Heading out after work on Friday the plan was to go to McArthur-Burney Falls SP. We have wanted to visit Ajumawi Lava Springs SP, established in 1975, since reading about it and it’s close by. We called inquiring about sites at Burney and were told no problem as the park was already off the reservation system. We arrived around 6:30 and got the last of three sites, #61, as they had already closed down the other loop. I don’t understand why in September more areas aren’t open, especially with hunting season and continuing excellent weather.
Driveway goodbyes!
Birthday boy with his favorite toys!
The evening weather was perfect, with clear skies and temps in the low 80’s. Enjoyed a dinner of salmon, green salad and macaroni salad. It was a relatively quiet night considering how full the campground was, close to 62 sites full. After watching the first episode of Ozark we hit the sheets.
Awesome cards and morning!
It was amazing to wake up at 8:45 – don’t think we have done that in decades! After a leisure;y breakfast of fruit, yogurt, granola and birthday card openings we headed to McArthur to put in our kayak. We had a bit of a detour when we didn’t read the directions correctly, although it was a gorgeous drive. When we got to the boat launch for Ajumawi Lava Springs SP the wind had picked up, but so had the air temps, and our determination to visit this boat-in only park. We packed lunch and explored the water body on the way to the park. It was a head wind at times, but still warm. Arriving at the small boat dock at Horr Pond Campground we tied up the kayak, walked up the trail, chatted with a kayak camper and found an empty campsite to lunch in. The forest of juniper trees are quite impressive as is the smell.
We arrived a bit late to kayak, although 1:00 didn’t seem to late- the wind was early.
A bit choppy but not our determination! Only saw one other boater.
Horr Pond dock and entrance to the campground.
Someday we will camp here – love the views.
Since the park and it’s 6000 acres are only accessible by boat the area is quite quiet and unpopulated. There are hikes to take but we left that for another time. It’s not an island, just remote and surrounded by BLM and USFS lands. Lunch and a beer were perfect and kayaking back was a breeze with the wind at our back. We topped off the day with a campfire and a great meal!
It still is a bit odd to have a campfire when fire season has been the worst.
Sunday morning and we causally had breakfast enjoying the campground sun. Went for a hike up to the falls and around the trail, asked to stay in our site until later but were told no, so we packed up and took the trailer down to Lake Britton which is a PGE Lake within Burney Falls SP. After having lunch we pumped up the kayak and paddled around the mouth area of Burney Creek going up as far as we could. We also paddled over to the day use area and thought about going up to the dam, but left it for next time.
These falls always amaze us with the way they permeate the rocks and face of the cliff.
Fall campground vibes are always inviting.
Leaving around 4:00 pm we dumped our tanks on the way out and enjoyed the drive. The weekend was fabulous and we were home by 6:30. Time to plan another trip!
