Summer Bucket List ~ Enchanted Forest

Adventures two days in a row!

We hadn’t been to Enchanted Forest for eight years! This little gem (you are either in the love it camp or the hate it camp) is just over 15 minutes from our house.

It was homeschool day, so we enjoyed half-price admission. We arrived early, were the first in the park, and practically had the place to ourselves for a while. It got busier in the afternoon, but was still fairly empty. The weather was in the 70s. Perfection again.

You can learn about the family that built this park by hand in the late 60s (it’s a fascinating story). It opened in 1971, a few years before I was born. I visited it several times as a kid and have fond memories. Visiting as an adult is incredibly nostalgic. Our kids (Holly and Ivy joined us) had an absolute blast. Only Luke was ready to leave after more than four hours of play.

The theme park is built into a forested hill, so many of the pathways are rather steep. My legs were tired at the end, even with all our previous hiking.

Even with all the real foliage, the park is kept neat and clean. There is great attention to detail (the notice boards and various signage are hilarious, the garbage cans are either themed or cleverly hidden). Yes, some of the displays are obviously vintage which means they are kitschy or aged (and fighting against moisture and other natural elements). Roll with it. [grin] In general, the park is well-maintained, however, and we were surprised at how perfectly aged some things appeared (moss and ivy on everything, but trimmed and structurally sound).

Here is a map for reference.

Let’s begin in Storybook Lane with Snow White’s Castle.

It’s difficult to take pictures inside most of the structures because the lighting is low. Most contain window vignettes and animatronics. Music and voices come through speakers for ambiance. Many of the structures have narrow passages made of cement. In the castle, you can walk through a few narrow passages and walk down to the dungeon.

Along the lane are little storybook and nursery rhyme displays. Jack and Jill. Miss Muffet. Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater. The Gingerbread House (you can walk in that one and see the witch with Hansel and Gretel).

Crawl through the rabbit hole (it’s a rather long tunnel that goes under the pathway and comes out through a keyhole on the other side).

Then the cottage of the seven dwarves. Through the lower window you can see Snow White sweeping the floor.

Through the upper window you can see the beds of the seven dwarves.

The forest has grown around and in a canopy over the path.

The cabin of the three bears.

If you climb the steps, you can see Goldilocks sleeping upstairs.

The dwarves’ mine is my favorite. Walk through narrow cement passages to view otherworldly “underground caves” with fountains of vividly blacklit colored water. The last scene shows the dwarves mining for gems.

Climb into the witch’s mouth, tunnel up through the passages and use the slide to exit from the side (the smallest of three fun slides in the park).

It’s a strange sensation to walk through the Crooked Man’s House.

I missed getting a picture of the Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe slide. It’s the best. I think Lola went down it about 20 times.

After Storybook Lane, head up to the Mining/Western Town.

The displays here are hilarious. Jail, Barber, Dentist… you have to read all the signs.

The Haunted House is nearby. [It costs extra and the kids enjoyed it without me.]

After the Mining Town is Fort Fearless. Climb up into the fort and exit by way of the curved slide. But, the best attraction in the park is the Indian Caves. You cannot tell from the pictures, but it is a network of cement passages and tunnels that provide hours of play (and, indeed, is where my kids spent a good portion of the day). Go high and peek out the skull’s eyes, or go low and tunnel across the main path, exiting from a hole in the middle of a teepee on the other side. The passages are either poorly lit or completely dark, so it’s quite the adventure. Lots of screaming.

Above the Mining Town is the Big Timber Log Ride [also costs extra and we didn’t ride because we didn’t want to get wet].

Higher still is the ampitheater with covered stage. Slapstick comedy storybook plays are featured here twice a day. We watched Snow White and the Seven Dorks. [Kiddie rides are at the end of the trail past the theater. We didn’t spend time there.]

Before entering the Old European Village, enter the challet to ride the Ice Mountain Bobsleds [costs extra, but we all rode (except Levi) because it’s a nostalgic imperative].

And, finally, the Old European Village.

Another ride is featured here (an inside, slow-moving interactive target-shooting ride called Challenge of Mondor), but we didn’t go on it. We wandered through Pinoccio’s Playhouse, watched the animatronic Blackbird Pie show, and enjoyed (as always) the Fantasy Fountains water and light show at the Jolly Roger Inn.

I think Enchanted Forest may be Levi’s new favorite place on earth. Yes, he is an overgrown kid.

I originally thought this was a good time to permanently mark Enchanted Forest off the bucket list since the kids are all at the perfect ages now, but I think we may have to go every year on homeschool day!

Summer School ~ Sahalie and Koosah Falls

My photography skills are simply not up to the task of representing this week’s hike. And even if they could accurately portray the colors, the perspective, the shadows and light, they could not portray other aspects of the hike:

The exquisite weather (in the 70s). The smell of fir and cedar, of moss and wet. Walking through pockets of hot, dry air and then pockets of cool, misty air. The roar and booming of the pounding waterfalls—so powerful it rumbles in your chest. The spring and give and wet of the trail when it is organic material; the roughness and hardness and dryness of the trail when it is lava rock. The company of friends.

And, for once, success in the details. Perfect timing for each meet up (ready when Holly and Ivy arrived at our house to drive with us, within a minute or two of the designated meet up time with Christina and Jake in Sweet Home, finishing the hike at just the right time—leaving us with the perfect amount of time at another swimming hole, just enough time to stop for treats at our favorite A&W on the way home and still get Holly back in time for her evening commitments). Excellent navigation (about the first time we’ve found a trailhead easily without losing anyone). And, shockingly, kids who obeyed hiking protocol (wait up for parents!) and didn’t complain. Seriously, winning.

The above photo is my favorite of the trip, but I’ll share the others (even though they make me cry because they don’t do the hike justice).

We traveled southeast to Sahalie and Koosah Falls on Hwy 126, just off Hwy 20, and took the Waterfall Trail loop for about three miles, up and around Sahalie Falls, down the raging McKenzie river to Koosah Falls, and back up the river on the other side. It was a fairly easy hike, and we stopped liberally to enjoy the scenery.

An unbelievable volume of water was rushing over the falls. The bottom of the drop was completely obscured by churning white water and mist. So deafening.

The above spot was a magical Middle Earth oasis waiting to be explored. It’s hard to see the small waterfalls feeding the smaller stream (something of an overflow area off the path of the main river).

The water was an unusual pale, arctic turquoise, which made for an interesting contrast with the vivid shades of green of the vegetation.

Sometimes the trail loomed high above the river; other times it ran right along the edge.

We had enough time to stop at our favorite campground for a picnic and swim on the way home. The water was frigid and the kids stoic.

I managed to dip my feet in for a refreshing 60 seconds.

A perfect, perfect day.

Summer School ~ Heceta Head and Cape Perpetua

I almost forgot to post the rest of the pictures from last week’s Oregon Coast hike. I’ll squeeze these in tonight, because we head out for another hike tomorrow morning!

After hiking Hobbit Trail and combing Hobbit Beach, we drove down the road to Heceta Head to visit the lighthouse.

Above is Cape Creek Bridge, just past Heceta Head. The highway tunnels through the rock, just past the bridge.

You can see the tiny speck of bridge in the photo below, taken from the trail up to the lighthouse.

We were able to takea  short tour of the lighthouse and see the stairs (but not climb them).

We kept hearing a booming sound, and I think it was the surf hitting inside the natural caves.

The assistant lighthouse keeper’s house now serves as a bed and breakfast.

After hiking up to the lighthouse, we drove a little further to Cape Perpetua, where we hiked a trail up to the West Shelter.

Tomorrow we head east instead of west!