Suggestions for a day trip to the mountains

RangerEric · Mar 12, 2013

Howdy all -

Need some input, guys. A pretty girl has asked me to "take her on an adventure" into the woods somewhere this Thursday. Need a destination! Coming from Salem, driving a 4x4 Tacoma with 31's, so can handle some terrain, but not looking for any serious off-roading, just a fun place to go check out within an hour or two of home, that's open and accessible this time of year. Maybe a lake/geographic formation/ghost town/easy hike/cool thing to see? A spot to shoot somewhere along the way a plus, but not mandatory. Any thoughts? Thanks all.

-Eric

speeddemon94 · Mar 13, 2013

Silver Falls. Used to go there all the time when I was a kid.

samuelm16 · Mar 13, 2013

go hike up to bagby hot springs the snows to deep for the riff raff in honda civics to be there yet

speeddemon94 · Mar 13, 2013

Forgot about Bagby...And that's clothing optional! You win.

RVTECH · Mar 13, 2013

Don't forget the wine, smoked salmon, cheese & crackers and fire starter..............

pitrow · Mar 13, 2013

the Valley of the Giants isn't too far from you. Should be accessible this time of year.

Valley of the Giants | Travel Oregon

Nothing like 500 year old Doug firs to make you feel small.

RangerEric · Mar 13, 2013

Silver Falls is definitely cool, but her and I both have pretty thoroughly explored it already.

Bagby definitely a contender, I've never been.

Salted Weapon and RVTech, definitely good reminders, she's big into photography and I'm sure that was gonna happen anyway, but will definitely be throwing in some TP and snacks...!

Pitrow, I think your suggestion might be the top contender, however, it sounds like you have to go through Valsetz to get to it. I tried finding Valsetz on a weekday last summer and was unable to due to locked gates, and after doing some reading when I got back home it sounded like it's only accessible during the weekend? Can you or anyone else shed any light on if this is still/really the case?

Keep the suggestions coming, thanks guys.

Chee-to · Mar 13, 2013

Olallie lake ? Might still be snowed in. Beautiful area, last time up limited out trout in 1/2 an hour from the bank, all had red meat, only complaint is the "skeeters" in late afternoon....

http://www.lakelubbers.com/olallie-lake-875/

RangerEric · Mar 13, 2013

Yeah, the Olale Lake pictures look amazing, I wonder if the road from Detroit is passable this time of year.

PiratePast40 · Mar 13, 2013

I checked out the link to and video of Valley of the Giants. Might take a trip over to the BLM on South Commercial to pick up the brochure.

And if you're over by Dallas, the restaurant with the monkey really isn't what it's cracked up to be, even with small kids. But the drive is really nice if it's clear out.

jbett98 · Mar 13, 2013

I would recommend Opal Creek. It's located up off of the North Santiam river.
Don't know what the snow level is right now, but it's a beautiful area with one of the last old growth forests left in Oregon.
Costs a couple of bucks to park at the entrance.
After you cross over the bridge, take the first road to the right. There is an old gold mine shaft and cabin located next to the creek.
Make sure you hike around the back side of the cabin, because you will see one of the greatest swimming holes around.

RangerEric · Mar 13, 2013

Ok, after doing some reading on Opal Creek and Jawbone Flats, that sounds really cool, and most likely to be accessible this time of year. Should be a fun adventure, thanks for the input everybody..!

pitrow · Mar 14, 2013

RangerEric said:
Pitrow, I think your suggestion might be the top contender, however, it sounds like you have to go through Valsetz to get to it. I tried finding Valsetz on a weekday last summer and was unable to due to locked gates, and after doing some reading when I got back home it sounded like it's only accessible during the weekend? Can you or anyone else shed any light on if this is still/really the case?

Keep the suggestions coming, thanks guys.

yeah I've heard from other people that there's lots of locked gates and such around that area and if you don't know where you're going you're probably not going to make it to the valley. I've never actually been there, but it's on my list of places to get to one of these days. Your best best is probably giving the BLM a call and asking about it. I know they do provide maps with directions to it, and I'm sure they can tell you when you can get there.

PiratePast40 · Mar 14, 2013

I stopped in to the Salem BLM office today. They didn't think that it would be locked up right now but weren't sure. They also said to expect quite a bit of mud from melting snow. They also reinforced what some others mentioned on the web site - if you're taking a compact car, take at least 2 spare tires!

Opal Creek isn't BLM, it's a private non-profit.

gtivan · Mar 14, 2013

If I remember right, Valsetz is on the mainline out of falls city past the post office. only 1 gate. all that is left is concrete pad from part of the mill.

I never tried getting to the valley of the giants, on my agenda though.