Central Oregon Road Trip
Friday, May 20-25, 2022
La Pine to Culver, Oregon
The Cove Palisades State Park (Crooked River Campground)
Site #: E49
Elevation: 2,018'
Distance: 66 miles
Duration: 4 nights
Cost: $30 per night + $8 reservation fee
Weather: Sunshine
Cell Signal: 1 bar of LTE (T-Mobile and Verizon)
Knowing we had a short drive to our next destination, we decided to stop in Sunriver to fill our propane tank and get lunch. Sunriver is a resort community with residential homes and a commercial area known as The Village at Sunriver. From Wikipedia:
Sunriver is located on the grounds of the former Camp Abbot, a World War II training facility designed to train combat engineers in a simulated combat environment. The U.S. Army camp opened in 1942, but by June 1944 the camp was abandoned and most of the settlement was razed.The Officers' Club was spared; it has been preserved and renovated and is now known as the "Great Hall," under management of Sunriver Resort. The name "Sunriver" was selected by developers John Gray and Donald V. McCallum. The initial condominiums were built in 1968 in conjunction with the completion of Sunriver Lodge, and in 1969 the master plan was completed and developers began selling lots.
We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Sunriver Brewing Co and a delicious post-lunch coffee at Brewed Awakenings.
Cocoa Cow - Chocolate Milk Stout.
I love porters and stouts. This didn't disappoint!
Wagyu Sliders!
Quiet and comfy atmosphere. I could spend hours here.
I had my first Mexican Mocha, which was so good!
The Cove Palisades State Park is located in Culver, which is north of Bend and Redmond, and south of Madras. There are two seasonal campgrounds. Deschutes River Campground can be found in the canyon along the Lower Deschutes River arm of Lake Billy Chinook. Our campsite was in the Crooked River Campground, which is up above the canyon on the east side of both the Deschutes and Crooked River, near the park entrance.
Crooked River (looking south)
Crooked River (looking north)
The road leading to Deschutes River campground
Mt. Jefferson
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Mt. Hood
Mt. Jefferson
Spacious sites
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Gorgeous sunset over Mt. Jefferson
We had full hook-ups with a dump station (one of the nicest we've ever seen!) located near the entrance of the park. There are three restroom/shower houses, which were very clean and had more than enough hot water for our morning showers.
We didn't take advantage of the lake amenities, but there are three day-use areas with boat launches and swim beaches. It might be fun to rent a boat or kayak next time we visit. There are also houseboat rentals, a cafe and marina store that sells fuel and ice.
Looks like a lovely area Les. I hope you had good weather as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Diane. We did have good weather with no snow! :) I think the temperature was somewhere in the mid-70s.
DeleteI am so jealous of these trips you are taking! I am vegetarian so the slider doesn't appeal, but those french fries look delicious.
ReplyDeleteHelen, we are so happy to be able to get back to our travels in the rv. Those fries were very good!
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ReplyDeleteWow what a beautiful drive. The River is expansive, big. Much to see. Mt. Jefferson is not too far from Mt. Hood? Can you see them both? I have seen Mt. Hood but not sure of Jefferson.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I'm not sure of the distance between Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Hood, but yes. I could see both of them at the same time. Jefferson is (east of Salem) a little northwest of where we were camping, whereas Hood is more directly to the north (east of Portland).
DeleteWhat a beautiful place to stay. We've rock-hunted at Bend in the past, so I'm a little familiar with that area.
ReplyDeleteDeb, it really is beautiful and we'll be back in the area (La Pine) at the end of September. I wonder if you went to Smith Rock. We didn't get a chance on this past trip, but hope to one of these days.
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