About 30 miles north of Klamath Falls [1] on U.S. 97 is Collier Memorial State Park (541/783-2471 or 800/551-6949, day-use only, free). Donated to the state in 1945 by Alfred and Andrew Collier as a memorial to their parents, this 146-acre park documents technological improvements in the history of logging.
The park’s Pioneer Village includes a logger’s homestead cabin stocked with a wide variety of tools and artifacts, a blacksmith shed, an assortment of logging machinery that includes log wagons with wheels made of cross-cut sections of logs bound in iron, and chain-drive trucks with hard rubber tires. Also on display are steam-propelled devices including tractors, a narrow-gauge locomotive, and a one-person handcart.
Don’t miss the over-200-foot-long 16-foot-wide Clatsop Fir, a fallen tree that was mature when Columbus landed in the New World. The tree could supply enough wood for several four-bedroom homes. For better or for worse, it’s probably the largest Douglas fir ever cut.
Across from the museum is a campground (Apr.–Oct. 29, $15–17) with 18 tent sites and 50 spaces with full hookups. A nature trail and fishing spot are nearby.
Links:
[1] http://www.moon.com/destinations/oregon/southern-oregon/klamath-falls