COOL OFF IN THE CASCADES

Head to a tidy horse camp in Oregon’s Cascade Mountain Range for cool summer rides among mysterious lava outcroppings and hidden springs.

- KENT AND CHARLENE KRONE

It was hot at our Montana home, a stifling summer heat. We wanted to take our horses, Jake and Cody, and ride somewhere with cool, shaded trails. We wanted a camping area with corrals, water for the horses, horse water, and, if we were lucky, electricity and showers!

Thirty miles west of Bend, Oregon, at an elevation of 5,100 feet, Quinn Meadow Horse Camp fit the bill. This camp is located between Devils Lake and Elk Lake in Deschutes National Forest, which spans 1.8 million acres just east of the Cascade Mountain Range. Surrounded by fragrant pine trees and the gorgeous South Sister Mountain towering nearby, this clean, picturesque camp met most of our wish list. There was no electricity and no shower house, but the primitive outhouse was extremely clean.

CAMP LIFE

Quinn Meadow offers 26 sites with either two or four corrals; however, not all sites are created equal when it comes to accommodating a living-quarters trailer. At 28 feet on the box, our trailer isn’t particularly long, but backing into a narrow entrance while trying to avoid trees and shrubs can be challenging. Some sites are easier to get into than others.

For tips on gett ing a living-quarters trailer into some of the campsites, find the Quinn Meadow group page on Facebook. There, you’ll find pictures of the campsites, plus information from the 118 members. To reserve your spot online, visit recreation.gov. Go to Camping & Lodging, then type “Quinn Meadow Horse Camp” in the search box.

Each campsite has a picnic table and fire ring. There’s also a water pump in camp with some of the tastiest water ever. However, the hand pump has no threads, so water must be bucketed. This isn’t easy, especially if you’re camped some distance from the pump.