A taste of "wild" Oregon.
Nestled in a deep canyon on the cusp of the Blue Mountains and Umatilla National forest, Hoodlum Hideout truly is a taste of "wild" Eastern Oregon. My 11 year old and I wanted to get away for a quick trip just to get out of the city. Host Jennifer was gracious and met us in Heppner, later than I'm sure was comfortable, and led the 45 minute drive to camp. On the drive into camp we saw pheasant, numerous deer with faun, cow elk with calf, and a porcupine with baby (just stop)! We set up camp next to Johnson Creek and were able to hike out of camp the following day to take in the scenery and look for sheds. We saw no sheds, but found a racer snake, bumped more deer, and were greeted by a mama turkey and her chicks when we returned to camp! The camp is primitive, but we were able to refresh in the creek and did have access to an outhouse up the road. The only suggestion I might make for the future is to create some kind of permanent tent pad and fire pit, just to remove the guess work of finding a good spot. But I will definitely be returning with the rest of my clan the next time we want to find some solitude and get into nature!