Bald Peak State Park, Champoeg State Park

Wow, the first official day of my State Park goal and we visited two parks!

As I said, we had planned to hit Champoeg, which is about a 40 minute drive from our house, for the Harvest Festival. Now, on the road to Newberg (which is between us and Champoeg) is Bald Peak State Park. I can think of about 8 distinct times we’ve driven by the road up to Bald Peak and Pat and I will say we should go check it out sometime. Well, sometime was today!

First thought? The state really needs to pave the road up there! I mean, part of it is paved but part of it isn’t and a ride on a winding gravel road is not fun! Anyhow, we did make it without driving off the side of the hill. Anyway, Bald Peak is a State Park, but it’s actually a scenic viewpoint and, frankly, that’s a far better description of the place. The view, of the Yamhill county (known for vineyards, but you mostly see Christmas Tree farms) and Willamette Valley is a million dollar shot! There are a lot of picnic tables around, but they all look like it’s been a long time since they’ve actually been used for anything. As for bathrooms? Well, yes, they have a bathroom, but it really looks more like an outhouse and I didn’t really need to go, so I can’t say I checked it out!

Here’s the deal. Bald Peak is a great place to stop for a picnic if your ultimate destination is someplace else. I mean, the view is great and it’s a nice drive (once you’re off the gravel road), but there isn’t much there other than that. If you do go, though, take a camera!

Okay, so ten minutes after that we were back on the road and on our way to Champoeg (although Pat missed the road in Newberg and we had to take the long way—which is probably like 2 minutes longer, but oh well!) As I said, we’d been at Champoeg a couple of weeks ago to camp for my birthday. However, I had been to Champoeg a handful of times growing up. It was only 45 minutes or so from my childhood home, but what I remember most from my childhood visits are the big trees. Go figure.

A little history here: Champoeg was a town in the mid-nineteenth century that, according to the visitor’s center, rivaled Portland in size and importance. In fact, it was at Champoeg that a vote was taken to form a provisional government (and be on the road to statehood) or be a British settlement. However, there was a problem. The town was on a flood plain and, in December 1861, the Willamette river flooded and wiped the town off the map and Portland became the big fish in this small pond.

So, when we went a couple of weeks ago, we stayed in a yurt…which was a first for me. Yurts are actually kind of neat and, when you have a small child, a much easier way to camp! They are basically big round Mongolian style tents. Inside there is a bunk bed (I think it’s a twin on top and a queen on the bottom), a futon, a table and two chairs, lights and HEAT! I know there are purists out there who say that really isn’t camping. I suggest you all go find a clearing in the woods and camp there.

The yurt was quite nice and my only complaint was that the bathroom (which was very nice, as were the showers) was a bit of a walk away. Now, this isn’t normally a huge deal except that I’m one of those people who can’t really make it through the night. So, yes, at 1 am I was trudging through the campground.

Champoeg isn’t as large as, say, Silver Creek Falls, but it is one of the larger state parks. They have a 4 mile bike route, a hiking trail, disc golf (which is apparently quite a hit in Oregon. Since I cannot throw a Frisbee straight to save my life AND I’ve lost at miniature golf to someone who is legally blind, I haven’t felt tempted to try Disc Golf), a really nice visitor center and museum and a DAR Pioneer house, so there is plenty to do there. And it’s just plain beautiful there.

Today’s visit was for their Harvest Festival. I think I dragged Pat against his will, but he did fine—probably because he knew a stop at Guitar World would follow our time at Champoeg. Now this is really a great event for kids—kids a little older than Lillie. They had apple pressing, apple bobbing, apple crafts (I’m not sure exactly what they were doing, to tell you the truth), music, etc. Even though she was too young to really participate, Lillie did really enjoy watching everything…and she loved the music. I even have a rare blog-pic of Lillie here…we’re all at the Kitchen Garden at the Visitor’s center. And that is another great thing about this park! When my mother-in-law and I were there a couple of weeks ago, we got a guided tour from one of the volunteers AND some “samples” from the garden (donations gladly accepted, of course). This time, we did spend some time talking to one of the volunteers, but it was quite busy so we didn’t expect any real one-on-one time. I did, however, pick up some Shoofly seeds for our backyard. Supposedly, this bush will repel flies from your house—I just thought it was a pretty plant. But, hey, if it keeps flies away, who am I to complain?

If you haven’t figured it out, I’m a huge fan of Champoeg. It’s got the natural beauty and the history AND it’s practically in our own backyard! Frankly, I think it’s one of the jewels of the Oregon State Park system.

Now, I may not have any more write-ups for a while. Between our schedule, which has gotten very busy for some strange reason, and the weather (I’m a wimp when it comes to cold and rain), we may just not have a chance to get to many parks. Then again, who knows? We may stop at Maud Williamson the next time we head down to Salem. Or we may FINALLY check out Stub Stewart (we’ve been meaning to do that for two years!). Maybe we’ll go scavaging for hazelnuts at Willamette Mission? If something does turn up, I’ll let you know. There are, after all, 184 more state parks to go!

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Tags: Bald Peak State Scenic Viewpoint, Champoeg State Heritage Site, Lofty Goal, Oregon State Parks

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