We spent our first week in Oregon at the Aspen Point Campground on the shores of Lake of the Woods. There are three campgrounds on the eastern shore of the lake — two national forest campgrounds and one privately owned lodge with cabins and full hook-up RV sites. This appears to be a very popular summer vacation destination, but as it’s still early in the season (as the night time temps in the low 30s reminded us) we had no problem showing up without a reservation and getting a spot. Of course, it helped that we arrived on the Monday of Memorial Day weekend when everyone else was packing up and heading home.
Our luck with finding sunny campsites in heavily wooded campgrounds continues. We snagged site #8 which was one of the very few that received nearly full sun. from about 10-4 each day our panels were rocking and the solar power rolled in. It also had a giant yard and private sitting area.
Site #8 has the perfect mix of tall trees for ambiance and sun for making power
The pollen situation was intense! The pine trees rained down yellow pollen all over us and by the end of the week, the Airstream was more yellow than silver.
The main attraction here is the lake. With the exception of a few tent-only sites, there are no water view campsites, but the boat launch and day use swimming area are easily accessible from the campground.
Looks inviting, right?
While it’s a very nice looking forested lake, in my opinion, the best part is the view of Mount McLoughlin. Rising nearly 9,500 feet into the sky, this lava cone volcano is the highest point between Mt. Shasta to the south and South Sister to the north. We really wanted to climb to this mountain. Even after reading numerous descriptions and reviews about this grueling hike — in particular, the last mile that ascends 1,250 feet, and the fact that people get lost on the way down — we still wanted to climb it. Sadly, Tim ended up having to work both weekend days which meant didn’t have enough time to tackle the 10-mile trail.
Mt. McLoughlin looming in the distance
Instead, we focused on making the most of the free time that we had. We rode the bike trail over to Fish Lake, walked the path to the lodge and along the lake several times, busted out a 6-mile afternoon trek through a nearby forest, and even got out one evening for a dinnertime kayak.
A calm evening for kayaking
Yup, the name “Lake of the Woods” sure is fitting
Dinner on the water
Riding through a giant field of lava on a cloudy afternoon
Spotted some Trillium flowers on our hike. We had lots of these in the forest where we lived in Vermont
Someone likes to make chairs! We saw these all along the lakeshore.
One of two general stores at the resort
Up next: we drive north to see a giant lake-filled crater!
1 comment
I like it. We have spent time at many of the lakes further north…..Dave