We only scheduled two nights, including last night, in Lakeview. We were able to spend the day exploring pretty close to town. We left our campsite at Junipers RV, which is located in the middle of a 6,000 acre ranch, and didn’t even make it to the pavement before we chose to cruise down a gravel road on the ranch that passes by a small, man-made lake. The lake was surrounded by a great variety of birds but the types that impressed us the most were the hawks, a bald eagle, very large magpies, a snowy egret, some American pelicans and a big flock of Canadian geese. Right next to the lake we spotted a big pronghorn grazing.
We finally returned to the Lakeview/Klamath Falls Highway and headed east into the town of Lakeview. On the way into town a big Chinese pheasant was strolling across the highway. Our initial stop was to be the Old Perpetual Geyser which was supposed to be located a mile north of town next to an old highway motel called Hunter’s Hot Springs Resort. On Tripadvisor it was listed as the #1 attraction in Lakeview.
The geyser, in the past, was supposed to erupt every 90 seconds putting up a 60 foot column of hot water. In the area around Hunter’s Hot Springs Resort, which is now a small, run-down conglomeration of buildings, mostly with metal roofing, there are a couple of brackish lakes surrounded by alkaline deposits but no geyser. If there was a 60 foot geyser anywhere around we would have seen it. Rumor has it that geothermal energy facility drilling nearby has caused the geyser to quit.
Lakeview’s #1 attraction not having been a blockbuster, we drove back a mile or so into Lakeview to check out the town. There are some old masonry buildings that are pretty, many attractive wood-framed houses, a nice commercial section and a variety of local, county, state and federal offices in town. Many residences near town also have some interesting old cars parked in their yards. We spotted A Henry Kaiser (which I have never seen before), an old military jeep, a Camaro pickup and a truck in front of us on the main drag that was apparently wrecked with frame damage crabbing sideways ahead of us. The driver must have had to look out the driver’s side window to see down the highway ahead.
On our maps there is a big body of water, Goose Lake, south of Lakeview. We thought this might be the lake one could view from Lakeview. We headed south on US-395 right down to the border of California but did not find any lake. There are lots of grass-covered flats but no lake. However, there are mobs of birds out here. About every fifth telephone pole would have a big hawk surveying the landscape below for future decedents. We spotted another big bald eagle. Lots of geese were fooling around in the wetlands dotting the landscape. Ducks of many varieties were helping themselves in the retention ponds and marshes which were everywhere. We spotted a big almost-dead tree with a flock of vultures hanging out. There is wildlife everywhere.
Lakeview is situated between two massive volcanic cliffs running east-west on both sides of town. They are pretty impressive and wildflowers are abundant. Lakeview is home to only a couple thousand folks and would maybe be a nice place to live although we did spot an overabundance of Trump signs installed everywhere. The air is crystal-clear. The Junipers RV Park is a great place to stay with abundant sky, shade, clean air, magnificent views and great wi-fi. Maybe the next time we pass through here we will stay a bit longer.
We got a few pix of the animals and cars and buildings. You can see some of them if you click here