Santiam Horse Camp reopens after 2020 fire damage

By PAULINA AGUILAR

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    GATES, Oregon (KPTV) — After a two-year closure, the Santiam Horse Camp has reopened. It was damaged by fires on Labor Day weekend in 2020. Ever since, it has been dealing with damaged infrastructure, fallen trees, and unsafe trails.

Santiam horse camp may not have any horses yet but it has finally opened for people to start camping again and bring their horses along. Joe Offer, ODF Recreation Operations Manager says, it’s been a long process.

“From the entire ODF staff, especially the State Forest Program and then volunteer groups that have helped us along the way. We wouldn’t be open now if it weren’t everyone working together to get the point, we’re at right now,” says Offer.

But there is still work to be done. Most trees survived, but new corrals had to be built, hazard trees need to be cleaned, and trails haven’t been used and need to be exposed through more usage. They’ve even had to replace some of the ground, but the hardest thing was to assess the overall property.

“To get out here and actually understand exactly what the different issues were everywhere,” says Offer. “Then after that, it’s just having capacity. Having a capacity and the extra help has really moved us through this entire rebuild.”

Now recovered, they are ready to take your reservations, just in time for summer. The ODF asks visitors to respect closures and use caution in burned areas. Guests should also be careful when driving on single-lane gravel roads in the forest. Logging operations are underway and drivers should watch for oncoming traffic and heavy equipment. Many forest roads cross land owned by different people and agencies and the road maintenance on each parcel of land may vary.

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