: A view of Green Peter Lake.

A Getaway to Green Peter Lake

June 12, 2011 (Updated January 31, 2012)

Oregon offers so many reasons to go on the road where the asphalt unwinds the state’s scenic secrets. As the Memorial Day Holiday approaches, so does the time to travel into the Cascade Mountain foothills on a getaway that offers a camping, fishing and a backcountry byway at Green Peter Lake.

The great pleasure about travel from this place to that are the unexpected surprises you find along the way. In the broad shouldered Willamette Valley, try the splendors of spring from a unique point of view under the covered bridges of Linn County.

It is a county that cries out for closer inspection and soon you will discover a bit of unhurried heaven on earth at Green Peter Lake where boating and camping adventures are easy to find. At 3700-acres, Green Peter Lake is home to boating, swimming, water-skiing and especially fishing.

The nearby Whitcomb Creek County Park is perfectly suited to anglers seeking a multi-day stay. It sports two boat ramps near a campground that offers 39 roomy sites for tent or trailer. While the sites do not offer water or electrical hook-ups, they do provide plenty of elbow room to stretch out in a pleasant wooded setting.

The roadway calls you back on western approach into the Cascades where doug fir and western hemlock trees flank a route called the Quartzville Backcountry Byway. The Quartzville Byway meanders past Green Peter Lake along the clear, cool waters of the Quartzville Creek; designated a National Wild and Scenic River.

It’s an amazing corridor of old growth forest, accented by rocky outcroppings and wildflowers. Some of the giant trees are 450 years old and tower more than 200 feet tall.

All together, the scenery, the fishing and the locale – so close to the Willamette Valley – provide a fabulous getaway that’s close to home. Once visited, you’ll return real soon.

About The
Author

Grant McOmie
Grant McOmie is a Pacific Northwest broadcast journalist, teacher and author who writes and produces stories and special programs about the people, places, outdoor activities and environmental issues of the Pacific Northwest. A fifth generation Oregon native, Grant’s roots run deepest in the central Oregon region near Prineville and Redmond where his family continues to live.

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