Are you a published author looking to expand your reach? Find out how Living With Retirement can help you. <Find Out More Here>
Silver Falls State Park
A Close-to-Home Travel Option During Hard Economic Times
By Scott Gese
If your retirement plans include travel, you may be feeling a bit of a financial strain these days. It's time to focus on an alternative travel option or two. You do have some good ones if you think about it.
The U.S. Economy is going through a rocky period right now. Gas prices are high and inflation isn't far behind. With less money in your pocket you might be thinking about slowing down on your travel experiences. Slowing down might be right for you but you don’t have to give up the idea of travel altogether. There are options. One to consider is staying a little closer to home until things turn around.
Many of us tend to look beyond our home turf for future travel ideas. It’s easy to do when the economy isn’t pressuring you to pull back on your spending. Now that the pressure is on, this would be a great time to take a look at options closer to home. You might be surprised at what you find.
Diamonds in my own backyard. Here’s what I discovered.
With the price of gas on the rise and no end in sight, my wife and I decided to take a closer look at what travel destinations we could find closer to our home here in Oregon.
We found several good options. The one we chose was only sixty miles from our front door. It’s one of Oregon’s top state parks. We had been there years ago on a day trip but checking out the camping area never crossed our minds. While searching for travel options closer to home this parks website popped up. It reminded us of our past day trip. We decided to do a deeper dive into what it had to offer.
The park is called Silver Falls State Park. With over 9000 acres it’s the largest park in Oregon.
Once we concluded our research we decided to book a couple of nights in one of the spaces at the campgrounds. The campground accommodates tents, travel trailers, fifth wheels, full service RV sites and log cabins.
All these options make Silver Falls a popular park for camping. If you want to book a space you’ll need to do it well in advance. Our reservation was a month out.
Camping among the tall timber. Tents, trailers and RV’S are all accommodated. Image by Scott GeseHow active are you?
Do you like to hike, ride bikes or horseback ride in the woods? Are you interested in waterfalls, old growth timber and wilderness trails? Do you want to enjoy the park for the day or camp out in a safe and secure environment? If your answer is yes to any of these questions, this may be the travel option for you.
There is so much to do at Silver Falls you could easily spend a week at the park. You might actually run out of energy before you run out of options.
So what can you do here? I’m glad you asked.
I’ve already mentioned camping. There are more than a hundred campsites and cabins with plenty of space between you and your neighbor. You won’t feel like your personal space is being infringed upon here.
There is a separate horse camp with miles of trails for horseback riding.
If you like to trail ride, there are miles of bicycle trails for off road riding.
If hiking is your thing you won’t be disappointed. There are miles of well groomed trails for hiking and several hiking loops to choose from. They vary in length and difficulty. Some are even paved for those who want to enjoy the parks natural beauty without having to watch your footing. Rocks and roots are underfoot on the unpaved trails. All of the trails will take you through tall timber of both old growth and second growth fir trees.
Most of the trails will lead you to at least one waterfall, sometimes more. The park has a total of eleven waterfalls you can hike to. Four of them have trails that take you behind the falls.
Our time here wasn’t long enough to do all we wanted. We’ve decided we want to see all the falls and hike more of the trails. We enjoyed what we were able to do and plan to come back to Silver Falls soon.
In the meantime we’ll be on the lookout for more close to home gems like this one. I'll bet if you searched close to where you live you'd come up with a gem or two as well.
Want to learn more about Silver Falls state Park? Here's a link.
More Articles You Might Like
Bodie, California
Bodie, California is a historic mining town built in the 1800's. A ghost town that has been preserved in a 'state of suspended decline'.
Costa Rica
My retirement included a trip to Costa Rica. It was amazing and too short. Here are a few reasons why you should travel when you retire. Give Costa Rica a try.
Scratching Your Travel Itch
Scratching your travel itch. How to stretch your travel budget and still enjoy experiencing exciting places and new experiences.
Please Share this Website
Add this site to your social media pages by using the social media buttons below. Your friends will thank you for it.
Our Top Five Most Read Articles/Short Stories for the Month of January
(and Five From the File)
<HERE>
Newest Article
Timberline Ski Lodge
by Scott A. Gese
Zach Lenziewicz/UnsplashA Bright and Shining Light on the South Slope of Oregon's Mount Hood and a winter playground for snow enthusiasts. <Read The Full Article Here>
Newest Short Story
Unspoken Love By Scott A. Gese
Taylor Hernandez/UnsplashFor years she kept it to herself and it almost broke her heart. <Read the full story HERE>
Newest Classic Film
Secret Agent
1936 Alfred Hitchcock
During the first world war, novelist Edgar Brodie is sent to Switzerland by the Intelligence Service. He has to kill a German agent.