Weekend Away in Bend area

My husband and I went on a weekend camping trip to The Cove Palisades State Park in central Oregon. This state park is about two and a half hours south of Portland Oregon. We camped for two nights at the Cove. The drive in is really pretty once you turn off the main road and head into the Cove area, you wander down a into the gorge and cross a bridge before heading up on the other side to where the campsites are. We arrived on a Friday night and stayed in the upper B loop. It was a perfect site to stay at, the ground was really soft lose dirt/sand and wasn't too crowded in the upper loop. Lower down by the restrooms and playground it was much more crowded so keep that in mind when you are looking to book a site.

Day One

We arrived at the campsite in the late afternoon and got everything all setup. There was a burn ban so we were not able to have a fire but still could use our propane stove. After a bit of walking around the campground we made some dinner and then just relaxed.

Day Two

We woke and made breakfast at the campsite. Then we made our way into Bend to spend the day. After walking around downtown Bend we stopped by Worthy Brewing for some lunch and an afternoon beer. Next we took a little stroll up Pilot Butte Trail to the scenic viewpoint for some views above the town. This was a short 2 mile round trip hike.

After a full day in town and a little hike we made our way back to the Cove to relax and make dinner. The views on the way back to the campsite were really pretty in the Cove, the sun was shinning and making the water color very vibrant.

Day Three

After we ate breakfast and packed up the camping site we headed to Smith Rock State Park to do a bit of hiking before heading back up to Portland. The bridge at Smith Rock was under construction so if you wanted to hike up Smith Rock you needed to wade the river. The best spots to get across the river are at the horse trails which are in each direction of the bridge. We chose to go right and walked until we found what looked like the horse trail. A few other people were getting ready to cross so we watched them cross first to see what we were getting ourselves into. The current wasn't too fast and the water only got up to my knees so it wasn't too bad to wade across. A fun little bit of an adrenaline rush to kick off the hike. My husband took off his shoes and I crossed while wearing mine, it was much harder without shoes since the rocks were a bit slippery.

Once on the other side we walked back to where the bridge was and headed up Smith Rock to the Misery Ridge Trail hike. This is a 3 mile round trip hike up to the top of Smith Rock, which lives up to its name. At the top we took a few photos, had a snack break, and wandered around before heading back down.

Once back to the horse trail we waded across the river again to make our way back to the car and start the journey home.