DanC
For Rest Stop: April 2021: This is an Oregon State Park that is also designated as a “Rest Area†through a cooperative agreement with the Oregon Dept of Transportation. It is a DAY USE ONLY park and is prominently signed as such. There is a metal gate at the park entrance which is sometimes closed nights, depending on the season, if a resident park host is on-site or not, and who knows what other factors. Turning into the park entrance from the highway is DANGEROUS if you are westbound, because there is no left turn lane or center median. If you must stop to wait for oncoming eastbound traffic to wait to turn onto the park, the traffic behind you cannot see you because the crest of a hill immediately to your rear blocks their view of the road ahead and of you stopped on the road. There is also not enough shoulder width for a vehicle coming from behind your stopped vehicle to go around you on your right. In other words be very cautious about turning into the park if you’re approaching it from the east. Once in the park, be aware there is very limited parking for a vehicle longer than about 20 feet or so, unless you get lucky. This park is VERY popular with locals, especially a younger crowd, and the heavy use shows. Trash containers are few and there’s often a good amount of litter. The small bathrooms building is currently closed and no apparent plan or notice posted anywhere about opening it. There is NO DRINKING WATER anywhere in the park, the entire system is shut off. The grassy lawn areas have in past years been nicely maintained and irrigated but so far this year there’s no sign if that will be done or not. There are some trees here and there that create some shady areas, which are pleasant in the summer months. The small river is nice to look at and there are several shaded picnic tables along the shore which make good spots to relax. This isn’t an unpleasant place to stop and take a break from driving, but it’s not worth any extra effort to go out of your way to stop here either, if you’re traveling westbound and the highway traffic is creating risky left turn access.
Posted Apr 06, 2021 by DanC from Oregon . This is the subjective opinion of a traveler and not of AllStays LLC.
