Category Archives: park improvements
A brand for Cottonwood Canyon State Park
We need your help! We’re creating Cottonwood Canyon State Park, and some local students drew up ideas for a brand (like a livestock brand) for us to put on signs and displays. We’ll use many of their ideas, but need to choose ONE as the lead. You can help us decide! Vote online.
Vote for a Cottonwood Brand
Horsing around at Milo McIver State Park
The second story in a four-part series about “the hidden side” of Milo McIver State Park.
Although no horses were around to demonstrate, the purpose of this station is to practice negotiating obstacles and tight spaces.
One of the best ways to experience nature has to be astride a horse, the original grass-powered vehicle. Milo McIver is a particularly good place to visit if you’re into trail riding. It provides an extra-wide parking lot for horse trailers, a riding ring, a wheelchair-accessible mounting ramp, and seven miles of mixed-use trails through forested hillsides and fields.
But thanks to the efforts of a non-profit organization, the park now offers some extra special facilities to riders. Oregon Equestrian Trails (OET) is made up of people who share a love of horses and are dedicated to promoting trail riding across the state. Earlier this fall, members undertook a project to build a series of equestrian training stations at Milo McIver—a sort of obstacle course that teaches horses and riders how to safely negotiate conditions they might find on a trail, like uneven surfaces, downed trees, gates, slopes, and bridges. These stations are the first of their kind in the state parks system, and a unique way for riders to practice their handling skills and trail etiquette.
A sign of the park’s shod four-legged visitors.
OET members volunteer to maintain the stations and regularly take part in other projects on behalf of the park. Because of their dedication, Milo McIver has become a popular training ground for new generations of equestrians and “off-road friendly” horses. Now, when you visit Milo McIver and see a seemingly unnecessary fence alongside the trail, or an odd platform of wood and gravel, you’ll know why it’s there.
Milo McIver State Park (park information, driving directions and map)
Horse Heaven — horse camping and trail guide
- A “horse seesaw” — another challenge for the horse and the rider!
All sites at Crooked River campground open July 1 (2012)
Massive upgrade at The Cove Palisades campground nearly done
The solar-powered trash compactor.
When you camp at Crooked River campground this summer, you will see three new restrooms/shower buildings, a new RV dump station, and a larger amphitheater. But much of the major work is hidden from sight. Renovations also include new water and sewer systems and upgraded electrical sites.
“Even though much of the work is literally underground, the upgrades make a huge difference in the quality of the camping experience here,” says Park Manager Dave Slaght. “Water, power and sewer systems may not sound exciting, but believe me, they are the nuts and bolts of a campground.”
Major solar upgrades powers a new trash compactor and the new restroom/shower buildings. Funded by Portland General Electric, the solar additions could save as much as $1,500 per month in restroom heating and lighting costs.
The new electric service upgrades all campsites to 50/30/20 amperage, meaning that RVs large and small can make easy use of every site. Forty-two sites also were reconfigured for traffic flow, and four sites upgraded for ADA accessibility. The improvements are funded largely by Oregon Lottery dollars dedicated to state parks by voters.
One of the four ADA sites in the campground. A new restroom/shower building is in the background.
The lectern in the new amphitheater is a hollow juniper stump. The electrical equipment is stashed inside. The seating will be installed soon.
