Riley Ranch County Park near Hauser is a fun destination any time of year, but you’ll likely have it mostly to yourself during the off season. There have been improvements and additions since the park’s inception. The park is mostly for ATVers, with direct access into the Oregon Dunes for campers and day-use visitors. There are also rental cabins.
Hikers are welcome, although if they’re headed out to the dunes, they have to use the same access road as ATVers. That isn’t a problem this time of year, but it isn’t as much fun in summer when there’s more vehicle traffic. On a recent visit I saw only two dirt bikers.
A highlight is 20-acre Butterfield Lake, a little freshwater gem regularly stocked with trout. Anglers have also caught bass, perch, bluegills and crappie. Anglers can fish from the shoreline, too. Use of the lake is free and so is parking if you use the two small lots above the boat ramp. If you park in the larger lots farther up, a $4 daily fee or seasonal permit is required.
Another nice thing is the apparent absence of the invasive aquatic plant called hydrilla that plagues the bottom of most other Dunes Country lakes.
On a recent visit, I launched my kayak from the boat ramp and headed south along the lakeside. This stretch has a remarkable assortment of cast-up driftwood and weather-twisted branches, although this is the only part of the lake with that phenomenon.
I followed the shoreline west toward an opening under a short railroad trestle. A narrow channel held plenty of water (this time of year) to slip into the west arms of the lake.
Unseen from the rest of the lake, these arms are like wonderful compact fjords, with gigantic waterlogged trees floating in the deep, dark water. Thick stands of wild rhododendrons, huckleberry and salal frame the setting, with tall timber growing through the dense understory, and many ghostly old trees leaning at precarious angles..
Because of all the logs and debris, access in these narrow fjords may be completely or partially blocked. You may be able to bump through but don’t get trapped!
The arm to the north goes about two-tenths of a mile. Here is yet another interesting sight: Partially submerged floating logs serve as miniature nurseries supporting bonsai-sized samples of tiny rhodies, huckleberry and salal, along with mosses and glowing-green lichen.
To the south another quarter-mile stretch of lake was tempting albeit challenging thanks to many floating logs. The views really opened up, with big expanses of sand dunes and Dunes Country lakes sparkling in the sun.
Back in the main body of the lake, I checked out the lake’s eastern arm and its source-stream inlet. Along one section, chipmunks created trails and hideouts in the brush roots clinging to cliffs, and ran alongside chirping nervously.
And so I eventually drifted away . . . and paddled back to the boat ramp, and made an easy landing. Still nobody here! You gotta love the off season.
Getting There
Go north from North Bend on US 101 for 6 miles to the park entrance. Follow signs to the north to the lake. If you’re in a vessel, unload it at water’s edge, then park your vehicle in the lot above.
(Shopper columnist Tom Baake is author of local guidebooks.)
