Myrtle Creek and Cave Junction,OR

We spent a pleasant two nights in Myrtle Creek, OR allowing us to visit Chantal and James one last time in 2016. Millsite RV Park is a nice little city run RV park with easy access to interstate 5, and at $20/night for full hookups quite a bargain.

Fall colors at Millsite Park.

Clean and simple, Millsite Park is a nice place for a short stay.

An easy 86 mile drive got us to Mountain Man RV Park in Cave Junction, OR. Right off highway 199, Mountain Man has a pretty green setting on the Illinois River, full hookups with gravel roads and sites. Considering it was raining lightly during much of our two night stay, the highway noise was not an issue because we were usually inside the RV.

Kerby, OR is a small town just a few miles north of Cave Junction and is home to the unique It's a Burl Gallery. The large property is chock full of treehouses, galleries of burl furniture and carvings, and burls ready for transformation. Definitely worth a stop if passing through this area.

Hans looks down from one of several tree houses.

The main reason for our two night stay in Cave Junction was to visit Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve. Discovered in 1874 by a hunter looking for his dog, the cave is about 250 million years old and is predominantly composed of marble.

We took the basic tour ($10 each) which took us through about half a mile of the cave and up and down 500 stairs. Though this was not the most interesting cave we've toured over the years, it was an enjoyable experience.

The drive to the Monument is long and winding into the heart of the Siskyiou Mountains and the grounds of the Preserve are stunning. We really enjoyed hiking a couple of the shorter trails and visiting the Chateau built in 1924. It would be fun to spend a couple of nights in the historic Chateau and hike some of the longer trails.

Hans stands next to a wall of the marble that makes up this cave.

The Chateau has 23 rooms and a coffee shop and restaurant as well as a comfortable lobby with big picture windows overlooking the forest.

The walls of the Chateau are covered in bark.

The CCC created beautiful stone walls and ponds during the 1930's.

The No Name Trail took us into the dripping forest and along a couple of streams.

Hans stops to enjoy the view on one of several lovely stone benches built by the CCC.

Many of the trees were covered in thick mosses.

Short spur trails brought us to lovely sights.

Enduring CCC charm along the trail.

Cave Junction turned out to be a wonderful little stop, despite the on and off rain for two days. It is fall after all and the rainy season has begun. We're off to the coast today, looking forward to beaches and redwoods for a change of scenery!