Travels With Keith - Fall Colors in the Willamette Valley

Keith

On a sunny, beautiful Fall day this week, Guy suggested we take a short road trip to have a look at the Fall colors.  After I reminded Guy to grab his camera, I hopped into the car and off we went, north on highway 99 to Sarah Helmick State Recreation Area, which is about 15 miles north of Corvallis, just west of highway 99.  Watch for the State Park sign.

Willamette River in
Independence

Luckiamute River at Helmick Park

Keith - Amphitheater in Independence



Helmick Park

This is the second park we’ve visited that is along the Luckiamute River (the other one was Luckiamute Landing).  There are paved, level trails throughout the park, as well as paths that meander just above the river.  There are a lot of large maple trees that provide a lot of shade if you come here on a warm summer day. 

There are two large picnic areas (electricity, water, restrooms provided) that can be reserved for groups of up to 150.  There are also a bunch of other picnic tables scattered throughout the park. 

This is a beautiful little park, easy to walk around and usually not crowded.   There is a fee if you reserve one of the large picnic areas.  Apart from that, this is a day use park with no fees.

Here is a link for more information:



http://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=98

After we left Helmick State Recreation Area, we meandered up to Independence, a quaint small town on the Willamette River.  We wandered up and down the streets and Guy took some more photos, including one of me in the amphitheater area of the downtown park.