Car Camping Along Quartzville Creek

By -

Sunrise over Quartzville Creek


Normally I use car camping as either a cheap place to stay on the way to somewhere or as a base camp for hiking out of. I had never planned a single location, multi-day trip so it was a new experience for me. But I had two good friends who were leaving town, one back to Idaho and one back to Afghanistan, so car camping was the best option. I was torn between the Blue River area and Quartzville Creek, but having recently made a few trips to the Middle Santiam Wilderness, Quartzville Creek won.


Quartzville Creek downstream from the logjam
I was absolutely blown away by the amount of car camps along Quartzville for Memorial Day Weekend. It seemed to be 28 miles of unbroken car camps. There was even some kind of mining gathering at the site we camped at. After talking to a miner who was at the event they had over 50 vehicles in the area. Thankfully our weekend wasn't this busy, but I would still suggest arriving Thursday to grab a good site.

Just part of the massive logjam that spanned Quartzville Creek

Our campsite was situated only about 15 yards from the Quartzville Back Country Byway, which wasn't too much of an issue because our campsite was nearly 28 miles from Highway 20. There was a metal fire ring and during the Summer a portable toilet. We quickly realized the toilet was used by campers from other close by sites. The only issue with the campsite was that a trail leading to the logjam was near it. This lead to a fairly awkward and irritating situation with a family. Please teach your children to respect other people and do not enter their camp without permission.





The campsite from a rock berm



Our last night there we had the interesting experience of dealing with a swarm of flying ants. At first we noticed one or two, then they were absolutely everywhere. It started in the afternoon and by night fall they were all trying to find something to dig into or hide under.It seemed there were hundreds under every piece of firewood we had collected. Only one person was bitten by one when he accidentally partially smashed it. I'm not sure how often this happens, but it was definitely something worth seeing once.

Cider on the left, Porter on the right

To find this campsite, follow paved Quartzville Road for 28 miles from Highway 20, it will be on your left. It's almost directly across from Forest Road 1142. This site is perfect for a large gathering, or an easy camp spot if you're exploring the Quartzville Back Country Byway. It was a fairly high traffic area so if you're expecting any degree of solitude find a different place.

Good very cold swimming hole just up stream of the logjam


Location: National Forest Development Road 11, Willamette National Forest, OR, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Make a Homemade Planter Box For Under $30

By -
Image
When you live in a second floor walk-up there are certain things you sacrifice. When we moved in I realized that there was no way I would be able to seed the cement back patio and have a luscious patch of green to call my own. I have accepted this and moved on. Presently I tell myself that at least this way there is no lawn that needs to be mowed. I have come to terms with not having grass to roll around in and I am alright with it. For now. One thing that I wasn't willing to sacrifice, regardless of our second floor status, was a garden. A few months ago John and I made several shopping trips. I had it in my head that I was going to buy some long, and narrow in proportion planter boxes to line our patio. Did I want square ones? No. Did I want small little rectangles that looked like elongated loaf pans to grow plants in? No. I wanted substantial 18 inch wide, 6 foot long planter boxes. We went to 4 or 5 different stores ranging from one stop shops, to hardware stores, we even pe
Read more

McQuade Creek Trail: Spring Gateway to the Middle Santiam Wilderness

By -
Image
The Middle Santiam Wilderness is an incredible place. Massive Douglas-fir, western hemlock and western redcedar line much of McQuade Creek Trail and the Chimney Peak Trail. After calling the Sweet Home Ranger Station and finding out that the trail head on the south side of the Wilderness would likely be closed until July, because of snow, I decided to find another route in. The lady I was talking with was pretty knowledgeable and let me know that Forest Road( FR) 1142 was open, but a massive rock blocked the road one mile from the trail head. That wasn't much of a deterrent an extra two miles round trip wouldn't hurt.   The rock blocking FR 1142 The McQuade Creek Trail starts out with 2 fairly rapid creek crossings, both of them being about calf high on me( I'm about 5'6) as of June 2, 2012. The trail then begins to slowly climb through a relatively recent clear-cut, which gives you a pretty awesome view of the valley below. As you climb you wil
Read more

Santiam Wagon Road: Mountain House to House Rock Falls

By -
Image
Normally I'm somewhat apprehensive about hiking on old roads, especially ones that run parallel to a modern road. But I also love to hike any longer trails in the area. The full length of the trail portion of the Santiam Wagon Road is approximately 21 miles, running from Fish Lake to Mountain House. Some of the trail is still on drivable road, but thankfully much of it is only open to non-motorized transportation. Bridge across the South Santiam River South Santiam River  The hike starts out at a small pull out next to a gated bridge across the South Santiam River. The trailhead would hold about 5 cars, but I wouldn't expect to see many other people. Shortly after you cross the bridge you enter into an almost pure stand of Red Alder. I'm not sure what kind of disturbance caused this early successional forest, but it's beautiful.  Dense Red alder (Alnus rubra) line the trail Bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) and Red alder (Alnus rubra) leaves c
Read more