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OC&E Woods Line State Trail

OC&E Woods Line State Trail

History . . . This trail began as a railroad owned by the City of Klamath Falls and named the Klamath Falls Municipal Railway.  After beginning construction in 1917 and reaching Olene a year later,  Robert Strahorn, the contractor and major proponent of the project, offered to buy the railroad from the city.  The sale […]

Juanita Lake California

Juanita Lake California

Juanita Lake is located on the Klamath National Forest in far northern California, just 18 miles south of the Oregon-California State Line on US-97 and 6 miles west on local roads. It is a great, but little known, get-away for campers and lovers of non-motorized water sports

Tule Lake Segregation Center

Tule Lake Segregation Center

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. The order authorized the U.S. military to arrest Japanese American families living on the West Coast, entirely without due process. Thus began a mass incarceration program that targeted over 110,000 persons of Japanese ancestry based on the false claim of military necessity. The Tule Lake center was the largest of 10 camps where these people were held.

Crater Lake Wildflowers

Crater Lake Wildflowers

The growing season at Crater Lake is very short.  The typical snow-free season is July to mid-October and frost can occur any time.  Certain wildflowers have adapted to these conditions and put on a great display at the park. Castle Crest Wildflower Garden Castle Crest Wildflower Garden is located just south of park headquarters on […]

Dolason Prairie Trail – Redwood National Park

Dolason Prairie Trail – Redwood National Park

What started as a quest to find the world’s tallest tree, became the exploration of a great trail in Northern California’s Redwood National Park.  We spent the night on the coast at Gold Beach, Oregon with the intention of driving to the Redwood Visitor Center a mile or so west of Orick, California to pick […]

Captain Jack’s Stronghold

Captain Jack’s Stronghold

Lava Beds National Monument . . . Captain Jack, Schonchin John and their band of Modoc Indians were attacked by the U.S. Army and local civilians at their winter village on the Lost River, just north of Tule Lake, California on November 29, 1872.  Some of the Modocs escaped the attack by crossing the lake […]

Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

by Canoe . . . The Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge is one of six National Wildlife Refuges in the Upper Klamath Basin of Oregon and California.  It is located on the north-western shore of Upper Klamath Lake near the Oregon community of Rocky Point. With almost 15,000 acres of marsh and open water, but […]

White Pass & Yukon Route, Skagway, Alaska

White Pass & Yukon Route, Skagway, Alaska

Gateway to the Klondike Gold! George Carmack, Skookum Jim and Dawson Charlie found gold on Bonanza Creek in the Klondike in 1896. They didn’t find much in the beginning, but it was enough – the gold rush was on.  Tens of thousands of people, thrown out of work by the depressed economy or just plain […]

Klamath Basin Bald Eagles

Klamath Basin Bald Eagles

Birding is a great reason to get out and explore our world, but even if you aren’t really into the wide variety of birds to be seen, checking out bald eagles can still be a wonderful adventure for you and your family.  If you want to see lots of bald eagles, the Upper Klamath Basin […]

Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

The Nation’s First Waterfowl Refuge As the above map shows, there are six National Wildlife Refuges in the Klamath Basin. The Lower Klamath Refuge was the first to be designated, in 1908, and also the first in the United States intended to provide refuge to waterfowl. Physically, the refuge is flat.  Before human modification, this […]

Big Painted Cave and Symbol Bridge

Big Painted Cave and Symbol Bridge

Lava Beds National Monument . . . The trail to Big Painted Cave and Symbol Bridge was the backbone of my explorations in this area southeast of Schonchin Butte in the Lava Beds National Monument.  The trail heads toward Schonchin Butte from the road to Skull Cave.  The Skull Cave Road is about 1.3 miles […]

Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Exploring the Refuge . . . For a short orientation (with a map) to the Tule Lake Refuge and the other refuges in the Klamath Basin system, check out the article entitled “Wildlife Refuges of the Klamath Basin.” The Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge offers explorers six opportunities: a great little visitor center at the […]

Thomas-Wright Battlefield

Thomas-Wright Battlefield

or The Battle of Sand Butte – Lava Beds National Monument . . . History . . . The Park Service labels this site the Thomas-Wright Battlefield.  This, the fourth battle of the Modoc War (after the battle at the Lost River, and two battles at Captain Jack’s Stronghold) was actually fought between a U.S. […]

Wildlife Refuges of the Klamath Basin

Wildlife Refuges of the Klamath Basin

Like many places around the world, wetlands in the Upper Klamath Basin were drained to provide croplands for a hungry nation. Here, the United States Bureau of Reclamation began the process in 1905 with an effort called the Klamath Reclamation Project.  The needs of  waterfowl were recognized early on with the establishment of the first […]

Unusual Lava Tube Caves

Unusual Lava Tube Caves

Lava Beds National monument . . . There are literally hundreds of lava tube caves with nearly 28 miles of underground passages that we could explore at the Lava Beds National Monument.  We are NOT going to explore them all – just a few.  We already looked at some easy caves.  Here we will explore […]

Colorful Birds at Hagelstein Park

Colorful Birds at Hagelstein Park

Hagelstein County Park . . . Hagelstein Park is about 10 miles north of Klamath Falls, Oregon on the east side of US-97.   The 5-acre park offers modern restrooms (although they were out of order at the time of my visit), drinking water, 10 camping spots and boat access to Upper Klamath Lake, all adjacent […]

Easy Caving in the Lava Beds

Easy Caving in the Lava Beds

Lava Beds National Monument . . . Lava Beds National Monument is located on the California-Oregon border south of Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA. The Monument offers two, world-class exploration opportunities. The first, that we will address in other articles, is exploration of the history of the Modoc Indian War – the last Indian war fought […]

Gillem’s Camp

Gillem’s Camp

The Modoc War . . . Gillem’s Camp is an important site associated with the Modoc War of 1872 and 1873, although it was only in use for about seven weeks.  Very briefly, the war came about after members of the Modoc Tribe decided to leave the Klamath reservation, where they were confined.  They had […]

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