Autumn Visit to Camp Sherman

Saturday, November 5, 2011

One of our very first camping trips this summer in our new Bambi was along the Metolius River. The Camp Sherman area has always been a favorite spot of ours and a place that we were excited to return to again this fall. We were hoping to leave the wet valley weather behind and experience some fall color at the higher elevations. The Camp Sherman Area has many gorgeous campgrounds located along the river, but sadly only two remain open year round. No reservations are accepted so you have to just plan your trip and hope for the best.

We arrived at the Allen Creek Campground around 8 pm on Thursday night, but sadly no spots were available. The Allen Creek Campground is the last camping area along the river and is certainly the most remote and beautiful. We were disappointed that we weren’t able to stay there, but decided to check out the small Camp Sherman Campground instead. This is a nice campground with just 15 campsites, but the sites are less private than others along the river. We were lucky that there were still a few empty spots and we set up in a nice private little alcove where we could hear the river. The campground has vault toilets, piped drinking water and is just a lovely half mile walk to the Camp Sherman General Store.

A fantastic campground!

We woke up Friday to a beautiful Autumn morning. The air was crisp and the fog that had settled overnight hadn’t quite lifted. We enjoyed a beautiful half mile walk along the river to the little town of Camp Sherman (population 250) where we shared a good donut on at the little Camp Sherman store. By the time we were ready to walk back the sun popped out and we were looking forward to starting our day’s adventures. We packed a lunch and headed down the road to see the upper falls and fish hatchery. We enjoyed a beautiful picnic lunch….chicken salad sandwiches, molasses cookies and wonderful honey crisp apples…and then headed over to explore the Suttle Lake area. The campgrounds along the lake were sadly closed for the season which was a real shame since the maples in this area put on a show the likes of which I’ve never seen in Oregon. I’ve never visited New England in the fall, but I can’t imagine that I would be any more impressed than ! was here. Photos really just don’t do this justice!!

Historic Camp Sherman Store…right out of the 1950’s

Through the pine needles to the Camp Sherman Store.

All in all it was a pretty great little weekend. I can’t believe how much we’ve enjoyed our little Airstream in the first few months that we’ve owned it. We’re hoping to have a few more weekend excursions during the fall and winter months before we have to winterize!