Ideas on camping spots? Picking up my 2015 wolf creek in May

[anutami]

Looks like I will be getting the first run of 2015 wolf creek 850's and pretty pumped on picking it up in early may. I am getting it fully loaded. I am told the pricing is going up for all 2015 models and all slots for the run in may are already sold out! The Wolf creek line and arctic fox line are doing quite well. I will be driving from san diego to apache camping center in Portland to pick it up. We plan on camping and hanging out in the area for awhile and am curious if anyone has any recommendations for remote camping spots. We are wanting to explore the coast and forests and we have never been to Oregon and Washington. We are planning on approx 2 weeks. Thanks for any suggestions 🙂

[Mello_Mike]

Congrats, Nolan. I know you've been waiting a long time for this day to come. As for places to go, I'd stay along the coast. The Olympic Peninsula, Redwood Country, and the Big Sur are all places I'd go and visit. Oh yeah, there's this place called Anza Borego or something like that in So. California that might be worth visiting. 🙂

[joeshmoe]

I felt the same initially about the Fox landing. Opted out of it. That's a lot of scratch just to have the swing step off to the side and a little bit closer to the ground. Good Idea.
Overpriced IMO. I was talking to the wife about it today. Even she agrees, too much money for the pay off. It does seem to be a little more convenient, but our bodies aren't that old--yet. I'd actually like see if can get something tastefully made that would accomplish the same objective. Whether that can be done for less, I don't know. It does sometimes get old climbing up and down that dang bumper.

On a related note, I moved my step over to the right, slightly out of the path of the door opening. It took a half a dozen times for the wind to come up, catch the door and smack me in the head. I've since learned to hold onto the door latch not let go. But things still happen. At least now, with the step off (and me) to the side, there's less chance of getting Mike Tyson'd

As for picking up your camper, I know the feeling. I'm excited for you guys too.

[campingken]

If you do decide to tour the Olympic Peninsula in WA I would suggest that you camp at Salt Creek (just outside of Joyce).

[Butch50]

If you do any towing at all you will wish you had the Fox Landing. I have a Northern Lite and I designed mounts for my camper so I could add the Fox Landing to it. I love it and it works great.

Congrats on the new camper, glad to see you get a new one after your last WC got destroyed. I'm sure you will enjoy it.

[anutami]

Thanks all for your feedback. It is much appreciated. Looks like my 2015 wolf creek 850 was finished last week and arrived at apache camping center today. I have an 8am appointment on Friday to pick it up! Can't wait. Getting my f350 ready today and tomorrow. We plan on driving from San Diego to Redding on Wed, and redding to Portland on Thursday. Apache camping center will be installing the new torklift talon tie downs with fastgun turnbuckles and since they forgot to add the 8k btu polar cub they are doing that at their location as well. I lost my trojan group 27 agm batteries in my rollover incident so Apache is installing interstae group 27's. I pretty much got all the standard options, but some of the odd ball options I ordered are thermal pane windows, an oven, the bumper without the fox landing and chose not to get the extra wardrobe in the cabover. I like having a nightstand. I am going to check out the fox landing and see about adding it when we get up there. It seems a bit bulky on the back of the rig, and not sure it is worth the $800 price tag.

Still not sure where we are camping on Friday night. Apache gives 2 nights free camping to Timberlake camground. So we might be just staying here, but we are normally the type to avoid rv parks and try to get away as far as we can. I will post some pics when we get er loaded. I have been about 6 months without a truck camper after having one for the past 8-9 years (all of them used) and this is my first brand new rig! I guess I am a bit excited.

[jefe_4x4]

Anu,
May is a great time to visit the Oregon State Beach campgrounds. Kids are in school. Just a lot of empty nesters on a cruise.
May is not a good time to visit higher elevation mountain campgrounds in Oregon.
We spent the first week of June plying the OR. state campgrounds and could easily find coastal camp spots without reservation if you arrive early enough. That all depends. Do spend the time on their reservation system to see how many sites are available, but I still don't think you will need reservations. It may be cool (not cold), windy and rainy occasionally in May, but there will not be a crush of folks trying to get YOUR camp spot.
Jeanie and I just finished going through the system for reservations for July 5 thru 11 along the OR coast State Campgrounds, and there are to date very few sites left from which to choose. It's the only time our kids and G-kids can do a family trip, so I guess we swim upstream with the masses. We reserved two adjoining sites for our XTC and the kids' rental class C.
The only exception is campgrounds that are just away from the coast, in the foothills of the coastal mountains, preferably BLM types up a dirt road so you can try out all those features you ordered in quietude. There should be very little pressure on these sites, and you may even have the place to yourselves.
I'm feeling your excitement, and concur with your idea to stay close to the factory whilst trying every feature to the max; just in case, you know, just in case something goes south prematurely, doesn't work, or leaks.
One thing is for sure.
For you and yours, in a short window of your lives, every day will be brand new.
regards, as always, jefe

[bighatnohorse]

anutami wrote:
Looks like I will be getting the first run of 2015 wolf creek 850's and pretty pumped on picking it up in early may. I am getting it fully loaded. I am told the pricing is going up for all 2015 models and all slots for the run in may are already sold out! The Wolf creek line and arctic fox line are doing quite well. I will be driving from san diego to apache camping center in Portland to pick it up. We plan on camping and hanging out in the area for awhile and am curious if anyone has any recommendations for remote camping spots. We are wanting to explore the coast and forests and we have never been to Oregon and Washington. We are planning on approx 2 weeks. Thanks for any suggestions 🙂

Focus on the Oregon coast while you're there.
Start the coast route at Fort Stevens State Park and go south on Hwy 101 - this is, in my opinion, equal or better than the California Hwy 1 route.
Follow 101 south to Crescent City, California and visit the Redwood National Park.

I'm guessing that if you drive hard to/from San Diego to Portland, you'll lose four days just doing windshield time.
Then you spend one day getting the camper and situating yourself that evening.
That leaves you nine days to enjoy 363 miles of the nations best coast line.

[jerry101jlh]

If you like flowers, the formal gardens at Shore Acres/Sunset Bay should not be missed. Accessible from Coos Bay. The gardens are part of what used to be a lumber barons estate. The main house burned many years ago and the State takes care of it now. It's a beautiful area, high on a bluff overlooking the ocean, site of the now gone house. I don't remember any camping at Shore Acres, but Sunset Bay was nice, right on a sheltered bay. When I lived in Oregon this was one of my favorite spots.

http://www.oregon.com/south_coast_cities/charleston

[profdant139]

The best remote beach camping I have found is actually in California, at Mattole Beach, a BLM facility south of Eureka. Kind of hard to get to, but beautiful -- the campground is on the left side of the shot, hidden behind a sand dune:



Bring lots of warm clothing -- it is windy and cold.

[cinca]

A newsletter I received today had these two links.

The Seven Wonders Of Oregon

Oregon Roadtrippers

Using the Roadtrippers link, this screen shot shows info icons when I checked campsites and scenic routes with La Grande, OR, circled.



I can see how you might be in an information overload fog!

[_DJ_1]

I'd check out the Trip Reports on that area.

[Mello_Mike]

Nolan,
Since you're going to be up there, the Olympic Peninsula Loop is a must. Mt. St. Helens and the area around Mt. Hood are terrific, too. The drive along the Columbia River gorge is also pretty breathtaking.

[jimh406]

Keep in mind that some major roads are closed until June and many backroads can be closed as well. You could take in some fishing areas and hike into some lakes as well. Check out fishing sites for those locations.

[Jfet]

If you have dirt bikes I love eastern WA in early May. There are so many open forestry roads and single track. The Mad River area north of Entiat has a ton of free camping as does the Blewett Pass area. The weather over there in May is usually about 80 and sunny where Seattle might be 65 and rain.

On the coast we like the Grays Harbor/Long Beach area, but I am not sure if there are many free campsites. You can drive on the beach there but pretty sure you can't overnight on the beach.