Milo McIver State Park

      This is our second visit to McIver (as far as camping goes)  This time we're volunteering for July as campground hosts.  This is our third Oregon State Park volunteer adventure.  On this visit, I have more time to hike and explore.  Augie and I have discovered a great five-mile loop from the campground and if I leave early enough Augie can run off-leash pretty much the whole trail. (don't tell anyone)  Over the 4th of July week, we notice hundreds of people using the Clackamas River.  Just past the campground is a dam.  Above the dam is Estacada Lake.  The park has a boat launch and a dock on the lake and there is a company that rents kayaks, rafts, and paddle boards to use on the lake.  If you follow the road down to the bottom of the dam, there is another boat ramp where people put in to raft downriver to either the west end of McIver Park to their third boat ramp or continue down to Barton Park, which is a good four-hour trip if you're paddling.  Also at the bottom of the dam is a fish hatchery.  McIver also boasts three group camps, a hiker-biker camp, several tent-only sites, horse trails, a dog park, large picnic areas, and a 27-hole disc golf course.  

       The park was obviously named after Milo McIver.  He was on the Oregon Highway Commission from 1950 to 1962.  I am not quite sure why they named the park after him.  McIver Park was up the Clackamas River from where I grew up and as a kid, we visited often for picnics, hiking, and trail riding.  Also, it was one of my favorite spots to put a raft in and raft the river during the summer.  After I met Jackie we came to the park often to play disc golf.  It wasn't until September of 2015 was the first time that I camped in McIver's campground.  The campground is heavily treed and has full hookups and can easily accommodate larger RV's.  The camp is at the east end of the park and it is quite a hike to the day-use areas where the disc golf course is.  However, we did find a trail that led down to the dam at the easternmost corner of the park.  From there we found an access road/trail that followed the river above the dam, which made for a great hike with the dogs.  I'm sure that we will continue camping here, as it's a great park, has a very wooded campground, and is fairly close to home.  Perfect for the weekend camp trip.

.From the website

Park Overview

Situated along the scenic Clackamas River, Milo McIver State Park is only 45 minutes from Portland. This beautiful park provides a variety of outstanding recreational opportunities. You can spend a day or a week exploring the river, forest and fields.

Year Round Camping

Campground is accepting reservations up to 6 months in advance at oregonstateparks.reserveamerica.com.

All sites open March 12 to Oct. 31 with year round camping at 20 electrical sites.

• 44 electrical sites with water (one accessible). 
• Nine tent sites with water nearby
• Hot showers and flush toilets
• Three reservable group tent camping areas with water, flush toilets and fire rings
• Three hiker/biker campsites with water and fire pit (first come first served)
• RV dump station
• Click here to see a campground map.

Water Play

River lovers can challenge the sometimes wild (but always picturesque) Clackamas River with rafts, canoes or kayaks. For fishing enthusiasts, Estacada Lake offers a boat ramp and an ADA fishing dock, and the Clackamas River has steelhead and Chinook runs.

The Clackamas Fish Hatchery is located at McIver Park, and self-guided tours of the hatchery guide visitors through the life-cycle of Chinook salmon and steelhead.

Know Before You Go

• A life jacket loaner station is at Estacada Lake with life jackets of various sizes. Be aware of hidden obstructions beneath the surface. Wearing a life jacket, and making sure it fits properly, saves lives. 
• Boaters: check ahead for obstructions on the Oregon State Marine Board's Reported Obstructions and Alerts page.

SUP and Kayak Rentals

Rentals and guided tours are offered by Clackamas River Outfitters at Estacada Lake through a contract with Oregon State Parks. Information: 503-586-3241 or clackamasriveroutfitters.com

Land Play

Prefer to stay dry? You can hike or ride your horse over miles of trails. (Bicycles are allowed only on paved trails and roads, for the safety of all.)

Milo also sports a world-class, 27-hole disc golf course at the Riverbend Day-use Area. Discs are available at the park office to rent or buy.

      A fun note about the park's history, it was the site of Vortex 1.  I'm going to plager Wikipedia on this, but it is one of the lesser-known attempts to control anti-war protesters by our government.

      A Biodegradable Festival of Life, more commonly known as just Vortex I, was a week-long rock festival sponsored by the Portland counterculture community with help from the U.S. state of Oregon and held in 1970 in Clackamas County near Portland. Held to demonstrate the anti-war Movement's positive side and prevent violent protests during a planned Richard Nixon appearance in the state, it remains the only state-sponsored rock festival in United States history.

In 1970, then-President Richard Nixon scheduled an appearance at an American Legion convention in Portland, Oregon, in order to promote the continuation of the Vietnam War.  A coalition of Portland-based anti-Vietnam War groups, called the People's Army Jamboree, planned a series of demonstrations and other anti-war activities, to be held at the same time as the convention. Law enforcement at all levels, expecting massive numbers of protesters on both sides, were concerned about large-scale violence—an FBI report estimated a potential crowd of 25,000 Legionnaires and 50,000 anti-war protestors, and suggested that the result could be worse than the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.   A loose association of Portland counterculture groups banded together to devise a strategy that would highlight the best parts of the newly-evolving peace community. Koinonia House, a peace-activist Christian group hosted a public meeting and from there the idea of a "Biodegradable Festival of Life" called Vortex 1 came into being. Mike Carr, Lee Meier, Kristen Hansen and Nik Hougen were the first to go meet with Ed Westerdahl to discuss this concept, People from the following meetings including Bobby Wehe, Kaushal Yellin, and Glen Swift who went to meet Governor Tom McCall while others began to scout parklands nearby Portland that could accommodate such an event. In order to keep the peace, Oregon Governor Tom McCall acted on a suggestion by staffer Ed Westerdahl who had been meeting with the Vortex volunteers.[3] He made an agreement with representatives of local anti-war factions to permit a rock festival to be held in a state park at the same time as Nixon's scheduled visit, and to turn a blind eye toward behavior that had been widespread at the Woodstock Festival, like nudity and use of marijuana.  McCall has been heard to remark that by making this agreement—less than three months before the upcoming November vote, in which he was running for re-election—he had "committed political suicide."

      The festival was held from August 28 through September 3, at the same time as the American Legion convention. Between 30,000 and 100,000 people attended the event, held at Milo McIver State Park, near the city of Estacada. Admission was free of charge, so the gates to the event were not monitored (and an accurate attendance figure is not available). On the busiest day of the festival, a line of automobiles ran 18 miles from the park gates to southeast Portland.  Per agreement with the governor, the police and the Oregon National Guard largely ignored non-violent offenses such as drug use and public nudity, both of which were present at the festival. The festival became known as "The Governor's Pot Party".  The music at the festival was primarily performed by local acts. Oregon bands featured at the concert included Brown Sugar, with Lloyd Jones, Jacob's Ladder, and concert openers Tutu Band. The media reported that many prominent national acts of the time would appear, including Santana, Jefferson Airplane, and Grateful Dead, but none did. Ginger Baker and Cream came to visit the event but did not play. This did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the attendees.  The Vortex 1 festival was essentially divided in two areas: One, at the higher elevations of McIver Park, held a huge home-built stage made of huge Oregon timbers; and the second, below by the Clackamas River held a sprawling encampment. The Portland community-based activist groups tended collectively to the various needs of the festival. The food co-ops and organic restaurants put together a facility that provided free food for the tens of thousands of attendees. The community free clinics (Outside In and LookingGlass) provided medical care. The motor heads parked the cars. The rock and roll halls from Portland ran the stage. Yoga groups held classes. Peace activist groups sponsored teach-ins and so on. It was truly a community-based, non-commercial event. The early pioneers of the Rainbow Gatherings worked there making an information booth, helping with security, lost children, supply trucks, stage building and that is where they took the name Rainbow Family.

        Though no doubt aided by a last-minute cancellation by Nixon, the event had its desired effect. Both the American Legion convention and the anti-war activities of the Jamboree were carried out without any major incident. The concert was considered by many to be an excellent means of preventing violence. Far from committing political suicide, McCall won re-election that November, defeating opponent Robert W. Straub handily. McCall later told Studs Terkel: "It was the damnedest confrontation you'll ever see. We took a park, 20 miles south of Portland, and turned it into an overnight bivouac and disco party.…There was a lot of pot smoking and skinny dipping but nobody was killed."  Because the event was non-commercial and had no commercial backers and no performers other than local bands, the mainstream press largely ignored it as a music event, focusing instead on the political aspects. It was one of the of largest rock and roll festivals of the era.