Clyde Holliday SP, OR- Sep 2006

We knew we couldn't stay at Wallowa Lake State Park over Labor Day weekend as they were booked solid with reservations, so we got out our campground guide and found a highly rated place called Union Creek -- a "first-come-first-served" national forest campground just outside of Baker City. We figured that if we arrived early on Thursday that we'd find an available site, but when we arrived we were disappointed to find that the campground was already filled. So, we continued on down the road with two other parks in mind for our back-up plan. Luckily, the first one on our list -- Clyde Holliday -- had several sites still open and we were tickled that it turned out to be a delightful setting. Just what we needed to relax for a few days.

Clyde Holliday State Park was located off Hwy 26 near the town of John Day, Oregon. While we ended up here because of our reluctance to make reservations, it turned out to be a good thing because the park was very nice and lived up to it's reputation as a small oasis. The sites were roomy and well-spaced from each other and the large shrubs gave a nice sense of privacy. The grounds were lush green grass (a much appreciated upgrade from the sooty dirt of the past two campgrounds) and there were lots of shade trees -- so many that we had to move twice to find a site where we could set up our internet dish and get a signal. The only down side of this park was the noise from the nearby highway. Fortunately, the traffic died down at night and we were able to sleep with the windows open and not be bothered.

The park sat alongside the John Day River and both the campground and the day use area had a paved walkway that followed alongside the river. Every day we strolled alongside the scenic river walk and enjoyed it's beauty. The campground manager had taken great care to make the park a lovely oasis for people as well as haven for birds. There were lots of flowering landscape plants (with identification labels) and shrubs with flowers and berries to attract the birds. There were lots of benches strategically placed throughout the park where one could sit and enjoy the sights and sounds of the river. We ended up staying here longer than planned because it was such a delightful setting.