This was a last minute find , we were supposed to go to the Painted hills , but because of fires we…read morehad to pivot , and came across Paradise . Great site ours 14 was nice and private. There were a couple spots available at the time we picked ours . The river was too swift to swim , but we found a couple places to dip . Would recommend and visit again.

Really great camping spot and not far from Eugene. The river is really close to many of the spots…read morebut reserve in advance. They go quick. Sites off the river are just as nice. Quiet and clean.

I just went on a two day rafting trip on the Deschutes River with four of my friends. Of course,…read morethe scenery, whether and River were fabulous. What was even more astounding, was the level of service, quality and absolute gentlemenliness of Georg and his crew! This was like being on a five star cruise with gourmet food, everything taken care of and entertaining conversations with our guide, who is also the owner of the company. I could not recommend this company more! Kudos!

Our family of 4 ( 2 kids, 2 adults) had an amazing day on the McKenzie River with our guide…read morePatrick. He was absolutely fantastic! I laughed more today than I have all year. The lunch was fantastic- the best I've ever had rafting ( done 6-7 other rafting trips). My favorite part of the trip was getting in the water and enjoying nature. If you're deciding between this trip and the Deschutes, definitely choose this one with High Country!

I love this park! 25 minutes outside of Eugene sits Dexter State Park. You can swim, boat, kayak,…read morepicnic, and play disc golf here! This is a day use park and there's a boat ramp in the lower parking lot. Speaking of parking lots there is a ton of parking space. You can bring your leashes pups here, heck bring the whole family! Big open fields, tall trees and picnic tables makes this place perfect for an afternoon in the sun. You can swim here but there are only a couple spots where you can access the water and they are a bit rocky. They have bathrooms here and there's a little trail that walks around one side of the reservoir. Sometimes I miss the turn from the main road but just remember when you're coming from Eugene it's right after Elijah Bristow State Park.

This park is located about 20 minutes south east of Eugene, Oregon in Dexter, OR. The park has…read morebeautiful coniferous and deciduous trees, a large dog run, hiking, biking and horse riding trails. There js a parking area for equestrian trailers and an area to saddle horses. There are several trails of varying lengths around the marsh and streams running off the Willamette river. There are wheelchair accessible picnic areas and bathrooms. Some of the trails look even and compact enough for wheelchairs but we didn't venture down any this time. I would definitely come back here again for some trail walking, biking, fishing and wildlife watching. There are heron and turtle here.

A beautiful hike. We did the waterfall loop, which is about a 3 mile hike that takes you by Koosah…read moreand Sahalie Falls. We brought the dogs and the kids, and we had a blast. The scenery was stunning and the trail condition was perfect. We'd definitely come back here again.

What a gift it is to be surrounded by so much natural beauty. Today I was able to hike Sahalie…read moreFalls, Koosah Falls, and Tomalitch Blue Pool, all in one out and back 10.5 mile trek. The drive to the trailhead took 2.5 hours from my home in Portland, so we left by 6. If you arrive after 9 or 10 you have to deal with the crowds. Sahalie Falls was first and can be accessed very easily from the parking lot - no hike required. Keep this one in mind if you have mobility limitations. If you're up for it, hit the trail here. A short distance along the Mckenzie Creek will take you to Koosah Falls. Gorgeous, with falling turquoise water. Want a scare? Look up the fools who cliff jump from here. Incredible. After that you pass by the reservoir, then have a nice hike along a soft pine needle path down to Tomalitch Blue Pool. Again with the cliff jumping. Don't do it! So dangerous. But do carefully follow the pink ribbons over the rock ledge and down to the shore. You can swim if you dare in the 38 degree water. At least dunk your feet. The hike back to where you parked at Sahalie is 5 miles. Pack a lunch, a lot of water (I finished my 3 liters), and enjoy the day.

Salt Creek Falls is Oregon's 2nd tallest waterfall, a 286 foot plunge from top to bottom. Visiting…read morehere is easy. It's located right off Highway 58 and 65 miles southeast of Eugene, OR. It's a $5 day use fee. I visited on Labor Day Monday and it wasn't so busy. Once you park, Salt Creek Falls is off to the right hand side but...Diamond Creek Falls (another very worthwhile waterfall to visit) is located towards the left hand side. So...I'd suggest visiting both. You get rewarded with 2 waterfalls for the price of 1 admission. The pathway to Salt Creek Falls Viewpoint is half a mile at most, but along the way there'll be a quick preview of the falls beside the staircase leading towards the trailhead. You can't miss it and you'll hear the falls loudly crashing down below. The hike to the viewing deck is casual. You walk through the forest. It's pretty quiet. Once you arrive at the lookout viewpoint, Salt Creek Falls is impressive. You get undisturbed looks at the waterfall. If your curiosity interests you, you can walk around past the platform for closer glances. I did venture out a little just to avoid the guardrail being in my pictures. But I would say...it's a very steep decline and footing wasn't so secure. Be cautious with your steps. You'll understand this while there. Btw...there were no signs indicating you couldn't venture past the viewing deck. It's up to you to decide how much further you'd like to explore. I noticed some people joined me on the cliffside, while others stayed on the viewing deck. In all, it doesn't take long to see Salt Creek Falls. It's definitely a refreshing breathe of air to be at another marvelous Oregon waterfall, and that's where making the next part of your visit better when you return back to the parking lot and continue onto the 3 mile roundtrip trail to Diamond Creek Falls. I won't say too much about Diamond Creek Falls. I can save it for another review, but I will say it's a complete 180 degree different type of waterfall and setting. You get more into the heart of nature. And you can stand at the base of Diamond Creek Falls looking right up at it cascading in front of your eyes in comparison to witnessing Salt Creek Falls from a vista point platform. They're both unique natural wonders in their own ways. If you're in the central part of Oregon, I'd make plans to come to Salt Creek Falls. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by two magical looking waterfalls that barely get recognition. I didn't know they existed prior to 2024, and I thought I had been to them all, lol. Goes to show...there always more to see, always more to discover. Getting out among the great outdoors is a beautiful thing.

Great waterfall viewing here. It's not too far from the parking lot down to the viewing areas…read more There are different viewing areas to go to and get different vantage points. What I liked about this is that they do have accessible viewing areas. Definitely worth going to and having a picnic, hike or both.

We love Cascadia State Park and reserve a group side every year for my husband's birthday…read more The group sites are amazing and are situated close to the river. The river has plenty of shallow spots as well as some"rapids" which the kids enjoyed going down on their floaties with their parents. The group site is intended to have a maximum of 25 people six cars or two RVs and there is plenty of room for all of them. We had our main network of family members. and wanted to be far away from other sites to reduce risk of transmission of covid. We only had people we see regularly, family and neighbors who are in our everyday circle. But there was still plenty of room. Three people slept in hammocks, there were about 10 picnic tables, and there were seven other tents set up with so much room in between. There are only two group sites next to each other but still plenty of room. Those two sites share 2 pit toilets maintained twice a day throughout covid. And a short walk away are real toilets. We had plenty of space for a giant Jenga area, an area for all the floaties to live between water adventures, an area where we played Kubb, and an area for other tabletop games. There was also plenty of room for our dogs on their leads. there was enough space for three different camping stoves and the setup of food at each. The mosquitoes are brutal so I highly recommend a high-quality mosquito repellent. Also wear shoes because there are what I believe are Oregon banana slugs around the trees that you really don't want to step on barefoot. Highly recommend for a group outing where you can keep to yourselves and socially distance appropriately. The group rate is about $71 per night and we stayed two nights. We had so much fun on the river and there's so much space at this state park. The day use brought in a lot of people to the river that we didn't feel comfortable being around so we just waited until they left to enjoy the water. there is a large open field for off leash dog exercising and it is perfect for stargazing on a clear night. For those for whom this is important currently there is not signal unless you have Verizon. This will change within a few years. But you are only about 10 minutes drive to signal if there's some sort of emergency and the rangers make themselves available multiple times a day. We were warned that it had been about 10 days since there was a cougar sighting but we had no sightings ourselves.

Beautiful, quiet and well kept campground with very friendly hosts. Very reasonably priced. A few…read morepull through sites for RV's (dry camping only) Easy river access and a short drive to sweet home for supplies. Spent max allowable nights because we loved it so much. Picks up on the weekends but everyone seemed to mind the quiet hours. Only weird thing was the ranger lady with a leaf blower came though once. I suppose that's why it's so clean looking, but wasn't relaxing and left our vehicle needing a bath. Despite that we would definitely visit again.

We booked a half day fishing trip with shore lunch and it was delightful. Caught several rainbow…read moretrout, learned a technique for helping me to become a beginner fly fisherman, and had a great time with Bob. He was very informed and we had lots of good conversation. We will look forward to another trip!

I visited McDowell Creek Falls decades ago for a quick hike and to take some pictures. We decided…read moreto take a drive for the day and head here to see what it was like now. We arrived to a very busy and almost full parking lot, making us think the trails were going to be incredibly busy. Luckily, most were just using the picnic tables and walking to some falls that are close to the parking area. We grabbed our water and started on the trails. The trails are well-groomed and easy to walk on. One of the great parts is there are trails for easy-walking, and others that will challenge your legs! If you want to hike to the top of the triple falls, you will get a nice view from above. We kept hiking and ended up on the loop back to the parking area. I believe there are a couple more falls we may have missed, but we would have needed more water for sure. If you want a place to take a nice hike for the day, add this one to your list.

It's a very nice old forest trail. There's a bit elevation gain and steps/stairs to take whichever…read moredirection you go. Trail was not very crowded.