While we didn't spend as much time as we wanted in this region, we saw a few excellent spots worth visiting or making a pit stop at!
This was the first night of our South-Eastern Oregon road trip. I am 1000% convinced that early/mid October is the BEST time to visit this area. While it was pretty cold at night, it was just perfect during the day - high 60s & low 70s and sunny.
We got a later start on our journey than we wanted, but had plenty of time to visit the sites we planned for our first day of the trip.
Aside from getting gas, our desperately needed bathroom stop was at Booth State Scenic Corridor. This small park has a vault toilet, picnic tables, and is open 24 hours (thank goodness), but make sure to bring your own flashlight if you're there after dark, there are no lights.
Callie's State Park Tracker #145
We then made our way to Goose Lake State Recreation Area, our first evening's stop on the road trip. This park has a very well-kept FCFS tent + RV campground, huge day use area, short walking trail, and a very small off-leash area to explore. There's no actual access to Goose Lake, which is dry most of the year, it typically only holds water in the springtime. Our campsite was spacious, the grass was green, and we had plenty of space to put out the tent, and enjoy our morning walk through the park!
Callie's State Park Tracker #146
We got some breakfast in Lakeview, and took it to Chandler State Wayside to enjoy. Well, somewhat enjoy - the cafe microwaved my bagel so the sandwich was NOT great, but Callie enjoyed her breakfast among the trees. This tiny stop along highway 97 is set off the main road in the trees next to Crooked Creek. It has a few picnic tables, flush restrooms, no leash restrictions, and you can fish for trout there if you're so inclined!
Callie's State Park Tracker #147
The Lake Abert Watchable Wildlife Area & Abert Rim Viewpoints were an absolutely gorgeous surprise. This is one of only 3 hypersaline lakes in the US, and the only one in Oregon. Tons of brine shrimp live in the lake, attracting tons of bird species along their migratory route. This area is so beautiful, I pulled over multiple times and took tons of photos. Most were on the side of the road so not the best for dogs, but it was a great way to break up the drive.
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