Camp Sherman: It is a different world over here. First there is the river...beginning its journey through the Metolius Heritage Area as a huge spring bubbling out of a mossy hillside. Fly fishing, hiking, mountain biking, cross-country skiing and wildlife viewing are favored pastimes.

The nearby Suttle and Blue Lake areas offer water sports such as water-skiing, windsurfing, fishing and swimming. In winter, Blue Lake becomes a friendly cross-country skiing center with groomed trails and an ice rink. Hoodoo Ski Bowl on Santiam Pass has downhill, night skiing and cross-country skiing.

For fun in the forest, get out your bicycle, running shoes or hiking boots. Wonderful trails and old roads wind through ponderosa in all directions. Horseback riding is available, as are guided llama trips, into close by Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Washington Wilderness Areas.

Camp Sherman History: The first people to live along the Metolius were homesteaders. Then wheat farmers from hot, dry Sherman County came here around 1911 by horses and wagon to fish and rest in cool river environment. Along the way, the name CAMP SHERMAN was written on a shoebox top and nailed to a tree at a fork in the road to show those who came later which way to go. The store first operated out of a tent, then a permanent building was built in 1917. From then on summer recreational residents leased land from the Forest Service and it has been a popular place to live and recreate ever since.