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Along the highway between Roseburg, Oregon, and Diamond Lake, a number of areas in the Umpqua National Forest provide easy access to viewpoints of spectacular waterfalls. A part of our annual trip to Oregon is a visit with a friend who lives in Roseburg. After a week of strenuous outdoor activities we decided that we could allow ourselves one day that would involve more time driving instead of hiking to view this scenic part of southern Oregon.

We met our friends at the Toketee Ranger Station for a picnic lunch. We then drove the short distance to Toketee Falls and walked the half-mile trail to the viewpoint. A dive into the pool at the base of the falls would have been refreshing, but we couldn’t find a way to get close to the rocks at the edge of the falls.

The trail to Watson Falls approached the bottom of the falls so at this waterfall we could get close enough to feel the refreshing spray from the falls. Many ferns and lush vegetation take advantage of the shade and moisture here, which added to our enjoyment of this beautiful spot.

Two days of our visit to Oregon were spent on a family camping trip in northern California near Mount Shasta, the towering mountain peak at the southern end of the Cascade Range. We camped at a resort on Lake Siskiyou, which is a reservoir formed by Box Canyon Dam on the Sacramento River.

The resort had enough beach activities to entertain the 4 teenage girls we had with us. The surrounding forests and mountains kept the adults entertained with hiking and biking activities.

The first day was a strenuous bike ride on Castle Lake Road, a 7-mile straight up climb from the 3200-foot elevation of Lake Siskiyou to the 5200-foot elevation of Castle Lake. That’s a bit more hill climbing than I’m used to doing on a bike, but with encouragement from my super athlete daughter, I made it to the top. Castle Lake is a small alpine lake, quite scenic and a nice reward for the uphill pedal.

The second day we wanted to check out the 7.5-mile trail that goes all the way around Lake Siskiyou. Lee and I plodded along on foot and finished in time to be back at the car for lunch and checkout time at the campground. Meanwhile, Ruth zipped around twice on her mountain bike, meeting up with us on the trail to give a report of the sights ahead before heading back to camp and helping the girls finish the packing. Everyone made it safely back to Medford in the early afternoon, agreeing that Lake Siskiyou camping was a positive experience that we can look forward to doing again on a future visit to Oregon.