 |
| Northern Lite camper at Camp 18 (Julianne G. Crane) |
Traveling along Oregon Highway 26, west of Portland, you’ll spot a huge rustic log-cabin restaurant and loggers’ memorial at milepost 18.
There are hundreds of logging-related historic artifacts, tons of antique logging equipment, a logging museum, and generous servings of pretty darn good food–it is called Camp 18.
 |
| Camp 18 has ample RV parking. (Julianne G. Crane) |
The restaurant-museum complex is near the small rural community of Elsie and was a dream of Gordon and Roberta Smith.
Construction began in the early ’70s with Gordon’s friends joining him in the project.
 |
| Expansive interior of restaurant. (Julianne G. Crane) |
The expansive architecture is authentic in materials and construction techniques.
It features an 85-foot ridgepole (see ceiling) that’s the largest such piece in the United States. It weighs approximately 25 tons and if cut would have 5,600 board feet of lumber in it.
 |
| Authentic logging equipment (Julianne G. Crane) |
History buffs interested in the evolution of logging in the northwest will find plenty of outdoor displays including “multiple steam donkeys such as a Dolbeer single spool, a very early first-generation model, to a high-tech late-model Willamette compound geared yarder that was the height of technology for its day.
 |
| Logging Memorial (Julianne G. Crane) |
“Other displays on site include a large bandsaw from a sawmill, a self-propelled Ohio steam crane, Caterpillar-style tracked vehicles that worked in the woods, a railroad skeleton log car and other heavy equipment plus a wide variety of large and small hardware,” according to Camp 18’s webpage.
 |
| Jimmy Smith in Loggers Memorial. (Julianne G. Crane) |
The most recent addition to the complex is the Loggers Memorial located “in a beautiful setting befitting those whose dedication to our forests … will forever be enshrined. This is an opportunity for families and friends to memorialize individuals … who’ve made logging their work, their passion or their life.”
For complete information about the Loggers’ Memorial project, click here.
If you go:
Camp 18 Restaurant & Loggers Memorial
42362 Highway 26
Elsie, Oregon 97138
Hours of operation are:
Sunday – Thursday 7 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Friday & Saturday 7 a.m. – 9 p.m.
There is plenty of large RV-size parking in the lot.
To read more articles on RV lifestyle by Julianne G. Crane go to RVWheelLife.com
Photos: (Chick on images to enlarge.) External and interior photos of Camp 18 Restaurant. Some of the authentic logging equipment on display. Jimmy Smith reading through brief bios of dozens of loggers, many of whom died working in the woods. (Julianne G. Crane)
##RVT803
