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Started By
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Fall on the Oregon Trail (PIC HEAVY)
Posted on 11/6/23 at 1:58 pm
Posted on 11/6/23 at 1:58 pm
We decided to do a fall road trip, but wanted to do something a little different. This was my first time in Oregon, and I was blown away at the variety of nature. I wasn’t expecting as much fall color as we got. This was from 10/19-10/23 and most places were at full peak. Of course the colors are no match for the New England forests, but these forests have a special magic to them. Most of our plans were based on nature, so we did not spend much time in the cities, other than sleep. I honestly couldn’t tell you what Bend looked like. I bet it’s nice 
Oh and there were far less homeless people in Portland than I expected. I think the city/state is doing things to get a grip on that. Definitely plenty of weirdos though.
DAY 1 - Portland
We picked up our rental and made our way to the Japanese gardens. That was really the only thing on the agenda (besides beer and weed pickup). Picked up some pizza at “Escape from NY”, I’m not sure if TulaneLSU has it in his top 1000, but I enjoyed it. We drove to the gardens just in time to find they closed early for a member event. So we explored the rose garden across the street and then went to the coolest kids park in the forest.
Dr. Seuss looking trees
This view would have been great had that high-rise not been built.
DAY 2 - Portland to Bend
Since we couldn’t go to the Japanese Gardens on day 1, we decided to go when they opened (10am) before skipping town. We found a relatively easy hike nearby and went in the morning. The main attraction is called “Witch’s Castle” which was built in 1930 and was actually a bathroom.
Massive leaves. Snail for reference.
Might not look like it in the picture, but this tree was about 6’ diameter, 150’+ tall
The castle, decorated in true Portland fashion. I’m usually against tagging historical stuff, but honestly, it’s probably cooler this way.
This trail is part of a 30 mile loop around the area, we just went a little further and turned around. Probably walked about 2 miles total.
My wife and I love a good cemetery, and this one was perfect. On a hill and in the fog.
Japanese Gardens
The first stop is the bonsai tree area. They do a great job of explaining the process and the changes over time.
This Rocky Mountain Juniper was 300 years old!
“The Tree”. It wasn’t fully in fall form yet (I’ve seen it more reddish-orange) but still beautiful. The interesting thing is, it’s only a few feet tall so you don’t see much walking by. You’ve got to get on the ground to appreciate it.
Mulnomah Falls and Wahkeena Falls
I thought it was kinda weird that this is basically a roadside attraction, but it is really impressive, even with 500 people there. Very little parking though, we had to wait for cars to leave.
Wahkeena had a few people hiking, but we found an isolated part by the stream and played in the leaves for a few minutes before hitting the road.
Made it to Trillium Lake in the nick of time. Golden hour lighting on Mt. Hood and a pretty sunset on the western part of the lake. We stayed here for and hour or so enjoying the views and throwing rocks in the lake (my oldest son’s favorite hobby).
Still had about a 2 hour drive in the dark to get to Bend. From what I could tell, this was not too scenic of a drive, so we didn’t miss much.
Oh and there were far less homeless people in Portland than I expected. I think the city/state is doing things to get a grip on that. Definitely plenty of weirdos though.
DAY 1 - Portland
We picked up our rental and made our way to the Japanese gardens. That was really the only thing on the agenda (besides beer and weed pickup). Picked up some pizza at “Escape from NY”, I’m not sure if TulaneLSU has it in his top 1000, but I enjoyed it. We drove to the gardens just in time to find they closed early for a member event. So we explored the rose garden across the street and then went to the coolest kids park in the forest.
Dr. Seuss looking trees
This view would have been great had that high-rise not been built.
DAY 2 - Portland to Bend
Since we couldn’t go to the Japanese Gardens on day 1, we decided to go when they opened (10am) before skipping town. We found a relatively easy hike nearby and went in the morning. The main attraction is called “Witch’s Castle” which was built in 1930 and was actually a bathroom.
Massive leaves. Snail for reference.
Might not look like it in the picture, but this tree was about 6’ diameter, 150’+ tall
The castle, decorated in true Portland fashion. I’m usually against tagging historical stuff, but honestly, it’s probably cooler this way.
This trail is part of a 30 mile loop around the area, we just went a little further and turned around. Probably walked about 2 miles total.
My wife and I love a good cemetery, and this one was perfect. On a hill and in the fog.
Japanese Gardens
The first stop is the bonsai tree area. They do a great job of explaining the process and the changes over time.
This Rocky Mountain Juniper was 300 years old!
“The Tree”. It wasn’t fully in fall form yet (I’ve seen it more reddish-orange) but still beautiful. The interesting thing is, it’s only a few feet tall so you don’t see much walking by. You’ve got to get on the ground to appreciate it.
Mulnomah Falls and Wahkeena Falls
I thought it was kinda weird that this is basically a roadside attraction, but it is really impressive, even with 500 people there. Very little parking though, we had to wait for cars to leave.
Wahkeena had a few people hiking, but we found an isolated part by the stream and played in the leaves for a few minutes before hitting the road.
Made it to Trillium Lake in the nick of time. Golden hour lighting on Mt. Hood and a pretty sunset on the western part of the lake. We stayed here for and hour or so enjoying the views and throwing rocks in the lake (my oldest son’s favorite hobby).
Still had about a 2 hour drive in the dark to get to Bend. From what I could tell, this was not too scenic of a drive, so we didn’t miss much.
This post was edited on 11/7/23 at 9:45 am
2
Posted on 11/6/23 at 1:58 pm to RonFNSwanson
DAY 3
Smith Rock State Park. Absolutely stunning if you like rocks like I do. The first photo is your view from the start of the hike. There were a decent amount of people here, but it was easy to spread out. I think there was also a rock climbing festival, we saw hundreds of climbers.
Prineville City Hall (I think). This is the civilization between Smith Rock and Painted Hills. Wasn’t expecting this. I really love when non-trees change color.
Painted Hills. This is like being dropped off on another planet. I did not realize in doing my research, but it is dirt, not rock. Formed by different climates/biomes over the years. The weirdest thing to me was how small of an area it is. Everything around it looks fairly normal.
We stayed here until almost sunset then headed back to Prineville for hot dogs and ice cream.
DAY 4 - Bend to Newport
First stop was about 30 minutes outside of Bend, on the road to Mt. Batchelor. It’s called the “Aspen Day Use Area”. We found a beautiful spot along the river to take some family photos.
Next up was Crater Lake. It was a gloomy day, so the water was not as bright as usual, but still an impressive sight. This place is probably not the best for a wild 3 year old, but he listened well and stayed away from the edge. Even got to throw some sticks in the water. There were no rocks available
About 30 minutes away from Crater Lake is Toketee Falls. This place was magical and probably my favorite experience from the trip. I could probably make a whole thread on this hike. Every step had new and interesting views.
This is the parking lot. I believe it is some kind of diversion for power plants, but it wasn’t really explained. It had several holes and was spraying water everywhere.
This is my new favorite tree. It greets you right at the trailhead. It had about 2” thick moss over the entire thing. Was fuzzy like a teddy bear.
Here is the main event. There is a break in the fence that you can go down if you want to get a closer look. They have a rope to hold on to. I declined. Would probably do it if I was solo.
One last look at my tree on the way out.
Now it was time to head to the coast (about 4 hours total). We stopped halfway in Eugene to eat dinner and break up the drive. For about 45 minutes, we were on a beautiful mountain road following the river that this waterfall leads to. Amazing scenery, but no pictures, unfortunately.
Didn’t arrive to out hotel until about 10 pm. Brought in the bags, checked out the stars, and went to sleep.
DAY 5 - Newport to airport
We had a 4:30 flight out, so plenty of time to enjoy the lovely morning by the ocean. This was our hotel. There is a little creek running right by it, so we actually had to drive to get to the ocean.
In the ultimate WTF moment, I did not bring by camera to the beach, then we went directly to Yaquina Lighthouse. Phone shots will have to do.
We drove through wine country to get back to Portland. The grape leaves were also turning color, it was really cool to see whole fields of yellow and orange.
There was this sculpture garden somewhere along the way. It had some very unusual trees. It was a cool, unexpected finale to the trip.
No one died of dysentery or fell into a crater, so I'd say it was about as good as I could have asked for.
Smith Rock State Park. Absolutely stunning if you like rocks like I do. The first photo is your view from the start of the hike. There were a decent amount of people here, but it was easy to spread out. I think there was also a rock climbing festival, we saw hundreds of climbers.
Prineville City Hall (I think). This is the civilization between Smith Rock and Painted Hills. Wasn’t expecting this. I really love when non-trees change color.
Painted Hills. This is like being dropped off on another planet. I did not realize in doing my research, but it is dirt, not rock. Formed by different climates/biomes over the years. The weirdest thing to me was how small of an area it is. Everything around it looks fairly normal.
We stayed here until almost sunset then headed back to Prineville for hot dogs and ice cream.
DAY 4 - Bend to Newport
First stop was about 30 minutes outside of Bend, on the road to Mt. Batchelor. It’s called the “Aspen Day Use Area”. We found a beautiful spot along the river to take some family photos.
Next up was Crater Lake. It was a gloomy day, so the water was not as bright as usual, but still an impressive sight. This place is probably not the best for a wild 3 year old, but he listened well and stayed away from the edge. Even got to throw some sticks in the water. There were no rocks available
About 30 minutes away from Crater Lake is Toketee Falls. This place was magical and probably my favorite experience from the trip. I could probably make a whole thread on this hike. Every step had new and interesting views.
This is the parking lot. I believe it is some kind of diversion for power plants, but it wasn’t really explained. It had several holes and was spraying water everywhere.
This is my new favorite tree. It greets you right at the trailhead. It had about 2” thick moss over the entire thing. Was fuzzy like a teddy bear.
Here is the main event. There is a break in the fence that you can go down if you want to get a closer look. They have a rope to hold on to. I declined. Would probably do it if I was solo.
One last look at my tree on the way out.
Now it was time to head to the coast (about 4 hours total). We stopped halfway in Eugene to eat dinner and break up the drive. For about 45 minutes, we were on a beautiful mountain road following the river that this waterfall leads to. Amazing scenery, but no pictures, unfortunately.
Didn’t arrive to out hotel until about 10 pm. Brought in the bags, checked out the stars, and went to sleep.
DAY 5 - Newport to airport
We had a 4:30 flight out, so plenty of time to enjoy the lovely morning by the ocean. This was our hotel. There is a little creek running right by it, so we actually had to drive to get to the ocean.
In the ultimate WTF moment, I did not bring by camera to the beach, then we went directly to Yaquina Lighthouse. Phone shots will have to do.
We drove through wine country to get back to Portland. The grape leaves were also turning color, it was really cool to see whole fields of yellow and orange.
There was this sculpture garden somewhere along the way. It had some very unusual trees. It was a cool, unexpected finale to the trip.
No one died of dysentery or fell into a crater, so I'd say it was about as good as I could have asked for.
This post was edited on 11/6/23 at 2:24 pm
Posted on 11/6/23 at 2:36 pm to RonFNSwanson
such a beautiful place! did you not take any photos of the crazy people?
Posted on 11/6/23 at 6:01 pm to diat150
quote:
did you not take any photos of the crazy people?
Nah, the damn things kept scattering when I pulled my camera out
Posted on 11/6/23 at 7:14 pm to RonFNSwanson
incredible photos
Posted on 11/6/23 at 7:19 pm to RonFNSwanson
IMPRESSIVE!
Did you snap those with an iPhone or a legit camera?
Hard to tell the difference to an old boomer like me
Did you snap those with an iPhone or a legit camera?
Hard to tell the difference to an old boomer like me
Posted on 11/6/23 at 8:33 pm to RonFNSwanson
Friend,
Thank you for your travel diary and beautiful pictures. Oregon has treated me well during the summer and winter, but I have never visited during Autumn. What a lovely place it appears as the colors change. The photos of Mount Hood were especially beautiful.
I have not tried your NY pizza location, but the next time I visit Portland, I will. It definitely looks like a place that could crack the top 1000.
It appears your time at Crater Lake was not exceptional. That makes me sad, but I am glad you were able to visit. Next time, stay at the lodge. Perhaps we could do a Travel Board road trip through Portland next Autumn.
Yours,
TulaneLSU
Thank you for your travel diary and beautiful pictures. Oregon has treated me well during the summer and winter, but I have never visited during Autumn. What a lovely place it appears as the colors change. The photos of Mount Hood were especially beautiful.
I have not tried your NY pizza location, but the next time I visit Portland, I will. It definitely looks like a place that could crack the top 1000.
It appears your time at Crater Lake was not exceptional. That makes me sad, but I am glad you were able to visit. Next time, stay at the lodge. Perhaps we could do a Travel Board road trip through Portland next Autumn.
Yours,
TulaneLSU
Posted on 11/7/23 at 8:08 am to HoustonGumbeauxGuy
quote:
Did you snap those with an iPhone or a legit camera?
I have a Nikon DSLR. It is getting old though, probably time for an upgrade. Phones are getting close to that quality.
The only things in this review from a phone are the Day 5 stuff. I didn't grab my camera before going out.
Posted on 11/7/23 at 8:28 am to TulaneLSU
quote:
The photos of Mount Hood were especially beautiful.
Thank you for the kind words. Even more than a photo, it is a reminder of an amazing time with my family that I will cherish forever.
quote:
It appears your time at Crater Lake was not exceptional. That makes me sad, but I am glad you were able to visit. Next time, stay at the lodge. Perhaps we could do a Travel Board road trip through Portland next Autumn.
While there were some hindrances to the full potential of its beauty, I was nevertheless left with a sense of wonder and amazement at God's beautiful planet. I would love to share that joy with you at next year's equinox.
Posted on 11/7/23 at 8:55 am to RonFNSwanson
Great pics there are some great beautiful places in the world to see. 
Posted on 11/7/23 at 9:42 am to RonFNSwanson
Visiting vineyards in the fall is extremely underrated. You get the usual tasting experience plus all the color. (And smaller crowds)
Posted on 11/7/23 at 2:06 pm to RonFNSwanson
amazing. and i know photos rarely do justice in these types of scenes so this just makes me want to see it in person.
Posted on 11/8/23 at 7:16 am to RonFNSwanson
Wow. Great photo log of you trip. Oregon is so wildly diverse ...its just an incredible place to visit.
Makes me want to go back and do the southern part of the state . Thanks!
Makes me want to go back and do the southern part of the state . Thanks!
Posted on 11/8/23 at 9:40 am to RonFNSwanson
Pics are great, thank you for sharing these
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