La Pine State Park
La Pine,
Oregon: The drive north from Klamath Falls to Bend
on 97 is very pretty. We enjoyed great weather and saw a
bald eagle above the shores of the Klamath Lake! Traffic is
always pretty heavy on this route - very popular with
truckers - and road crews were repaving, so we had several
delays. After a few hours, we found ourselves at
La Pine State Park, near La Pine, Oregon (just south of
Sunriver Resort. After finding a campsite we felt would be
long enough for our motorhome, yet have a small opening in
the southwest sky to accommodate our satellite link-up - we
settled in for a very relaxing afternoon in the sun.
Three
days of driving is enough - we needed to move! There are
miles of trails surrounding the campground, many along the
banks of the Deschutes River. The weather was perfect for a
hike too. Armed with only our cameras, we headed out into
the wilderness. Across the Deschutes River we watched otters, found an osprey nest and even
found industrious ants making sawdust out of a fallen tree.
Many trees have fallen into the river, making perfect
hide-away spots for fish, otter and critters of all sort.
The Deschutes (pronounced
dah-SHOOTS) is quite high and is running fast.
The air is so clear here and the river smells so good!
Look close and you can see an otter >
Photo by DT
And that's not the only wild thing he found along the trail
The Deschutes River at La Pine State Park
Mossy tree (photo by DT)
Relaxing after our hike
Typical campsite at La Pine State Park:
20 amp, water, sewer, picnic table and fire pit - $17 per
night (2007)
In season, La Pine State Park hosts a Ranger program at the
amphitheater
For car-campers, the park also rents cabins with cots,
bathrooms, microwave,
fridge, sofa, dining table and BBQ grill with two burners
Little cabins for rent - some with handicapped access
No casinos, no restaurants, no shopping here. Just quiet.
Very relaxing. I was too tired to cook and it was very warm,
so we enjoyed a great salad and watched a terrible movie
(the new Casino Royal James Bond murder-fest) and called it
a night.
RV Park:
La Pine State Park (full hook-up; with 20amp service)