Its actually two different byways. The first byway goes from Reedsport to Roseburg, and we drove alongside the Umpqua River, seeing beautiful sights.
And a herd of Roosevelt elk.
The scenery was so unexpected on this last part of our drive for the night, a drive I was dreading after our dune buggy.
The second byway, the Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway, starts in Roseburg and takes you out almost to Crater Lake.
Wow.
What a drive.
I've been on some beautiful roads before, but this might be the most beautiful of all.
We were just amazed.
The wildflowers were incredible - these stunningly vibrant pinks and purples, and it just got better and better with every turn. None of my wildflower pictures came out well since I took them out of a moving car window (Carl was anxious to get to Crater Lake).
You can also sorta see the wildflowers here.
And some here.
This river may have been my favorite section of the drive.
It was so... GREEN.
We loved this bridge (Tioga Bridge) we spotted, and decided we just had to pull over and check it out.
It was very cool, and even the boys were intrigued.
(They weren't quite as into the drive's beauty as the adults.)
Its apparently known as the "Road of Waterfalls," which doesn't surprise me. We must have passed signs for at least five different waterfalls. We didn't stop at them, though, which is sad, but we were all anxious to reach Crater Lake. If I had this trip to plan over again, I would have made sure I had lodging in Crater Lake for the night (we couldn't get a room) and spent more time on the drive to get there. Possibly even try whitewater rafting like we saw others doing.
A lot of people tried to talk me out of going to Crater Lake, claiming it was too far inland and too far out of our way and not worth the effort to get there. A few even sited the slow, difficult, winding roads you have to take to get there. I've rarely been so relieved I trusted my gut and ignored them, and found a way to work Crater Lake into our trip. It would have been a huge loss to have missed this drive.
Oh ... remember our bridge? We couldn't believe it when we ate dinner at one point during the trip and the ketchup bottle Ryan was brought had this label. Too cool!
More about this Trip:
- Summer Vacation 2014: the Pacific Northwest
- Heading North to Willow Creek
- Redwood National and State Parks, California
- Southern Oregon's 101 Beaches
- The Beautiful Rogue River
- Riding the Oregon Dunes
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