Smith Rock State Park (Oregon)
2017. While for us it would’ve been the perfect year for a summer road trip to Banff National Park, it also happened to be Canada’s 150th anniversary. For the occasion, all of our National Parks in Canada were free to use for the entire year. Banff is already so damn busy on a “regular” year, so we decided to avoid the crowds and find somewhere else to go.
In a true adventurous way, we asked Google where could we fly to the USA from Toronto for the least amount of money. The result: Portland, Oregon. So I told Andrea we were going to Oregon! We didn’t know much about Oregon, Washington or any other places in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). I started looking for pictures of Oregon and took notes on the places that looked nice. A list was made and off we were. First stop on our list after picking up our rental car was Smith Rock State Park in Terrebonne.
Having no idea what to expect from the Oregon landscape, what a pretty surprise it was! First of all, it was crazy hot and the bluebird sky was stunning. It was like anything I’ve ever seen before. Almost like being in the desert but with a few trees here and there with mountains and plateaus all over the place. The 3-hour drive from Portland to Terrebonne almost took us all day because of the dozen photo stops along the way!
Smith Rock State Park made it on our list because of how impressive it looked on pictures. Along the Crooked River lies huge sheer cliffs of tuff and basalt. While we don’t rock climb, this place is very popular among the climbing community. There is a “bivouac” campground in the park but it fills up quite rapidly and it works on a first come, first served basis. We rushed to the last supermarket on the way to fill our cooler before securing a camping spot for the night.
We walked for a few kilometers around the area using the multiple hiking trails. The heat was hard to deal with. It was really intense as the air was so dry. Walking down in the valley near the river was nice because of the shade the trees provided.
The volcanic rock formations were really impressive. They are really high and surely make you feel tiny! We found a nice spot near the river to observe a few rock climbers in action. I work at heights on a daily basis so vertigo is not something I suffer from, but I will admit that I am not too sure I would give rock climbing a try. It was definitely exciting to watch in person though.
There were a few mountain lion tracks on one of the trails. As much as I tried to convince myself it might have been something else, we stumbled on this “fresh cut”… I couldn’t find any other parts of the deer laying around. Needless to say, we quickly left this remote area of the park!
One of the things that amazed me about Smith Rock was that the light was constantly changing over the course of the day, leaving the massive rocky peaks with a different shade of color every hour.
We found the best spot over the valley to relax and enjoy dinner. The sunset was of course amazing. We officially toasted the first night of our road trip and also had a few sips to celebrate what was on this day, July 1st 2017, the 150th anniversary of our country, Canada.
Cheers Canada!
The sun was finally down, cooling the air instantly – and us as the same time! We walked a little bit more at dusk, soaking in the beauty of this place. I think at this point, I was already in love with Oregon. ♥
We had to hit the road early the next morning on our way to one of the 7 Wonders of Oregon: The Painted Hills. But before reaching our final destination of the day, we or course had to stop, yet again, to admire the spectacular landscapes Oregon has to offer.
