Fifty Places to Camp Before You Die

by Chris Santella

  A second, somewhat more accessible, campground is Succor Creek, a jumping-off point for some fine hikes and rock-climbing opportunities. “Succor Creek is near Leslie Gulch,” Kirk continued, “and hiking up Leslie gives you access to several other gulches, including Juniper, Runaway, Upper Leslie, and Dago. Dago has the most established climbing routes.” Even if you’re not a climber, you’ll appreciate the spectacular rock formations around Leslie Gulch, and the nearby Honeycombs, a colorful series of pinnacles, cliffs, and towers. (The Juniper Gulch Trail is a great bet.) Succor Creek is a good place to hunt for thunder eggs (spherical geodes containing agates and other minerals), and is a prime spot to view a host of raptors, including golden eagles, ferruginous and red-tailed hawks, and peregrine falcons. Slocum Creek is perhaps the most accessible of the Owyhee’s campgrounds. The drive in, which exposes impressive slot canyons and towering hoodoos, is worth the trip in itself. Slocum provides easy access to the hiking and bouldering opportunities in Leslie Gulch. It’s also a great spot to scan the canyon walls for bighorn; it was here that the animals were reintroduced in the mid-1960s. During the mating season in early fall, rams will square off and butt horns. The concussion of these encounters bounces about the canyons like gunshots. Pronghorns call the Owyhee home, and herds of Rocky Mountain elk and mule deer migrate here to pass the winter. Early risers hiking the sagebrush steppe of the canyonlands in the spring may come upon greater sage-grouse on their leks (mating grounds), where males engage in complex courtship dances. (While not officially on the endangered-species list, the sage-grouse’s future is very uncertain; the Owyhee is certainly a stronghold of the species.)

  Note: The Owyhee Canyonlands hold many treasures, but require preparation and a certain level of self-reliance, as there are no amenities once you leave asphalt. Make sure your gas tank is full and carry extra gas, a full-size spare, and lots of water. Travel on some roads—particularly into Three Forks—is strongly discouraged after rain.

  “I’m passionate about conservation, and a few years ago, I wanted to get involved beyond financially supporting such organizations,” Kirk recalled. “I eventually got a seat on the board of the Oregon Natural Desert Association. The biggest preservation project we’re working on is in the Owyhee Canyonlands. One of the really great things about the Owyhee is that it has resisted conquest for nearly two hundred years, ever since it was first discovered by Europeans. Nobody—the Hudson’s Bay Company, the U.S. military—could ‘de-wildify’ it. Now we have a chance to save it for future generations. Preserving something on the scale of the Owyhee Canyonlands—two million acres of wilderness, the largest conservation opportunity in the Lower 48 states—would be a game changer in this part of the world.”

  * * *

  KIRK RICHARDSON works for KEEN Footwear on corporate responsibility in Portland, Oregon.

  If You Go

  Getting There: The camping spots described here are a two- to four-hour drive from Boise, Idaho, which is served by many carriers. Visitors will be best served with a four-wheel-drive vehicle with reasonably high clearance. Wild Owyhee (www.wildowyhee.org) provides detailed directions to each campground and sites of interest.

  Best Time to Visit: Late spring through fall. Do note that daytime temperatures in the summer will be quite warm.

  Campgrounds: There are four primitive campgrounds within Oregon’s Owyhee Canyonlands: Three Forks, Succor Creek, Slocum Creek, and Anderson Crossing (the most remote). These campgrounds offer few amenities beyond pit toilets.

  Activities: Wildlife viewing, hiking, rock climbing, fishing, rock hunting, rafting.

  Oregon’s north coast offers abundant water activities . . . and the Eurovan provides a dry sanctuary from the occasional rain.

  Oregon—Tillamook/Lincoln Counties

  NORTH COAST

  RECOMMENDED BY Chris Emerick

  In 1967, Governor Tom McCall signed the Oregon Beach Bill, giving Oregonians (and visitors) “free and uninterrupted use of the beaches” along the state’s more than four hundred miles of coastline. Each section of the coast—from the California border to the mouth of the mighty Columbia—has its charms. For Chris Emerick, the majestic temperate rain forests, rugged coastline replete with numerous sea stacks, and inviting resort towns—as well as opportunities for first-rate kiteboarding—make the north coast especially inviting. “You have a host of classic Oregon experiences available on the stretch of coast from the town of Manzanita in the north to Lincoln City in the south,” he shared. “You can paddle a kayak in the ocean or on one of the rivers that flow into the Pacific, hike, harvest clams or crabs, fish, and surf. And there are a number of fine campgrounds to choose from. The summer gets the majority of the coast’s visitors. I especially love to get out there in the off-season.”

  Chris’s off-season camping adventures are facilitated by the use of a camper van.

  “The camper van makes it possible to be comfortable when traditional tent camping would be unpleasant at best,” he continued. “I like to describe it as somewhere in between sleeping on the ground and a glamping experience with four-hundred-thread-count sheets and champagne. Pop-up campers offer easily accessible beds, petite kitchens, and fold-down tables for eating. You don’t have to cook in the rain. If I’m out kiteboarding, I don’t have to change into my wetsuit on the side of the road . . . or more importantly, I don’t have to change out of it in the cold and rain. I can step inside, turn on the propane heater, and be cozy. I like to call it ‘vamping.’ The camper vans are compact enough that they’re much easier to drive and park than an RV and more economical. You can set up in the car-camping section of most campgrounds. I’ve been a van camper for a long time, on road trips to Baja, the California coast, Kauai, Oahu, and New Zealand, and on cross-country drives. My vehicle of choice is a Volkswagen Westfalia [a conversion of the classic VW van/microbus]. There’s such a great nostalgia about them. Though they’re not being made any more, there’s quite a concentration of these vans around the Pacific Northwest, so there are mechanics available to work on them.”

  The VW van—formally known as the “VW Type 2 bus”—has an interesting provenance. One day in 1947, a Dutch importer named Ben Pon was visiting a VW factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, and noticed that trolleys concocted from Beetle chassis were being used to carry parts around the plant floor. Pon sketched a rough design for a van based on the Beetle. His scribblings made their way to the desk of Volkswagen general director Heinrich Nordhoff, who approved the idea. The first buses rolled off the assembly line in 1950 . . . and an icon was born. Variations of the VW bus were built for more than sixty years, with more than ten million sold; one can only imagine how many Grateful Dead and Phish concerts were logged by VW bus owners!

  An area of special interest to Chris along the north Oregon coast is Cascade Head. This headland towers 1,300 feet above the Pacific and the mouth of the Salmon River and offers dizzying views to the north, south, and west. Several trails lead through meadows and Sitka spruce/western hemlock forests to the headland’s upper reaches. Chris often prefers to explore Cascade Head from the water. “In the summer months, when the swell is down, you can safely sea kayak around the headland,” he said. “There are sea caves and arches near the water’s edge that are hard to see unless you’re on the water. You can also kayak around the mouth of the Salmon River and its estuary. There’s lots of birdlife here, and seals too. If you have a crab pot with you, you have a decent chance of catching crabs in the river.” From late summer through fall, the Salmon has excellent fishing for its namesake fish—both Chinook and coho. (If you happen to visit between November and June, be sure to scan the horizon to catch a glimpse of migrating gray whales.)

  While Cascade Head has no camping, there are several nice campgrounds nearby. To the north are Cape Lookout State Park (170 sites) and Nehalem Bay State Park (265 sites), both situated a few sand dunes away from the Pacific. Devil’s Lake campground is just to the south of Cascade Head, at the edge of Lincoln City. All three o
f these campgrounds have flush toilets and hot showers and can accommodate tents or RVs . . . or camper vans. (Yurts are also available.)

  With its abundant outdoor offerings, the Oregon coast offers magic in many forms. Chris offered a summation of one of his perfect Pacific days. “I’d gone out to the coast near Cascade Head with a friend to do some kiteboarding. Usually the wind doesn’t pick up until the afternoon. When we woke up in the van, it was glassy calm—perfect conditions for some surfing—so we went out. As the morning progressed, the wind began to pick up. By afternoon, it was ideal kiteboarding conditions. We had a full afternoon of playing in the waves with our boards, a really stellar session. After we changed out of our wetsuits, we headed over to the docks in the little fishing town of Garibaldi and bought some fresh Dungeness crabs, right off the boat. We took them back to our camping spot and made a fire. We popped a few good Oregon microbrews and steamed up the crabs over the campfire. It was the ideal way to end a classic Oregon-coast day.”

  * * *

  CHRIS EMERICK is a freelance videographer based in the Columbia River Gorge and owner of Road Trip Oregon. He enjoys the outdoor sports of the Pacific Northwest, including white-water kayaking, backcountry skiing, kiteboarding, mountain biking, and fly-fishing.

  If You Go

  Getting There: The northern section of the Oregon coast described above is roughly two hours west of Portland, which is served by most major carriers.

  Best Time to Visit: Hearty campers will visit the coast year-round, though June through September has consistently drier weather. If you’re in a camper van, it hardly matters. Rental Westfalias and other vans are available from Road Trip Oregon (541-806-2084; www.roadtriporegon.com).

  Campgrounds: There are several fine state-operated campgrounds on this section of the coast, including Nehalem Bay, Cape Lookout, and Devil’s Lake State Park. Reservations can be made through ReserveAmerica (800-452-5687; www.reserveamerica.com).

  Activities: Hiking, kayaking, crabbing, fishing, clamming, beachcombing, and wildlife viewing.

  Sweden—Abisko

  KING’S TRAIL

  RECOMMENDED BY Eileen Howe

  Life is never especially hectic in the north of Sweden, far above the Arctic Circle. When the valleys and mountains of the region known as Swedish Lapland (or Sápmi) are cloaked in snow, it’s especially still and quiet. Indeed, the sound of your skis sliding along in the tracks of your companions—and of your steady breathing as you engage in this invigorating aerobic activity—may be all you hear as you make your way under brilliant-blue early-spring skies along the fabled Kungsleden, or “King’s Trail.”

  The King’s Trail runs 265 miles north to south, not far from the Norwegian border, beginning in Abisko National Park and terminating near the town of Hemavan. It was not created by or for Swedish royalty, but instead gained its sobriquet from its reputation among aficionados as a “king amongst trails.” Kungsleden is very popular in the summer months as a hiking trail, especially the first 54 miles, which run from Abisko to Kebnekaise Mountain Station. It’s this same stretch that attracts a small group of winter campers each year, from December through mid-April.

  “Though I’m an experienced downhill skier, I had never done any cross-country skiing,” Eileen Howe began. “The way the trip is put together, there’s a day to get practice with the assistance of the guides who accompany you on the trail, so you can get a feeling for the technique. I found that going uphill posed no problem at all; going downhill took a little extra technique. The trail, however, has no significant ascents or descents. And of course, we didn’t have to carry our food and sleeping bags. We had the dog teams for that.” This is a part of the world where dog teams are not a curious novelty but a practical transportation option. For a group of twelve skiers, three sleds, each pulled by a team of ten Siberian Huskies and led by one musher, are used. “The dogs seem extremely intelligent,” Howe continued, “and are very obedient. One command from their musher and they spring into action.”

  Winters are long in Lapland, but by late March, the days are lengthening and clear skies are the norm. This is the time favored for visitors with limited Nordic skiing experience, as there’s more daylight to get from point A to point B. Travelers are not required to pitch a tent in the sub-freezing temperatures. Instead, they find refuge in one of the Arctic huts maintained by the Swedish Tourist Federation. The huts are modest but comfortable wooden structures and include sleeping rooms (with bunk beds), a common room, and a kitchen. Each room is also equipped with a wood-burning stove; a well-stocked woodshed rests outside, as do an outhouse and the living quarters of the stugvard, the hut’s volunteer caretaker. “When we reached each hut, there was a fire going in the stove in the main room,” Howe added. “It was very lovely after being in the cold.” How cold, you might ask? “Comfortable enough to lose a layer when you’re moving along,” Howe replied, “but cold enough that you’d want your down jacket back on when you stopped for lunch, even if hot soup was on the menu.”

  After a day of warm-up in Abisko National Park, you’ll pass through the wooden gateway that marks the beginning of the King’s Trail. The route is clearly marked by slender posts topped with red crosses, positioned every fifty meters; this Scandinavian meticulousness may seem like overkill in April, but in the midst of a mid-winter blizzard, it can mean survival. The nine-mile course on day one is fairly flat and ends with a crossing of a frozen lake; you’ll learn in the course of the trip that frozen rivers and lakes provide the flattest, and hence easiest, gliding! Once you settle into Abiskojaure hut, your group breaks into smaller teams. “Each team has a task,” Howe said. “One team gathers and prepares firewood, one gathers water, one group cooks dinner, and one washes dishes. Getting water involves going to an ice hole in a nearby lake (or river) with a dog team, breaking through the ice, loading the containers, and having the dogs tow it back. It makes you appreciate running water, but it’s part of the whole experience.”

  Your gentle entrée to the King’s Trail gives way to a slightly more challenging course—but as you enter the more mountainous terrain, the visual rewards are commensurate with additional efforts. Entering the Alis Valley on day two, snow peaks begin to dot the landscape. You’ll climb 1,300 feet in the morning, but the bare expanses of Ales Lake appear in the afternoon, providing an easy finale. At the Alesjaure Mountain Hut complex, you’ll find the first of several saunas along the trail. The dry warmth is a well-deserved repast. You’ll have the added satisfaction of stoking the sauna’s fire and fetching the requisite water; making your own sauna, you can feel entitled to stay in as long as you wish! Dinner in the huts emphasizes sustenance over elegance. “The guides arrange what we’re eating each night,” Howe said. “We have a lot of pastas, dried fruit. It’s nothing very elaborate, but hits the spot after a day of exercise.” The evening might end with a finger or two of Swedish vodka around the stove. Though it may be hard to leave the warmth of the stove, be sure to step outside on a clear night. Northern Sweden is renowned for the resplendency of its northern-lights displays. The aurora borealis, flashing in subtle shades of green and red, is most visible in the depths of winter.

  The wilderness of northern Norrbotten is home to an abundance of animal life, including brown bears, moose, wolves, and wolverines. The animals you’re most likely to encounter, however, are the iconic ungulate of the Arctic, the reindeer. In the summer, reindeer feed on grass and leaves; in the winter, they feed on lichens (mostly on fir and spruce trees) and shrubs, but primarily subsist on fat reserves. Most of the reindeer that skiers encounter on the King’s Trail are semidomesticated, herded by the Sámi, the indigenous people of Swedish Lapland. Somewhat ironically, the only intrusion of modernity upon Kungsleden sojourners may be the whine of snow machines, which the Sámi are permitted by special provision to use there to mind their herds.

  The last few days on the King’s Trail settle into an easy routine. The route levels out, and the scenery reaches a dramatic climax as Kebnekaise,
Sweden’s highest peak at 6,945 feet, sweeps into view on the final day. At Kebnekaise Mountain Station, hot showers, plush chairs, and a full bar await. Amongst these creature comforts—and the next morning as a snowmobile speeds you across the surface of Ladtjo Lake to the trailhead at Nikkaluokta—guests may think back to the peace and solitude of Kungsleden. Just the blue of the sky, the white of the snowy hills, and the quiet slide of your skis.

  * * *

  EILEEN HOWE has worked for KE Adventure Travel since 1989 and is now accounts manager, working from the heart of the English Lake District.

  If You Go

  Getting There: The trip described here begins and ends in Kiruna, Sweden, which has regular service from Stockholm via SAS, Scandinavian Airlines (800-221-2350; www.flysas.com).

  Best Time to Visit: Hearty souls travel the King’s Trail throughout the winter, though the longer days of March and early April are best suited for less-seasoned skiers.