Skunk Hollow Campground

I left Trout Creek campground this morning but not before capturing this picture of a cute pinto colt and its mother!

There was a herd of 12 wild horses across the river in the Warm  Springs Indian Reservation. The pinto colt caught my eye and I could not resist taking a picture! I am now at Skunk Hollow Campground which is 3 miles off Hwy 26 approximately 1/2 way between Madras and Prineville. They are in the progress of improving the campground by adding more sites, new picnic tables and fire rings and graveling each campsite.

The Camp Host said it is part of an effort to give climbers of Smith Rock a place to camp rather than having to disperse camp in the Ochoco National Grasslands. They hope to minimize the environmental impact on the soil and vegetation. The campground has pit toilets but not potable water or RV hookups. Single sites are $10 per night and my Senior pass gets a 50% discount. I only identified 6 species here on my 1.5 mile walk. It is overcast with a cool breeze so that may be part of the reason I saw so few. There are several biking and horseback trails nearby and some interesting rock formation up the canyon!

Since I am not a mountain biker or horse rider, this is not a place I would spend much time at but it is certainly a nice and inexpensive place to stop for a night!

Trout Creek Campground, Madras - OR

I went north this morning to Trout Creek Campground, just a bit north of Madras. It is a BLM campground deep in the Deschutes river canyon.

Surprisingly I do have some connectivity in the bottom of this canyon. Here are views from my camp site!

My dining area in the 5th wheel is a wrap around at the back of the trailer. I am backed up to the river with wonderful views of the rim rock lined canyons that frame the river. 

This campground has pit toilets but no potable water. The cost is just $12 per weekend night and $8 per weekday night and my federal senior pass is accepted for a 50% discount. The last 2 miles of the road in are slightly washboard gravel. Just before the pavement ends, you go down a steep incline that passes through a one line tunnel under some railroad tracks. The tunnel has 14 ft of clearance to no issues for my little rig! There are several dozen individual campsites and a couple of group campsites. It looks like a scout troop is camping here this weekend. I am a good distance away from them so no noise issues! I did bird today. Not a lot of species here so far but you can beat the scenic views!

Day 3 at Haystack Reservoir

The plan for my bird walk this morning was to walk the circumference of the lake but US Government No Trespassing signs at the dam put a stop to that! Near the dam I snapped a great pic of Mt Jefferson!

I backtracked from there and hiked past my campsite to the next campground where I spotted this Osprey nest. I like that the nest was built with some added color!

My total walk covered about 3.5 miles and I documented 29 species, my largest list here so far! A couple of new species today was a Horned Lark

and a Western Meadowlark who was singing it heart out atop a Juniper tree!

For more pics and a complete lists of today's birds, click here: Haystack Reservoir bird list

Day 2 at Haystack Reservoir

This morning I took a birding walk west from camp to the dam. They have a handicap accessible fishing dock which also works great for bird viewing!

While there I spotted a Horned Grebe!

While on the walk I was able to get pics of a Townsend's Solitaire

and an Osprey!

Through out the morning there have been some energizing sun breaks!

Looking forward to the coming of  sunny and warm weather!

Haystack Reservoir

I left the Willamette Valley this morning and headed east in search of some sunshine! It was like trying to get to the end of the rainbow! The further east I went, the further east the blue sky appeared to be! I finally gave up and settled in to this campground at Haystack Reservoir. The campground is east of Hwy 97 between Redmond and Madras. A beautiful clean campground thanks to the hard working and friendly hosts. There are several campgrounds around the reservoir. I settled for the first one I came to which is the South campground. All sites back up to the lake so you  have awesome views!

The sun is not shining but it is dry and not raining! The lake has been stocked with trout and I watched as this loon,

dove and came up with a small pan fish! The campground has 2 pit toilets that are clean and well stocked. There is potable water available near the camp host. The campsite cost is $15 per night. It is a Forest Service campground but came under the responsibility of Crook county this year so no more senior discount! It still is a great deal and a beautiful location!