Cascade-Siskiyou Ntnl Monument

The Cascade-Siskiyou Ntnl Monument has eluded me for years. I’ve driven past it many times, but since it does not have an established visitor’s center or anything of the sort, I chose not to stop in. That has bothered me a lot, since I really do try to get to each of the national parks and monuments within reach. As it turns out, my procrastination meant that I got to visit a national monument that is roughly 50% larger than it was prior to Jan 2017. Our president at the time expanded the size of the monument in his final days in office.

We did not spend much time in the monument – only an afternoon scouting dirt roads, a night, and the following morning scouting a few more roads. There are no significant “features” to see or do like in most other monuments or parks. This monument was set aside specifically to preserve the biodiversity of the plants and animals, not specific features like a large rock or hole in the ground. This did make it hard for me to grasp as a national monument I must admit. There really is not much out here but forest – damn nice forest – along with a few dirt roads that penetrate into said forest a few miles. The only established camping areas are at the northern edge of the monument, barely inside the boundary at all. However, dispersed camping is allowed in the monument, and that is what we planned to do.

The monument land itself is sprinkled with private land so we had to keep a watchful eye on the maps to ensure we stayed on public land. We did find a spot early on, after driving only a few miles on off the asphalt. It was okay, but it was early and we we wanted more… we are so spoiled now. We moved on, exploring other off-asphalt roads of varying conditions. There are always little spots that vans can easily fit, but just a patch of open land isn’t cutting it for us anymore, so we kept looking. Now it was getting late in the evening, and I start getting grumpy if we aren’t settled into camp well before dinner time. We had one final road to explore. Another van already occupied the first spot we saw. Another half-mile up that road was a spur-road which dead ended only a few hundred feet later into a downed tree. It was pretty, and secluded, and fit the bill for an overnight stay. So we did.

The following morning we did spend a little time exploring more dirt roads, but our heart just wasn’t in it. We decided instead to get some miles traveled and find a spot in a new part of Oregon.