Oregon Caves National Monument: Chateau & Nature Trail

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Welcome back to National Parks with T! If you are seeing this on Twitter or Facebook, please visit the blog to see all of the photos and read the story by clicking the link.

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The Chateau at Oregon Caves is one of the National Park’s “Great Lodges,” and a National Historic Landmark. While visiting the park (read my post on the Discovery Cave Tour here) we went into the Chateau to admire the decor and have lunch in the 1930s era Caves Café.

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What a fun retro café! We were delighted to step back in time while relaxing in this charming and friendly soda fountain.

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We especially enjoyed the sweet potato fries and the shakes were huge and to-die-for. My daughter could not finish her chocolate malted so of course I helped her… Delicious, best shake I’ve ever tasted.

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After our lunch and cave tour, we had time for a short hike before getting back on the road. We picked up The Cliff Nature Trail behind the Visitor Center. This one mile loop travels over the marble cave and ascends nearly 400 feet through the fir trees of Siskiyou National Forest to panoramic views of the Illinois Valley.

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It took us less than an hour to complete the trail, allowing for a slow ascent and lots of photo stops.

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Location: 19000 Caves Hwy, Cave Junction, OR 97523

Designation: National Monument

Date designation declared: 7/12/1909

Date of my visit: August 2016

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