Hello, and welcome back to Nomad Dad Life! Today we will finish up our three months in Oregon with our trip across state lines to California and tour the remaining places we visited while in Oregon. If you haven’t read the previous Oregon post please do so here. Our three months here went by fast. The weather was perfect for almost our whole time here. If it got too warm in Eugene, we would just make the short drive west to the coast where it would always be around 70 degrees. Let’s get started with our last Oregon post!
California
We didn’t spend much time in California, but we did visit the Redwood National Forest. Some of Fae’s co-workers told her we should check it out since we were close to this area. Driving five hours to see some trees did seem like a lot, but we had just driven over 24 hours to get to our home for three months so maybe five hours isn’t that bad. We got an early start, made our road trip stop at Dutch Bros. for some coffee, and we were on our way.
We knew California would be more expensive than Oregon so we tried to plan as best as we could. Getting there you really realize how expensive it is! Gas was close to $1.50 more per gallon, and all the parks and parking lots had fees to enter. Bottles of water, juice, and snacks for the children were also way more expensive so we packed as much as we could. This allowed us to go see what we wanted to and get back to Oregon with minimal stops in California.
Redwood National Forest
We didn’t know that the more popular places at the Redwood Forest required a permit and that we had to pay for parking at least 24 hours in advance. So, we couldn’t go to Tall Trees Grove or the place where you drive through one of the trees. We took the scenic drive to Lady Bird Johnson Grove to get the children out of the car to do some hiking.
You can’t understand just how big these trees are until you are close to them. They are massive! Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world, but it’s hard to put that into perspective until you are there. They can grow to 380 feet tall, 29 feet in diameter and weigh close to a 1.5 million pounds! This trail had a lot of trees that were hollow that Arkyn and Ayla loved running through. Arkyn really wanted to build a tree fort there! It was an easy hike for the children, and they actually did most of the walking themselves, which was nice for Fae and me as well.
Bend, Oregon
Bend is located about 2.5 hours east of Eugene. It is central Oregon’s most populated city and sits along the Deschutes River. Fun fact: It’s also the location of the final remaining blockbuster video rental store! We were told by many people that Bend was a place we needed to see. We decided to make a day trip and check it out. A lot of what Bend has to offer isn’t kid friendly–mountain biking, rafting, and the Bend Ale Trail. This is a bike trail that has 30 breweries that you can stop at along the way!
Most of the breweries are kid friendly so you can bring your children there if you choose to. We did stop at one to get lunch and sample some beers when we were there. Deschutes Brewing makes one of my favorite beers, so it only made sense to stop when we were in town. They had an extensive menu with plenty of options on their kids’ menu as well. The beer, food, and atmosphere were all excellent and we would recommend stopping here if you are ever in Bend.
Lava Lands
Lava Lands Visitor Center is the interpretive hub of Newberry National Volcanic Monument. It’s located about 15 minutes south of Bend. If you are going to the Newberry Monument, don’t expect to see a classic huge stratocone volcano. The former peak of the volcano collapsed into itself, which presents a less obvious view. That collapse created the Newberry Caldera, which is home to two spectacular lakes and the youngest lava flow in the state.
“People come to see the Newberry Volcano,” says Scott McBride, Newberry National Volcanic Monument Manager. “Some get confused when they get to Lava Lands by assuming that nearby Lava Butte and its lava flows are the extent of Newberry Volcano; however, Lava Butte is one of about 400 cinder cones that, in part, make up the massive Newberry volcanic complex.”
What it is like
We took the children on the Trail of Molten Land. Walking through the lava flow felt more like we were in Mordor than it did Oregon. To put it into perspective here is a quote from the Central Oregon Visitors Page:
“In the late 1960s NASA looked for a place to send astronauts who were training for a mission that would change the world. But before the mission could happen, NASA needed a place to mimic what they believed those astronauts would find on the surface of the moon, because, after all, nobody had been there before so nobody really knew what the surface of the moon was like.
Enter the barren landscape that is Lava Lands in Central Oregon.
Located on the north flank of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument, what is now Lava Lands was created about 7,000 years ago after a volcanic explosion of Lava Butte. A miles-wide sea of jagged lava rock was left behind creating a unique geological landscape that served as that training ground for moon-bound astronauts.”
Silver Falls State Park
Silver Falls is Oregon’s largest and most popular state park. It is known for its many waterfalls, including waterfalls that you can walk behind! The most popular, and easiest to get to, is the South Falls. It’s located close to the parking lot of the South Falls Day Use Area. Visitors can get a view of the falls from Maple Ridge Loop before following the trail through a cave behind the falls. The Trail of Ten Falls is an 8-mile hike that will take you past ten other waterfalls, four of which you are also able to walk behind. We weren’t that ambitious to make that hike with two toddlers in 100 degree heat so going behind the closest waterfall was enough for us.
There is a lot to do right at the South Falls Day Use Area. There is a swimming area, playground, horseshoe pits, restaurant, and of course a gift shop. The park offers more than 35 miles of back country trails specifically for mountain biking and horseback riding. It is located just to the east of Salem and is about an hour and 20-minute drive from both Eugene and Portland.
Next Stop
That wraps up our time in Oregon. Our next destination is Colorado Springs. The next post will be about our journey there and what we’ve learned now that we have been doing this for a little while. Please follow our journey on social media by clicking one of the links below.
Links
Redwood National Forest: https://www.nps.gov/redw/index.htm
Bend Oregon: https://www.visitbend.com/
Deschutes Brewing: https://www.deschutesbrewery.com/
Lava Lands: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/deschutes/recarea/?recid=38394
Silver Falls State Park: https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=151
Joni Marusak
April 22, 2023 — 10:50 pm
I think if I would try riding bike at Bend OR and tried to stop at all the breweries there would come a point in time when I wouldn’t be able to get back on my bike🙂