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Borrego Springs, CA

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Crystal Crane Hot Springs, Oregon

Crystal Crane Hot Springs is a virtual oasis in the high desert of eastern Oregon.  It’s located in Harney County, the ninth largest county in the country, and the area is known as Oregon’s Outback.  In my opinion, it’s a great place to have as a home base for everything to see in the surrounding area.  It’s billed as being a rustic get away, and that it is.
IMG_3921There are only seven RV sites, two with full hook-ups, and five with 30 amp electric and water.  There is no dump site here, so come with your tanks empty unless you stay in one of the two full hook-up sites.  The five water/electric sites are $18/night, and the full hook-ups are $20.  The rates are based upon two people/rig.  If you have pets, expect to pay $3/night extra for each pet.  This is the first time I’ve ever had to pay an extra fee for Emma since I’ve had her!  Since I travel solo, I asked if she could count as the second person, but it was a no go.  :(  If you have cats that stay inside the rig, there is no extra charge.  They also accept Passport America for the first night of your stay, so two nights here cost me $33.
IMG_3918 IMG_3919
There are also small cabins available with a camp kitchen across the driveway for fixing your own meals, and rest rooms a short walk away.
IMG_3875The best part, of course, is the hot springs.  Soaking rights are included in the nightly fees.  You can also soak in the springs for a $3.50 day use fee.  They even have a frequent soaker plan for local folks!
IMG_3876When I went to soak last night, I had the whole pond to myself.  What a relaxing way to end a long day!  The scenery is not bad either!
IMG_3914If you’re so inclined, you can do a private soak in a cedar lined tub enclosure (clothing optional  :)), for $7.50/hour.  They say that’s it’s for up to seven people, but I’m not sure how seven bodies could fit in that tub unless they were really, really good friends!  :)  I’m thinking it would kind of be like a can of cooking sardines!
IMG_3890I almost forgot.  You can also choose to sleep in a teepee overnight, or pitch a tent in the no hook-up area.  Seems like they have all their bases covered for rustic accommodations!  The staff is friendly and they give a run down on the best places to enter the hot springs for soaking, depending on your ability to handle the temperatures.  The water entering the spring is 160*!  Way too hot for me!  I walked in from a much cooler spot.  The average temp today was 99*… just perfect.  The gal in the office tonight said she was going to check out my post, since I had to stop there to get a key to take a pic of the private soaking tub.   I know if I’m ever in this area in the future, I’d stop here again.  So, it’s a thumbs up for this little “hot” spot.  :)
_MG_3905I did take a drive over to Malheur NWR this morning to see where and how I’ll move the rig tomorrow.  That’s another interesting tale that I’ll save for later, but I’ll leave you with this picture that I took while I was there.  Any guesses as to what bird this is?  It really did blend in to it’s surroundings.

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

12 comments:

  1. Am guessing Owl or Hawk for the bird. Nice teepee Moon shot. I like the sound of rustic for sure. With our 3 dogs the cost would be an additional $9. Oh well, not likely we'll make it out that way any time soon anyway.

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  2. Judy your park is really neat. looks like a great spot to stop and soak. Also I got your comment on the font size and want you to know it is still a work in progress, seems you have to adjust the font in Blogger first, then go to Live Writer and adjust it there, before you save the changes, well it would be easy if the two programs had the same fonts, but they don't so whatever you save in Livewriter is adjusted ny Blogger to fit there fonts, I think on todays I have it moved up a notch ,please let me know as I can't tell what others are seeing, I check it on my desktop and laptop, but that is only two different screen sizes. Maybe between the two of us we cam get it right. Thanks for your help. Sam & Donna.

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  3. Looks like a great place to soak it all in.

    Love the Teepee picture..

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  4. Looks like a great stopover. Did the waters heal you? Paying for your dog? What is up with that? Did they tell you why?

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  5. A nighthawk or whipporwill? I've never seen a night hawk sitting down, only gliding and "peenting". I think I saw a moon like that in MN last night only there was no teepee!! Beautiful shot.

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  6. Ever since seeing the link to your blog in Gordon and Juanita's trip journal, I have been following along with your adventure. What a great read and your photos are awesome. Save travels and I hope our paths cross sometime in the future.

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  7. That looks like a very nice place to stay for a couple of days. I had to pay $5/night for the dogs (I also had Mandy at the time) at a "resort" in Indio, CA, but would never stay there again if it was the last CG open! (I was younger and stupid at that time - I should have driven down the road to another place!) The cost of Crystal Crane plus the extra for the dog isn't too bad. Your pictures are really nice.

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  8. We have seen the coastal areas of Oregon, but not the eastern parts. I hope we do someday and we will try to stay there. I enjoy hot springs very much.

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  9. Looks like a great spot to go after the moon is out and take a soak in the hot springs!! The park looks really neat...very rustic!! I love Oregon..

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  10. Dad and I think the bird is a Whippoorwill and sign me up for a good long soak. Sounds invigorating and Lord knows I need some invigor... I might have to spend at least one night in the teepee and smoke the peacepipe..? K

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  11. Those springs look inviting... do they smell *sulpher-y*??? What is the average temp of them? Looks like a great place to stop over at.


    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

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  12. The bird definitely looks like a great blue heron.

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