Hiking along the Rogue River, Oregon

Roger here....  What a magnificent place this is!  We are half-way through a six-night stay in Prospect, Oregon (20 miles from Crater Lake National Park).  At the moment it is spitting snow, but the weather was perfect during our first two days.  The drive from Redding to our current location was uneventful.  Well, uneventful with respect to heavy traffic, bad roads and highway hassles.  The scenery along the way was anything but uneventful.  

The interstate views of Shasta Lake (above) and Mt. Shasta (below) made the drive pass quickly.  We might want to stop here on another trip.

When we arrived at the Crater Lake RV Park in Prospect, the very friendly staff gave us lots of information about nearby hikes in the national forest where dogs are welcome.  We will show you the fun we had in a bit, but first the Oregon sticker goes on the map....

...and the lawn recliners come out.  We have a pretty nice view (below) nestled here in the pine forest and the management was able to find us a spot with a hole in the trees so that our satellite works.

The next day, we packed a lunch, filled the water bottles, loaded up the dogs, and drove to the nearby trails.

The first stop was a bridge view of the Rogue River Gorge.  Then a walk across the bridge to view Pearsony Falls.

Less than a mile down the road, we pulled into a lot that provided parking for two different hiking trails.  Our first hike took us in the direction of Mill Creek Falls.  Moss-covered rocks and pine trees lined the well-maintained trail.  Lots of green.

As we walked, the sound of running water began to dominate all other sounds.  Soon, we got our first glimpse of Mill Creek Falls.  Shortly we got a better view of the surging water.  

Note to self.... in the State of Oregon, if you walk down a trail to see a waterfall,  you really do see a waterfall.  We honestly did not expect to see so much water dropping so far into the river below.

While photographing the first waterfall, we heard the sounds of a second waterfall, just down the trail.  We walked about  100 yards to find Barr Creek Falls;  not as much water, but maybe prettier?

We gazed at the waterfalls for a while before retracing our steps back to the parking area.  We were not tired, so we immediately headed down the second trail to the "Avenue of the Giant Boulders."  

The first part of the hike was relatively flat, an easy walk.  When we approached the boulders, the trail narrowed and required a little more concentration.

The last 100 feet of the trail, down to the raging stream, was a little too much for the dogs. So......

We plopped down on one of the rocks and had lunch --- summer sausage, cheese, almonds, apples.  Yes, we did share a little of the summer sausage with the very attentive dogs.

Dianne stayed with the dogs while I did a short easy scramble through the boulders to the raging river. 

Then I reciprocated after convincing Dianne that the short trip down was perfectly safe.  Quite a view!

Making our way back to the car, we decided to drive up the road to take one more short hike.  

This is a second view of Pearsony Falls taken from the edge of the Rogue River Gorge.  The bridge is the same bridge that we stood on earlier in the day.

Dianne found a monkey flower to photograph on the way back to the car.

Time to return to the lawn chairs, a good book, and a great view of the pine forest.  It was 63 degrees, a perfect time to relax.  Stay tuned for the next post from Crater Lake National Park.




The pet picture of the day was taken back at Redding.  After an evening visit to the campground dog park there, I washed the dirt off Bandido's beloved ball and left it in the sink.  The next morning we heard Bandido crying and this is what we saw.

My ball!   I want my ball!