From Crater Lake, we headed North toward the Deschutes National Forest. We were hoping to escape the national park crowd over the weekend and find a quiet place to camp before meeting up with friends in Bend. The Deschutes National Forest was a welcome reprieve, although it was still a pretty hoppin’ spot on the weekend!

Where I Camped:

Crane Prairie Reservoir
GPS: 43.756786,-121.822596
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Most of the websites and apps I use to find dispersed camping didn’t list many options in Southern Oregon, so we were pretty much on our own!

I scoped out a few lakes and reservoirs in the Deschutes National Forest, and off we went in search of a site. After a couple dead-ends and one trip to a dried up reservoir, we finally found a small forest road that took us straight to the Crane Prairie Reservoir.

Jackpot! There are several large, shaded spaces with fire circles right on the bank of the reservoir. We stayed in two different spots over the weekend; both were large, private, shaded and had personal swimming holes! Dispersed camping at its best. 🙂

Where I Hiked:

South Sister
Distance: 11.2 miles
Time: 6-7 hours
Elevation gain: 4940 ft

This was a BEAST of a hike. Nearly 1000ft of elevation gain each mile, and a good portion of the hike is exposed. Then there’s the final two miles… you’re basically climbing up a steep slope of loose, crumbly volcanic rock with no protection from the sun and hardly a trail to follow.

I gotta admit, this wasn’t my favorite hike. The views are nice, but it’s pretty heavily trafficked and a whole lot of work for what you get out of it in the end.

We did get adopted by lovely pup named Lucy at the summit. That kinda made it all worth it. 🙂