Lava Beds National Monument

[keithu]

I got up early Saturday and rode down to the Lava Beds National Monument in California, just south of the Oregon border near Klamath Falls. I took the direct route: I-5 to Eugene, OR-58 over the Cascades, US-97 to Klamath Falls. The Willamette Valley was overcast, but the morning sky in the Cascades was lovely. 

I stopped in Merrill for a quick lunch at the Polar Bear drive-in. They claim to have the "Best burger in Merrill," which might be a low bar since it is probably also the only burger in Merrill. The blueberry shake was delicious.

The Lava Beds feature a network of lava tube caves that can be explored; some are relatively easy with nice cleared trails and plenty of head room, while others require crawling and duck walking to get through tight spaces. I even got semi-lost in one cave for a few minutes until I realized the cave was just a gigantic figure-eight. I was glad I brought my hard hat from work; I hit it pretty hard five or six times.

After caving for a few hours I retired to camp for some reading and a simple, hearty dinner. 

 

I awoke next morning with the sun and questioned whether I might be getting too old to sleep on a Thermarest pad. Maybe. Or maybe I just need to cut down on the gigantic sandwiches for dinner. I broke camp and decided to take a route home on some new roads as well as old favorites. 

I tore across the very top of California on CA-161, then went up through Keno and onto Clover Creek Road, Dead Indian Road, Butte Falls Road, and Crowfoot Road to OR-62. These were new roads to me, and although they were basically pleasant they were also the kind of mostly-straight tree-tunnel roads that seem to be pretty common in the southern Oregon Cascades. Crowfoot Road has some proper twisties, though, in places reminded me of California's Gold Country. 

I ended the interesting part of the trip with a run up OR-227, one of my absolute favorite roads in the whole state. Almost immediately I encountered a Gen 1 Ford GT, probably the first one I've ever seen in the wild. Usually when you encounter someone driving a $300,000 car they putter along at or below the speed limit, and this was no exception. I enjoyed the exhaust note, but when he waved me past I happily obliged. 

Further up OR-227, after it gets interesting, I stopped to take this photo:

 

As I was stowing the camera I heard a rumble coming up the road behind me, and assumed it was the old Chevy Blazer I'd passed a few miles back. I gassed it hard because I did not want to be stuck behind a 40 year old SUV on OR-227's glorious, perfectly-paved curves. But within a hundred yards I could see that it was actually the Ford GT coming up behind me. I wicked up the pace, but after a mile or two it became obvious that I was slowing him down. He wasn't riding my ass or being a dick about it, but I could tell. I pulled over at the next opportunity and the supercharged Ford V-8 roared past. I did my best to give chase, but the driver was clearly an expert and within two miles he was gone. I continued on at my own pace and enjoyed this heavenly road. In Otis I saw the GT heading back the other way for another attack; he flashed his headlights and we exchanged a wave. It was a genuine pleasure to see someone driving an exotic performance car the way it was truly meant to be driven. 

I hit I-5 at Canyonville and considered taking some other backroads up into the Willamette Valley, but the sky turned ugly and soon it started to pour liquid sadness. I set the cruise and motored up the Interstate to home. 

[betoney]

23 minutes ago, keithu said:

I ended the interesting part of the trip with a run up OR-227, one of my absolute favorite roads in the whole state.

On my way back from California a few weeks ago, OR-227 was one of the 'new roads' I tried for the first time.  I loved the scenery but unfortunately I didn't enjoy it as a storm front moved in, the skies were dark and I rode it in high winds and rain.  I definitely need to try it again on a warm, sunny day.

[knyte]

Sweet ride, what a cool experience.  Glad to hear someone is driving a GT as it was designed.

[keithu]

48 minutes ago, betoney said:

On my way back from California a few weeks ago, OR-227 was one of the 'new roads' I tried for the first time.  I loved the scenery but unfortunately I didn't enjoy it as a storm front moved in, the skies were dark and I rode it in high winds and rain.  I definitely need to try it again on a warm, sunny day.

What a bummer. It's such a perfect road in terms of scenery, curves, surface quality, and traffic.

[koth442]

That's a great story Keith! What an experience, both the lava tubes and the Ford GT.

[dazzler24]

9 hours ago, keithu said:

After caving for a few hours I retired to camp for some reading and a simple, hearty dinner. 

 

"A simple hearty dinner.."  A bottle of Jack and a burger/sandwich - Ha! Love it!  A couple of the staples in life. 😂

Nice write up BTW.  Interesting countryside.  Thanks.

[JeffersonRider]

10 hours ago, keithu said:

I tore across the very top of California on CA-161, then went up through Keno and onto Clover Creek Road, Dead Indian Road, Butte Falls Road, and Crowfoot Road to OR-62. These were new roads to me, and although they were basically pleasant they were also the kind of mostly-straight tree-tunnel roads that seem to be pretty common in the southern Oregon Cascades. Crowfoot Road has some proper twisties, though, in places reminded me of California's Gold Country.

What an awesome time and great write-up! I live in Keno off of Clover Creek Rd. Weird to see my tiny part of the country here.. If you're ever back through this way take Dead Indian or Hwy 66 from Ashland towards Keno. I make a big loop sometimes riding to Ashland on one and back the other. Those are the twisties that will leave a smile on your face, you won't regret it. Looks like a great time, and yes, the Polar Bear does have the best burger in all of Merrill. 😉 😀

[Clem Fandango]

242 is scheduled to open on the 21st.  I'm planning to ride it the next weekend.

[Kevin R]

11 hours ago, keithu said:

The Lava Beds feature a network of lava tube caves that can be explored; some are relatively easy with nice cleared trails and plenty of head room, while others require crawling and duck walking to get through tight spaces. I even got semi-lost in one cave for a few minutes until I realized the cave was just a gigantic figure-eight. I was glad I brought my hard hat from work; I hit it pretty hard five or six times.

Yes! Lava Tubes is a really interesting place. I recall there are more than a 100 tubes there crisscrossing the area, some running beneath others. I stumbled onto it years ago while on a vacation/college tour with one of my kids. I'd decided to take a lap of Mt Shasta and - there it was. We lived in SoCal at the time and were looking at schools in northern Cali. I love the remoteness of the place.

P.S. Sounds like another great ride, too, with the added benefit of seeing the exotic driven the way it's meant to. Sweet!

[Kevin R]

53 minutes ago, JeffersonRider said:

What an awesome time and great write-up! I live in Keno off of Clover Creek Rd. Weird to see my tiny part of the country here.. If you're ever back through this way take Dead Indian or Hwy 66 from Ashland towards Keno. I make a big loop sometimes riding to Ashland on one and back the other. Those are the twisties that will leave a smile on your face, you won't regret it. Looks like a great time, and yes, the Polar Bear does have the best burger in all of Merrill. 😉 😀

Those are great roads - I think! I was through there some years ago enroute to Klamath Falls in a cage (S2000). Unfortunately, it was very late at night and we were really tired after a long day of other twisty roads and road work detours. We'd planned to cut across on 66 but about 10mi outside of Ashland the road was closed (not again!) and we were detoured onto some other twisty road that I don't recall the name of. It was very dark and empty but pretty nice in the S2000. However, given it was the middle of the night I was concerned about hitting deer. One of the most interesting features of that drive was after a bit, as we were climbing up some mountainside, we came across more orange construction signs. Only they didn't say "construction ahead", they said "accident ahead". Hmmm, I thought to myself, "do they have permanent accidents in Oregon?" A mile later we found out. Evidently a fully loaded moving truck, you know, the giant Van Lines 18-wheelers that can move an entire household's worth of stuff, had blown a corner and it looked like a yard sale up there in the middle of nowhere. It likely had happened much earlier in the day or maybe the day before and looked like a multi-day cleanup. There was nobody around at midnight, no lights, nothing. Very eerie. Just household stuff strewn across the side of the road and a crumpled trailer that looked like it had been opened like a tin can leaving the leftover remains of a very messy crash. Hence the "permanent" accident signs.

This was only the beginning of a very "interesting" mini-vacation when we went up to OR to check out the solar eclipse back in 2017.

[keithu]

4 hours ago, JeffersonRider said:

What an awesome time and great write-up! I live in Keno off of Clover Creek Rd. Weird to see my tiny part of the country here.. If you're ever back through this way take Dead Indian or Hwy 66 from Ashland towards Keno. I make a big loop sometimes riding to Ashland on one and back the other. Those are the twisties that will leave a smile on your face, you won't regret it. Looks like a great time, and yes, the Polar Bear does have the best burger in all of Merrill. 😉 😀

I definitely want to explore the area more. I noticed there's another paved road paralleling Clover Creek Road called Keno Access Road. I have ridden OR-66 before, but most of the other roads around there were new to me. 

[keithu]

3 hours ago, Kevin R said:

Yes! Lava Tubes is a really interesting place. I recall there are more than a 100 tubes there crisscrossing the area, some running beneath others. I stumbled onto it years ago while on a vacation/college tour with one of my kids. I'd decided to take a lap of Mt Shasta and - there it was. We lived in SoCal at the time and were looking at schools in northern Cali. I love the remoteness of the place.

Yeah it's pretty far from anything. My Dad lives in Reno, so we've visited a number of times over the years while traveling between Reno and Albany. This was my first visit in about 15 years, however. I think they must have rebuilt the visitor's center because it didn't look familiar. 

[JeffersonRider]

5 minutes ago, keithu said:

I definitely want to explore the area more. I noticed there's another paved road paralleling Clover Creek Road called Keno Access Road. I have ridden OR-66 before, but most of the other roads around there were new to me. 

Yes Keno Access is in the middle of Clover Creek and Hwy 66 (connects 66 at Topsy Reservoir to Dead Indian by Hyatt and Howard Prairie or can even go back and reconnect with 66 near the summit). It is paved and in decent shape but a logging road (lane and a half, no markings/lines). A few other similar paved access roads cross and connect up there too like Spencer Creek Rd. Pretty cool area and lots of history with the Applegate Trail and old logging communities..

[2linby]

Love the Lava Tubes!  But Damn! you'd better rent the damn hard hats! Ouch! 

[craz1]

Great write up. Maybe it was the camera angle but that sandwich looks huge and the bottle looks so small.