminum sweep fitted with a high slip material on the leading edge, allowing for a smooth non-abrasive glide that gracefully removes any debris that has collected on the roof top each time the slide room is retracted.”

This helps deflect water, to avoid leaks as well as prevents us from having to go up on the roof every time we stop to: 1) make sure the slide seal deployed correctly when we arrive and 2) sweep off the slide before we pull it in to leave.

As a bonus, the other party here to have work done is the couple from the YouTube Channel – Big Truck Big Travels. Given we began watching them before we bought our camper, it was really nice to meet them and pick their brain about some of their all time favorite places to visit. We definitely added a few to our list of places we’d like to visit.

Eugene, OR

While at True Topper, we head into Eugene to pick up packages and do a little grocery shopping. We are warned by our hosts to be very careful about where we park, and to take a good look around before leaving our vehicle due to rampant crime and homelessness. We see evidence of this all around town and really appreciate the warning. We’re in an out quickly and don’t encounter any issues.

Next Stop… Oregon’s Northern Coast (Southern Portion)