Three Creeks Horse Camp ~ Sisters, OR
A stunning view from the trail to Green Lake
At the end of July my family and I took our four horses camping up at Three Creeks Horse Camp in Sisters, OR for an extended weekend. It had been at least five years or more since I had been horse camping at this site and I was excited to get back to the area. My memory of the campsites and corrals was one of lots of shady pine trees to block the campsites from one another and picturesque beauty. I also remembered it being a pretty popular spot in the summertime hence our early departure Friday afternoon to make sure we got a site!
The drive from Newberg to Sisters was about 4 hours so we left around 2 pm in order to get to camp with plenty of daylight left to settle us all in. Of course we had our plans but, as the saying goes, “the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray” (Robert Burns)!
About 2 hours into our drive, right before Detroit Lake, traffic came to a dead stop. After about 20 minutes people started getting out of their cars to see what the problem was. It didn’t help matters that the temperature was in the 90’s and the asphalt was baking. We were fortunate enough to have stopped in a tiny bit of shade cast by the sheer wall of rock on one side of the road. It finally trickled down from the crowds of people milling about, and kind of obvious as multiple fire trucks came roaring by, that a road side brush fire had been started by a vehicle dragging chains. The dragging chains threw off sparks which quickly ignited the tinder-dry hillside. This was probably going to take awhile. Not to mention the fact that we started wondering how in the world we’d turn the truck and trailer around if the fire wasn’t contained! The temperature was in the 90’s and pretty oppressive, probably not helped by the nearby fire. After about 40 minutes I was getting worried about the horses. Of course we opened their windows and gave them all water shortly after we stopped but I knew with all of them in the trailer, throwing off body heat and with no air blowing through, it was getting toasty in there.
The horses checking out the scene!
We finally decided to pull a couple of them out and leave the back doors open for some air circulation for the rest! That helped a lot and the two that came out, Hershey and Buttercup, were very well behaved – even when swarmed by all the people milling about. Of course little blond barbie horse Buttercup got lots of attention while Hershey with his imposing size, black color and icy blue eye was admired at a distance.
About 20 minutes after we pulled the two horses out of the trailer, cars started up, signaling things were going to start moving. Within 2 minutes (literally!) we had the horses back in the trailer (yes – they are well trailer trained thank goodness!) and hit the road – only over an hour behind schedule….
After a missed turn on the gravel road to Three Creeks Horse Camp and a dicey turn-around we drove into the campgrounds. I looked around in disbelief…could this place be the same from my memory? What happened to all the trees? The secluded privacy? The picturesque setting? All the other horse campers? And darn-it, the loops weren’t exactly made with 28′ trailers in mind! After almost getting stuck down one loop, we hit another loop that had a site with some scenic beauty left!
Sadly, due to some beetle infestation, many of the pine trees in the campground had to be cut down and many more were in various states of ‘tree-death’. It made the campsite look small and barren. It also made the area a lot less appealing, hence the lack of horse campers. There were a few sites in use but nothing like I remembered. By our second day, we and one other family were the only horse campers at the campground.
Our camp site...all set up and running smoothly!
The site we chose was one of the better ones with more live than dead trees and a pretty little creek nearby.
The horse corrals were sturdy and in good shape although they seemed a little smaller than others I’ve been too.
The weather was beautiful during the days we were up there. In the evening the thunder, lightening and rain rolled in. The horses got a bit wet but not too bad. We arrived Friday early evening so we spent the remainder of our daylight hours settling in and setting up camp. On Saturday we got an early start for our trek up to Green Lake – a 20 mile ride round trip.
Although the campsite has taken a turn for the worse, the Three Sisters Wilderness Area and the riding trails available to us were spectacular. We had a wonderful ride to Green Lake and were treated to breath-taking sights. There is so much beauty and diversity in this area.
Our four tucked into their corral pens...
On Sunday morning, we did a great ride around smaller Three Creek lake and explored a bunch of different trail options. We finally ended up at the big lake were we let the horses cool their feet and splash around in the water. We hit the gravel road on our way back to the campground and had some fun doing a little ‘racing’ on this long stretch of road.
On Sunday early evening we took another ride, heading straight for the big lake this time but on a different trail. The trail we found was loads of fun. There were a lot of downed trees on the trail that made for perfect trail jumps. These were small jumps really, not giant trees and all had an easy way around. But, for someone like me and the rest of my family, these well spaced logs provided a perfect jumping trail that we could canter along on. Once at the big lake, we rode along the sandy edge of the water and let the horses go in once we were far enough from the people swimmers. That night, the thunder and lightning came again but less rain than the night before.
Saturday: heading out to Green Lake from the trailhead at the horse camp.
On Monday morning, after we broke down camp, we took another fast ride on the jumping trail we had discovered. It was tons of fun and a good ending to a great weekend of riding. When we got back to camp we fed the horses a snack, loaded up and headed for home. We were all a bit grimy with ‘red dust’ and looking forward to getting home and in the showers. As we pulled away from the campground we recalled the brush fire on our way up and hoped we would have an uneventful trip back home.
Of course fate had something different in store for us. On highway 20, just outside of Salem, we were emphatically notified by a passing motorist that we had a flat tire on the trailer. I quickly pulled off onto the tiny shoulder as the BUSY traffic raced by. Sure enough, not only was the tire flat but it was just about disintegrated and smoldering hot. Holy Cow, I couldn’t even tell I had a flat what with the trailer being a goose-neck with three other tires for support. One of the best investments we ever did, we realized in that moment, was buy a tire-changing ramp for the trailer. This allowed us to put the spare on by driving the trailer up on the ramp using the other wheel as support. In this way we didn’t have to unload the horses which would have been a terrifying experience as the traffic was fast and heavy. After putting the spare on we noticed that it was pretty low…so very carefully (and slowly…much to the displeasure of the other drivers) we made our way into Salem and the closest gas station.
Maneuvering around a gas station off of Lancaster Blvd in Salem is no fun in a 28′ trailer, especially trying to back up to an air-pump in a spot designed for small cars! Remarkably, we managed to get back into the spot (with the help and encouragement of a very nice gas station attendant) without blocking off too many lanes of gas pumps, fill our tires and get back on the highway without incident. We were grateful the weather was only in the 80’s and our horses were so patient and good throughout the entire ordeal.
Needless to say, it was a trip I hope we don’t repeat for a long time! Since then we have put all new tires on the trailer to ward off another highway flat. Not much we can do to prevent rode side brush fires (except not be the cause of them…) but perhaps we can get an earlier start next year, and pick a cooler day!
The riding in the Sisters Wilderness Area was a delight and feast for the eyes. I would love to get out there again to explore the other trails in the area. The camping itself was fun but I sure hope the beetle infestation can be put in check as the area around the campsites is looking pretty decimated. It’ll take many, many years before it will look as I remember it. A couple of good things I learned on this trip was
- check your spare to make sure it is filled
- carry a fire-extinguisher in case you drive on a flat to the point of it almost going up in flames…
- take blankets for your horses, even in the summer, as it can get cool at night
- hope you never have to drive a big horse trailer around a busy Salem road!
All in all, I’d love to make a trip back next year!
A meadow crossing on our way to Green Lake
Some uphill, rougher road on our way to Green Lake
Almost at Green Lake!
Taking a rest at Green Lake
Back at the camp site - ready for the next ride!
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Fantastic to be that close to the snow in the middle of summer . The lake looked so inviting did you go in deep with the horses? I would have loved that . Glad the flat tyre didn’t cause any accident.Sounded like an exhausting but wonderful camping trip.Super pictures for framing.Jane.
It was funny to see patches of snow in the middle of July! We even rode across one but it had an icy crust layer so the horses slipped around a bit. It was so fun once we were at the campsite – the trip up and back was exhausting for sure….that should happen only once in a lifetime right??? Let’s hope!
PS – we did find out that you are not supposed to take your horses into Green Lake – it’s pristine. You will also get a fine per horse for going in. However, nobody seemed to mind us taking the horses into Three Creeks Lake where swimmers and boaters can go. We just made sure we were far enough down from people that we didn’t bother anyone. And we did go pretty deep, ALMOST swimming for a couple of the horses! The saddles take a beating on that though and we were too lazy to unsaddle them! Oh, the water is VERY COLD so we didn’t stay in too long!