Cove Palisades State Park (Part Four)

Central Oregon Road Trip

Monday, May 23, 2022

The Cove Palisades State Park (Crooked River Campground)

Sunny and warm

I took a lot of photos on our final day at this campground, so I'm dividing the day into two posts. 

After lunch we took a drive over to the Deschutes Campground on the other side of the park. There's a wonderful beach with lots of picnic tables, but after driving around the campground, we decided we liked Crooked River Campground better. It has more grass, trees, and space between sites.

Before heading back to camp, we drove up to the viewpoint on the mesa where we discovered we had a great cell signal. We spent a little time relaxing with some ice cream as we caught up on our emails and the news.

Beach area on Deschutes River

We were the only ones around,

 but I bet it's crowded in the summer.

From The Cove Rattler:

The amazing basalt boulder is called the Crooked River Petroglyph, and used to reside on the western flank of the Crooked River, not far from the northern tip of The Island. The 18-ton rock was nearly covered by water as Lake Billy Chinook filled in 1964, but was rescued and put on display.

The carvings, called petroglyphs (whereas paintings are known as pictographs), are at least 2,000 years old but reflect a style of carving that is nearly 6,000 years old. People often ask what’s pictured on the rock, but the truth is, we don’t know. Some of these carvings were done by participants during profound spiritual ceremonies; other carvings were designed to warn of particular danger, or to represent an entity protecting the area. 

Ship Rock

Crooked River

Happy campers!

Cove Palisades State Park (Part Three)

Central Oregon Road Trip

Monday, May 23, 2022

The Cove Palisades State Park (Crooked River Campground)

Sunny and warm

I took a lot of photos on our final day at this campground, so I'm dividing the day into two posts. 

It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and comfortable temps. After breakfast, we enjoyed a walk around the wetland loop, and later spotted an osprey on top of a power pole by our campsite.

Not sure if this is a salamander or a skink.

I wasn't about to pick it up for a closer look!

Northern Harrier

I watched this osprey for

 at least 15 minutes. So cool!

I guess he was watching me, too.

All photos were shot with my new Canon EOS and Canon RF100-400mm F5.6-8 telephoto lens. It's exactly what I wanted for wildlife photography!

Cove Palisades State Park (Part Two)

Central Oregon Road Trip

Saturday, May 21, 2022 

The Cove Palisades State Park (Crooked River Campground) 

Sunny and 66 degrees

After being on the road for a week, this was a good day for some housekeeping. We washed windows, cleaned the grill, and vacuumed (yes, I travel with a cordless Dyson vacuum). It doesn't take long for the RV to get dirty, but it doesn't take very long to clean it, either. Once we were finished with our chores, we relaxed in the sun and had some lunch. Later that afternoon, I decided to check out the Wetlands loop, which is a short 1/4 mile "hike" and very easy. From there, I walked along the main road, which looks out over the river. 

Pretty dry for mid-May!

Looking down on the wetlands

Crooked River

From the Oregon State Parks Organization:

Violent volcanic eruptions, oozing lava and raging river torrents battered this region for millions of years, carving dramatic cliffs of volcanic basalt that tower some 500 feet above the water. What is now a lake was once a rocky, plunging canyon, dry and desolate but for the narrow, life-giving Crooked River. Native Americans battled the harsh terrain in order to fish, hunt and trade here. Pioneers attempted to homestead and farm in this inhospitable region--not many succeeded.

With progress came the need for the Round Butte Dam, built by Portland General Electric in 1964. The hydroelectric facility, co-managed by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, generates approximately 800,000 megawatts of electricity per year for the Portland metropolitan area.

I watched over a dozen turkey vultures soar around this part of the canyon, but couldn't get a good shot, even with my telephoto lens. They were too fast for me! 

Cove Palisades State Park (Part One)

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

Mt. Hood

Mt. Jefferson

Spacious sites

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.