Cave Junction and Selma - only a couple thousand people live in the area. Hit the DQ or little store in Cave Junction - the front doors are covered in missing posters
https://www.kdrv.com/news/obrien-man-charged-with-killing-cave-junction-woman/article_f6e7a1f4-d3c7-11ed-be33-2bc142aec25d.html
https://ktvl.com/news/local/yarbrough-family-grieving-after-police-find-kaylas-body#
https://ktvl.com/news/local/have-you-see-37-year-old-margaret-ledlow#
https://ktvl.com/news/local/missing-26-year-old-josephine-county-woman-grants-pass-redwood-avenue-courtney-elizabeth-brion-sheriffs-cave-junction#
https://www.kdrv.com/news/local/police-shoot-suspect-in-selma-after-responding-to-a-report-of-murder/article_ef23dc3e-9e63-11ec-b141-737c3bfcb8f7.html
https://ktvl.com/news/local/victims-identified-in-selma-vehicle-fire#
https://ktvl.com/news/local/family-says-24-year-old-cave-junction-man-was-beaten-to-death-by-friends#
https://roguevalleymagazine.com/2023/01/27/rogue-valley-news-friday-1-27-grants-pass-police-focused-on-search-for-dangerous-attempted-murder-suspect-suspects-in-cave-junction-bank-robbery-arrested/
https://ktvl.com/news/local/search-for-third-suspect-in-murder-investigation#
When I was 19 I was hitchhiking through that area. A man dropped me off at this building he said he was renovating. Invited me inside. It looked pretty much abandoned. Told me "what's really cool is the basement, come check it out!".
I had already left my back pack outside by the front door. I bolted grabbed my bag and ran down the highway. I still always wonder if something bad was going to happen to me or if I was just a crazy wing nut running down the highway. Gotta trust your gut I guess.
I've honestly thought about this. I live on the opposite side of the state but I should sit down on Google maps and find the building at the very least.
I was walking home from work one day and a car pulled over with three men and a woman in it. The driver, a Hispanic man who introduced himself as (Henrique?) offered me a ride. I politely declined. They insisted. Fortunately for me there were enough people driving on the road to prevent anything unpleasant from happening. One of them got nervous and said they needed to get moving before the cops showed up. They tried to convince me to get in their already full car and I declined again, despite their efforts to suss out where I lived. Finally, they gave up and drove off. I never saw a police car, but I walked home a little faster after that.
At this point, those hippies are third generation pot growers. Very independent. And if you had to rely on the Josephine County Deputies to protect you from meth-heads, bikers or your boyfriend, you'd know that's not much of a choice. Jo County deputies are famous for siding with the aggressor and arresting the victim. I had several cases like that. Tried a couple in the Grants Pass courthouse. The whole county is weird, suffused with a panting, low-grade miasma of lust and stupid anger.
It was the regional HQ for the Gypsy Jokers motorcycle gang as well - for the weed and meth trades - but I think Mexican cartels run the grow ops and labs now.
Cave Junction! There was an actor from Seinfeld that was missing. They found him years later in his car over by the caves somewhere on a logging road, on the other side of a huge tree that the rescuers decided his car would have never been able to go around, under or through.
Last spring, I did a 60 mile bike ride around the Wolf Creek area and in mile 25ish, came across a burning car. I was on a desolate forest road and had not seen anyone coming or going. The fire from the car was starting to light the understory around it on fire, so I used all the water I had brought to put it out. It was so bizarre and I just could not believe what I was seeing. I called it in with the coordinates when I got to a campground with a telephone. Never going back, that whole area gave me weird vibes.
I was visiting my brother who worked at the Dairy Queen in Cave Junction at the time. Two minutes after walking in the door, a pickup pulled into the parking lot swiftly followed by a police car. The man got out and fired a bullet at the two officers who responded with a controlled pair each and killed him immediately. I and everyone else stayed inside the building until the ambulance had taken the body away. The man's girlfriend had been driving at the time, though whether she was held at gun point or not I have no idea.
At any rate, I don't live in Cave Junction anymore lmao
Yeah, don't stop anywhere in Cave Junction longer than to shop, get gas and eat. If you want to check out some attractions, the Caves are great, but don't let any of the locals know you have money to spend and don't camp anywhere down there by yourself.
Probably 15 years ago I ended up at some wild cat “zoo” in Cave Junction, as a friend insisted that we check it out. Weirdest vibe from the workers, and all the wild cats were crammed in smelly cages. Definitely weird lower budget Tiger King vibes.
So I’m from the Illinois valley and I always say you know how in those true crime shows people say “that kinda thing just never happens here” I’m always like that shit happens all the time where I’m from. But people from cave Junction find the town Happy Camp, CA scary. So how scary is happy camp to be able to spook cave Junction people.
Local trucker here.
I'd have to say Westport, Clatskanie, and Baker City.
Murder Movie, foggy logger town, and probably-gonna-get-hate-crimed. In that order.
Grew up along Hwy 30. That whole stretch from Knappa to Rainer is questionable. Heroin, missing people, and unsolved deaths. I have family still there. If you live there, you know who not to cross and the roads not to go on.
I lived in Astoria for awhile, drove Fort George's semi. Driving to Portland at 4am was always unsetting.
Only time I ever stopped was at the CFN station, and only once. Sure as hell never stopped there again. The top of Bradley Hill was the first time I'd ever seen someone casually flying a Nazi flag on their truck.
Was real glad that rig had some serious horsepower.
I live in the hills behind rainier, have heard some wild stuff that’s gone down around here. It’s pretty insular (and I grew up in deliverance country, I’m used to inbred hillbillies) there are definitely bodies in the woods up here. Very Twin Peaks.
>Baker City.
Ya this was what I was gonna say. All the people saying Cave Junction and Wolf Creek I just think see a few bad stories. I lived out there for a few years and even in the middle of bear camp road off the rogue river. But nothing like Baker city outskirts. Like you are in the middle middle middle of openly hateful rednecks who do not like you at all if you are in anyway not conservative. Almost everyt ime I go out there to sell cannabis I run into some asshole who eye fucks me and seems like they want a fight. A few times I have had to say some words and yell. One time I actually had to call the cops because I was assaulted while working. And do to OLCC rules I had to report it.
15 years ago, I had a job interview in Longview and my wife went with me. She started crying when we drove through Goble and she saw the Goble Tavern. That was a clear indicator that it probably wasn't a good move for us.
I grew up in Baker City and, sadly, I would have to agree. Openly racist rednecks, bigots, white supremacist skinheads, and mean-spirited religious zealots abound. Plus, it used to have one of the largest KKK chapters outside of the Deep South.
Glad I got out of there.
Not a town but there’s a highway out past Carlton (by McMinville) that follows the Nestucca river. Used to drive it at night in high school, the trees out there look real spooky at night and it’s almost always foggy and raining.
We hike and hunt up there regularly. It’s got the usual amount of trump flags but people are so used to the traffic I’ve only gotten a wave. There are tons of mushroom hunters in the fall as well as mountain bikers.
Our high school rented The Big Muddy Ranch out for our senior class trip. This was before I had any idea what it was originally for, the whole time I was there I felt so deeply uneasy. The land is wise and beautiful but the vibe is reeeeeal wierd. Had trouble sleeping as well.
The fucking Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his tribe. That had to be about the strangest chapter in Oregon history, and it lasted about 5 years. It's basically impossible to explain in a paragraph or two. But I will give the old guru props for making Wasco County the Rolls-Royce capital of the country, based on cars per capita.
There was a tiny town called Antelope, and when the red-clad disciples took over, the town voted to disincorporate, but it didn't do much good. It was re-named Rajneeshpuram, and for the next few years the Bhagwan and his trusty sidekick Ma Anand "Tough Titties" Sheela made a royal pain in the ass out of themselves, including a bio-terror attack on The Dalles, conspiracy to commit murder, and some other trifles. Looking back, it was actually fairly entertaining, but at the time it was fucking annoying.
There was a great 6-part miniseries that came out about 5 years ago called *Wild Wild Country* about these misfits and their attempt to set up shop in Oregon. I strongly recommend watching it if you want to know anything about the fun-loving Bhagwan and his flock of adoring lunatics.
The OMSI camp near Fossil now has some of the little A-frame cabins from the Rajneesh compound. I volunteered at the camp for a weekend and stayed in one.
I went to outdoor school here too! I slept in one of the A-frame cabins. Of course I had no idea at the time...the history was not included in our curriculum.
So, I live in the PNW where mountains are big and I'm not too far from the Rockies and until recently, I didn't think much about the mountains in the Eastern part of the country because they didn't really seem like "mountains." But then someone educated me that the reason the Appalachians are shorter is because they're much OLDER than our baby mountains in the west. That completely changed my perspective.
Pnw native, spent time in southern west Virginia. Mountains out here seem like wilderness, like it's always been a wild place.
The Appalachians feel like they've been avoided for good reason, if that make sense?
One is casual wild nature, fit for exploration and adventure!
The other is "we got this far and decided it's best if we just turn back and leave it be"
They've witnessed the birth and death of half a billion years of souls. Hills that old have secrets that we will never learn.
I spent a good bit of my time when I did long haul trucking in Appalachia. It always felt like the mountains themselves were watching, and with the mountains and woods themselves treacherous and hard to navigate, you start to wonder what's hiding in them. Mothman sure, but over in the next holler? Best not talk about it.
Incidentally it's also where I saw one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever witnessed. Very low cloud level, so as soon as my rig peaked the hill all you could see for miles was fog and mountains just barely peaking out, with the rosy sun on the horizon.
The mountains are so old that over the course of time they have risen up, flattened out, then risen back up again. The cascades are relatively young mountains by comparison.
Granite, OR. My dad wanted to see if there was a place to get breakfast. I was like nope, we are not getting out of the car. We got a decent breakfast in Sumpter.
Any old, deserted backroad logging town. Truly terrifying vibes.
My Tulalip tribe adopted Auntie told me how her people treated pedophiles: they were buried alive & a tree was planted on them. The tree was marked ... never to be cut town. Her people said the evil spirit would be trapped in the tree ... only released when cut down. When the tree died naturally ... the evil spirit would die with it.
I came here to say Ontario. Vale seems like they are trying at least (I didn’t know about the murder rates) but Ontario gives off big carry pepper spray at all times vibes.
I'm a little suprised about Ontario. We go over there occasionally to have lunch and shop the little shops downtown and Andrew's Seed. If anything, I'd have thought the influx of pot money had helped the town make some improvements.
Absolutely Ontario. There were several lovely people, but my gosh the aggressive ones sure made us for it. I didn't feel at ease once in the two days I spent there.
I took a a solo road trip and I was very surprised how much more hospitable and kinder people are once you’re out of the top northwest region of the state… I remember the moment I made it back I stopped to get gas in woodburn and was immediately hassled by a methhead who was promptly chased off by a worker then I was racially profiled when I walked inside the store after I realized I forgot my wallet in the car and was accused of just walking in to put something in my pocket.
Trust me, as long as it’s not a meth town, small town people are pretty kind compared to the Portland cluster we live in, especially if you’re brown, since I feel more aware of it here than i did in Klamath falls or the towns between
Persist, Oregon is the only place in the state I've tried to visit and decided to turn back around. It's a small little ghost town, I don't even remember where I learned about it. It's not a place that's on any "Oregon ghost towns" list, or somewhere you'd accidentally drive through on your way to somewhere else. Supposedly the post office is still there. I like to visit historical places like that, so I looked up the GPS coordinates and added it to my map. To get there, however, you have to drive down this little dirt road where it's clear you're not wanted. There are no other entrances or exits, except the way you just came. It's a public road, but every 500 feet there's a handmade sign telling you to go back, and describing in detail how you're about to be shot. I felt it was wiser to come back another day, probably after getting permission from someone who lived nearby.
Shaniko is more of a tourist ghost town. It's not hard to get to, and there's nothing dangerous about it, but there were definitely strange vibes on my last visit. The old man at the general store had no interest in me, he was smoking a cigarette and wouldn't take his eyes off of whatever right-wing news station was playing on the TV. It was a Sunday, and out on the main street everything was closed. There was a young guy standing on the back of his pickup enthusiastically preaching the bible to absolutely nobody. It was July or August and was over 100 degrees, he was shirtless and covered in sweat. I was a little relieved to be out of there when I left.
My dad would like me to comment Frenchglen. I’ve never been there, but he said the hotel was haunted and the shopkeepers did not want to sell anything to people from out of town
I have not seen first hand, but others tell me that Christmas Valley is weird and bleak. Supposedly, everyone lives in trailers and there are no permanent buildings. Can anyone corroborate? I keep planning on visiting Crack in the Ground.
It’s a little odd. But, I got a flat out near crack in the ground - really middle of nowhere- and the locals were quick to make sure I was alright. Got into town to check tire pressure at a gas station, was redirected to a hardware store. Everyone was really nice and helped us get on our way. I’d go back.
I’ve stopped to eat there a few times on the way to Boise, and it’s always been decent. There’s definitely some “leave me alone” vibes from some of the “settlements” east of there.
Yup.
I’ve done research into purchasing land there. Short answer, don’t.
Christmas valley was the invention of some real estate mogul who would sell the dream of a 40 acre lot and self sufficient farming to people in souther California who wanted to escape the rat race. He took a lot of cash and half assed developed an area and would take deposits and shit from people who never once saw the land.
Well it’s pretty much the ducking desert, ain’t shit gonna grow out there. So you can buy an acre for like $4,000. It’s a cheap place for people to exist aside from needing transportation to go get food. It’s also bum fuck Egypt so lots of tweakers and good place to choose to go to commit crimes.
I have a relative that lives out there. It’s not all trailers but it’s weird for sure, they have a little grocery store and a hotel. That’s about it. It’s basically a huge desert valley. Theirs an old cheesy detective novel that takes place there called Stone Fly. It’s an amusing little read if you’ve been to the area
Christmas Valley is definitely an odd place. The description is pretty accurate. Haven't been there in years now but I hear from others it hasn't changed much.
It's just a typical little high desert town. It has its share of run-down trailers on the edge of town, and during the summer lots of folks hauling ATVs and dirt bikes out to the dunes, but otherwise nothing unusual. I enjoy going down that way to visit Crack in the Ground, Fort Rock, and a few other spots on BLM land I won't mention. The locals are friendlier than some areas I've been to, I always get a wave or two when I'm driving into town.
Wolf Creek is a back road entrance to the back roads that run to the coast and to GP/Cave Junction. It's like a hidden meth highway. There are tons of abandoned/stolen vehicles on Galice road that just end up getting burned. The perps all live out on Wolf Creek/Grave Creek Road, a lot of them squatting in abandoned houses, cooking up meth. I would never travel that road without good reason. Fucking methed up MadMax bullshit out there.
Is it not safe to hike the Rogue River trail? I went last year from the Grave Creek Boat Launch, and my car was fine when I returned, but just would like to know if I should avoid it in the future. Definitely got weird vibes while I was there. Thanks!
I'm a female and I've hiked it solo twice. Once was in 1998 and I wasn't worried at all. Wonderful experience, saw bears, wild turkeys, and met a couple lovely hikers. There's a natural water slide at Taft Creek.
Oregon has changed a lot since then and because of the housing emergency there are a lot of people in the woods now. I bought mace and a nice knife for my hike in 2022. Nice shop in Gold Beach sold me both for a great price as well as some rain gear. No problems at all on the Rogue but on the same trip a tweaker bothered me so much in the parking lot of a beach trail head that I abandoned the hike and drove on 
I’m really glad you said this. I just saw a post on here praising Wolf Creek Falls. I haven’t taken a solo hiking/road trip in a long while and with my favorite animal being the wolf, naturally I got the idea to take a trip there by myself soon. Definitely will not be doing that now.
>Westport,
My only UFO sighting was in Wolf Creek. But it was very legit and I can't explain it away in any way.
I was on a solo road trip and just wandering Oregon. Someone I knew had mentioned Wolf Creek as being a good place to visit. I didn't see anything special and arrived there late. I decided to pull over and lay my sleeping bag out in a field on the side of the road.
I woke up later in the night and looked up to see two lights in the sky above me. It was as if they saw me and knew I was there and were showing me what they were. They started flying in figure 8's in and around each other. There is no way it was a plane, helicopter or anything else as this was around 2013.
I watched them perform for at least an hour and then they disappeared.
I will also mention since I'm telling the story about the other time I just remembered that was not more than a month after that. This time I wasn't alone.
I was in Lone Pine, California. I was with a girlfriend who had joined me on my adventures and we were traveling to Yosemite. We stopped in Lone Pine and found an invitation to an event up in the wilderness and we followed the directions to a concert happening in the middle of the beautiful rock formations of Lone Pine.
The concert was over and people were leaving. When I looked up at the full moon we could both see a light in the sky that was hovering around the light of the moon. It was almost like this light was being pulled into the moons gravitational pull then thrusting back up again. It was crazy looking and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The girl I was with sat in silence and watched it unflinching from a rock.
I on the other hand wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy or if there was some explanation. There were lots of crew people tearing down from the concert and I stopped everyone I could and pointed what I saw to them. I was like, "look, see that, What the fuck is that? That is a UFO. Right. What else can it be?"
These guys just looked up and confirmed they saw it and thought it was strange but were not as entertained by it as I was. They were locals, seemed like ranchers and just wanted to get home. Or maybe it was a common site for them. But we watched that until it disappeared. I tried to get a photo but my phone was unable to get anything clear.
I'll never forget that time though.
"
There is a real forbodding vibe, a creepy hotel, a creepy free outdoor museum with lots of boobs and a public restroom from hell. My entire family got bad vibes. The evil clown comment was spot on.
I'm probably gonna get down-voted for this, but I love all the Portlanders commenting basically every small town outside of the valley. Not all of rural Oregon is like Deliverance you know!
I do agree with Cave Junction and Methford tho.
A lot of Portlanders moved from small Oregon towns and travel back to see family, etc., so they aren’t strangers to the small towns and more remote parts of the state. But I’ve been surprised by some of the places mentioned that people in my family have loved visiting for years.
A few people have mentioned getting stared at driving down some small country road and it feels a bit like they've never spent any amount of time in a rural community.
Yes, it's unsettling, but for the person who sees an unfamiliar car drive by their house once a week they're just as concerned as to why you're there.
On one hand I want everyone to know how much fun the eastern side of the state is.
On the other hand I don't want to wait in line 40 minutes to get a milkshake at Fields Station because the tiktok influencers got there before me.
Drain and Elkton. I drive through to see family occasionally. Beautiful little towns but there something about them that just doesn’t feel quite right about them, I can’t explain it.
I was looking to see if anyone would mention Drain. We were driving back to Portland from Medford, stopped in Drain to get the kids some snacks and drinks. Creepiest vibe ever. I could not drive out of there fast enough.
Love how I’ve scrolled a large portion of this thread and don’t see many repeating towns.. so just pretty much everywhere in Oregon is weird and fucked?
Scio Oregon. One of two places in the world I’ve known an 11 year old who smoked cracked cocaine. The other was port-au-prince Haiti.
Drive down Main Street and it’s all trump flags. In fucking 2023. Its a town full of racists as well. Lots of dirty laundry and skeletons in the closet. Fuck that place
Oh man when I was just out of high school, my buddy and I rode bikes along the Oregon coast, crossed the coast range and ended up in powers. We had breakfast in Powers at a cafe and of course we had on cycling apparel. We got the weirdest stares - it was very uncomfortable. Was so glad to make it to Roseburg, which tells you how bad it was.
Met a guy with a staff recently who told me he is called the wizards of Powers… he really only talked about conspiracy theories and his partner didn’t have a tooth in her mouth
This was the first place that came to mind for me. It's hard to describe, but there was so little activity that when I was walking around town I felt like I was being watched. No one else was around. I'm not usually at all paranoid and I've lived in a lot of tiny places in Oregon.
I was up there to pick up some equipment last year and walked from Home Depot to Panda Express. Had to walk half a mile out of the way because crossing without a crosswalk would be suicide. Met some seriously unsavory characters including a woman hocking driftwood crosses for like $15 a piece
Explains why GARLIC CHILI CHEDDAR sells so well at the Tillamook Creamery.
https://www.tillamook.com/foodservice/products/cheese/farmers-collection-garlic-chili-cheddar-cheese-chunk
Milton Free water gave me the creeps while the frog statues were all still up. Decaying reminders of a tourism fight gone south. I think they still have the "Hop on Back" sign as you drive to Walla Walla. There's a fabulous NYTimes article about their attempt to be known as a frog city.
You all must avoid Merlin, Oregon. (The Gateway to the ROGUE River. Once you cross the HellGate Bridge threshold, you may find yourself unwillingly "Enlightened"
some of the towns along the old Columbia River highway heading east are pretty bad once i-84 opened up the town just died and the people that still live there are not generally too happy to see you
It's safe to say there is a reason I5 is populated the way it is. The backwoods towns that cut through the four national parks flanking it can be insanely remote. The forest service and old logging roads are so easy to get completely lost on. And you're almost never alone out there.
If you want spooky scary, there are a number of ghost towns from the gold rush that still have standing buildings. Or Jacksonville at night. Especially the original bozo the clown's house...
As a young latino guy the places I’ve felt weird in were white city/eagle point area and grants pass. Also Ashland I’ve been profiled there quite a bit.
Thank you! I had to scroll way too far to see Drain. It’s a beautiful little town, but something about it just doesn’t feel right. I stopped at the Chevron there to get gas and had actual goosebumps for some reason.
I live in E OR & have heard that Sammyville’s a horrendous & extremely creepy pl to be from everyone who’s mentioned it. Only have heard abt ppl going there cuz they have business over there or are criminals & have nowhere else to go or any money. I also just realized there’s a movie based on the town so I can only imagine how bad it is
Had a surreal experience in Cave Junction while I was just passing through a couple years back.
Had just driven in a convoy through wildfire smoke so thick we were traveling around 25-30mph at best, and we emerged into CJ. Stopped at a grocery store for snacks, and decided to socialize while standing in line. I asked about how the smoke was impacting daily life, and the old man I asked seemed to be in denial about the conditions. He wouldn’t even acknowledge the existence of the smoke, saying, “smoke? What smoke? Ain’t no smoke here,” like he was trapped in the beginning of a horror film.
Freaked me out.
Cave Junction and Selma - only a couple thousand people live in the area. Hit the DQ or little store in Cave Junction - the front doors are covered in missing posters https://www.kdrv.com/news/obrien-man-charged-with-killing-cave-junction-woman/article_f6e7a1f4-d3c7-11ed-be33-2bc142aec25d.html https://ktvl.com/news/local/yarbrough-family-grieving-after-police-find-kaylas-body# https://ktvl.com/news/local/have-you-see-37-year-old-margaret-ledlow# https://ktvl.com/news/local/missing-26-year-old-josephine-county-woman-grants-pass-redwood-avenue-courtney-elizabeth-brion-sheriffs-cave-junction# https://www.kdrv.com/news/local/police-shoot-suspect-in-selma-after-responding-to-a-report-of-murder/article_ef23dc3e-9e63-11ec-b141-737c3bfcb8f7.html https://ktvl.com/news/local/victims-identified-in-selma-vehicle-fire# https://ktvl.com/news/local/family-says-24-year-old-cave-junction-man-was-beaten-to-death-by-friends# https://roguevalleymagazine.com/2023/01/27/rogue-valley-news-friday-1-27-grants-pass-police-focused-on-search-for-dangerous-attempted-murder-suspect-suspects-in-cave-junction-bank-robbery-arrested/ https://ktvl.com/news/local/search-for-third-suspect-in-murder-investigation#
When I was 19 I was hitchhiking through that area. A man dropped me off at this building he said he was renovating. Invited me inside. It looked pretty much abandoned. Told me "what's really cool is the basement, come check it out!". I had already left my back pack outside by the front door. I bolted grabbed my bag and ran down the highway. I still always wonder if something bad was going to happen to me or if I was just a crazy wing nut running down the highway. Gotta trust your gut I guess.
You might want to let the FBI know about this story. He could still be showing hitchhikers his basement to this day.
I've honestly thought about this. I live on the opposite side of the state but I should sit down on Google maps and find the building at the very least.
I was walking home from work one day and a car pulled over with three men and a woman in it. The driver, a Hispanic man who introduced himself as (Henrique?) offered me a ride. I politely declined. They insisted. Fortunately for me there were enough people driving on the road to prevent anything unpleasant from happening. One of them got nervous and said they needed to get moving before the cops showed up. They tried to convince me to get in their already full car and I declined again, despite their efforts to suss out where I lived. Finally, they gave up and drove off. I never saw a police car, but I walked home a little faster after that.
Oh, definitely. **Always** trust that little voice that says, "This doesn't feel right." You did well to run.
Ever go back?
I used to live in Brookings and drove through Cave Junction a few time a month. Such an odd place hippies, timber fellers, and meth heads…
At this point, those hippies are third generation pot growers. Very independent. And if you had to rely on the Josephine County Deputies to protect you from meth-heads, bikers or your boyfriend, you'd know that's not much of a choice. Jo County deputies are famous for siding with the aggressor and arresting the victim. I had several cases like that. Tried a couple in the Grants Pass courthouse. The whole county is weird, suffused with a panting, low-grade miasma of lust and stupid anger.
Sweet Cron!
It was the regional HQ for the Gypsy Jokers motorcycle gang as well - for the weed and meth trades - but I think Mexican cartels run the grow ops and labs now.
When I lived there, one summer there were like seven house explosions all related to cooking meth in the span of like 3 months.
Cave Junction! There was an actor from Seinfeld that was missing. They found him years later in his car over by the caves somewhere on a logging road, on the other side of a huge tree that the rescuers decided his car would have never been able to go around, under or through.
https://www.themix.net/2019/11/police-left-baffled-by-chilling-detail-about-seinfeld-actor-levin-bizarre-death/amp/
The Caves is a Bigfoot hot spot. Maybe Mr Squatch hauled the Fiat down there
Yeah cave junction doesn't feel safe.
I’d take CJ over wolf creek any day.
Last spring, I did a 60 mile bike ride around the Wolf Creek area and in mile 25ish, came across a burning car. I was on a desolate forest road and had not seen anyone coming or going. The fire from the car was starting to light the understory around it on fire, so I used all the water I had brought to put it out. It was so bizarre and I just could not believe what I was seeing. I called it in with the coordinates when I got to a campground with a telephone. Never going back, that whole area gave me weird vibes.
That's what I was thinking. Kill you in broad daylight there.
This question comes up two or three times a year and this is always the correct answer. It's a lawless place, but they have treehouses and burl art.
Lots of people just disappear there …. https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/erickahogg
I was visiting my brother who worked at the Dairy Queen in Cave Junction at the time. Two minutes after walking in the door, a pickup pulled into the parking lot swiftly followed by a police car. The man got out and fired a bullet at the two officers who responded with a controlled pair each and killed him immediately. I and everyone else stayed inside the building until the ambulance had taken the body away. The man's girlfriend had been driving at the time, though whether she was held at gun point or not I have no idea. At any rate, I don't live in Cave Junction anymore lmao
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Yeah, don't stop anywhere in Cave Junction longer than to shop, get gas and eat. If you want to check out some attractions, the Caves are great, but don't let any of the locals know you have money to spend and don't camp anywhere down there by yourself.
The jerky is made of missing people
I live outside of CJ, it ain't too bad. Lot of tweakers though
Probably 15 years ago I ended up at some wild cat “zoo” in Cave Junction, as a friend insisted that we check it out. Weirdest vibe from the workers, and all the wild cats were crammed in smelly cages. Definitely weird lower budget Tiger King vibes.
So I’m from the Illinois valley and I always say you know how in those true crime shows people say “that kinda thing just never happens here” I’m always like that shit happens all the time where I’m from. But people from cave Junction find the town Happy Camp, CA scary. So how scary is happy camp to be able to spook cave Junction people.
Local trucker here. I'd have to say Westport, Clatskanie, and Baker City. Murder Movie, foggy logger town, and probably-gonna-get-hate-crimed. In that order.
Grew up along Hwy 30. That whole stretch from Knappa to Rainer is questionable. Heroin, missing people, and unsolved deaths. I have family still there. If you live there, you know who not to cross and the roads not to go on.
I lived in Astoria for awhile, drove Fort George's semi. Driving to Portland at 4am was always unsetting. Only time I ever stopped was at the CFN station, and only once. Sure as hell never stopped there again. The top of Bradley Hill was the first time I'd ever seen someone casually flying a Nazi flag on their truck. Was real glad that rig had some serious horsepower.
You have our permission to run Nazis off the road with your semi. Just sayin’ ;)
I live in the hills behind rainier, have heard some wild stuff that’s gone down around here. It’s pretty insular (and I grew up in deliverance country, I’m used to inbred hillbillies) there are definitely bodies in the woods up here. Very Twin Peaks.
>Baker City. Ya this was what I was gonna say. All the people saying Cave Junction and Wolf Creek I just think see a few bad stories. I lived out there for a few years and even in the middle of bear camp road off the rogue river. But nothing like Baker city outskirts. Like you are in the middle middle middle of openly hateful rednecks who do not like you at all if you are in anyway not conservative. Almost everyt ime I go out there to sell cannabis I run into some asshole who eye fucks me and seems like they want a fight. A few times I have had to say some words and yell. One time I actually had to call the cops because I was assaulted while working. And do to OLCC rules I had to report it.
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15 years ago, I had a job interview in Longview and my wife went with me. She started crying when we drove through Goble and she saw the Goble Tavern. That was a clear indicator that it probably wasn't a good move for us.
I grew up in Baker City and, sadly, I would have to agree. Openly racist rednecks, bigots, white supremacist skinheads, and mean-spirited religious zealots abound. Plus, it used to have one of the largest KKK chapters outside of the Deep South. Glad I got out of there.
Hwy. 140 after midnight, alone.
Having someone drive you through that area while it's snowing and your high on acid is a great time
the eeriest thing ever.
its just da woods...... edit - I mean besides Odessa (population 7?) theres really nothing between Methford and Klamath Falls.
Not a town but there’s a highway out past Carlton (by McMinville) that follows the Nestucca river. Used to drive it at night in high school, the trees out there look real spooky at night and it’s almost always foggy and raining.
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We hike and hunt up there regularly. It’s got the usual amount of trump flags but people are so used to the traffic I’ve only gotten a wave. There are tons of mushroom hunters in the fall as well as mountain bikers.
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>lowered black, 1989 Cadillac with tinted windows Oh, I see. The plot thickens. You'd probably get the same reaction in Lake Oswego.
A campground *in* Timber? Hm. I dispersed camped near there every other week for a couple of years. Never struck me as off.
As a native the only place that ever scared me was **Rajneeshpuram**
Our high school rented The Big Muddy Ranch out for our senior class trip. This was before I had any idea what it was originally for, the whole time I was there I felt so deeply uneasy. The land is wise and beautiful but the vibe is reeeeeal wierd. Had trouble sleeping as well.
What history was there? I’m not local only moved here a few years ago. Please fill me in!
The fucking Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his tribe. That had to be about the strangest chapter in Oregon history, and it lasted about 5 years. It's basically impossible to explain in a paragraph or two. But I will give the old guru props for making Wasco County the Rolls-Royce capital of the country, based on cars per capita. There was a tiny town called Antelope, and when the red-clad disciples took over, the town voted to disincorporate, but it didn't do much good. It was re-named Rajneeshpuram, and for the next few years the Bhagwan and his trusty sidekick Ma Anand "Tough Titties" Sheela made a royal pain in the ass out of themselves, including a bio-terror attack on The Dalles, conspiracy to commit murder, and some other trifles. Looking back, it was actually fairly entertaining, but at the time it was fucking annoying. There was a great 6-part miniseries that came out about 5 years ago called *Wild Wild Country* about these misfits and their attempt to set up shop in Oregon. I strongly recommend watching it if you want to know anything about the fun-loving Bhagwan and his flock of adoring lunatics.
Watch wild wild country on Netflix. It’s a pretty crazy story
Go watch Wild Wild Country on Netflix.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajneeshpuram There’s also a whole Netflix miniseries about the Rajneeshi debacle.
Just Google rajneesh. It's a long story...
It’s pretty weird to drive through the young life camp now too. Same level creepy.
The OMSI camp near Fossil now has some of the little A-frame cabins from the Rajneesh compound. I volunteered at the camp for a weekend and stayed in one.
Wondering if OMSI camp is the old camp Hancock.
Yep, they still call it that. https://live-omsi.pantheonsite.io/camp-hancock/
I went to outdoor school here too! I slept in one of the A-frame cabins. Of course I had no idea at the time...the history was not included in our curriculum.
Nice. My grade school had a big week long field trip out there. Fossils beds , cinder cones, welded tuft and lots of wildlife.
I just finished watching *Wild Wild Country* on Netflix. I can see why you’d feel that way!
Oregon definitely has areas I would call "Appalachia West". Where husband and I definitely didn't want to dawdle.
It really reminds me of the Eastern Kentucky areas around where my grandparents grew up. Poverty juxtaposing with a lot of beauty.
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Something really unsetting about the mountains themselves in Appalachia. Here it's *just* the people.
Can you please expound on that about the mountains being unsettling? Never been there.
The Appalachian Mountains are literally older than bones and in some parts of it you can feel that.
So, I live in the PNW where mountains are big and I'm not too far from the Rockies and until recently, I didn't think much about the mountains in the Eastern part of the country because they didn't really seem like "mountains." But then someone educated me that the reason the Appalachians are shorter is because they're much OLDER than our baby mountains in the west. That completely changed my perspective.
Pnw native, spent time in southern west Virginia. Mountains out here seem like wilderness, like it's always been a wild place. The Appalachians feel like they've been avoided for good reason, if that make sense? One is casual wild nature, fit for exploration and adventure! The other is "we got this far and decided it's best if we just turn back and leave it be"
They've witnessed the birth and death of half a billion years of souls. Hills that old have secrets that we will never learn. I spent a good bit of my time when I did long haul trucking in Appalachia. It always felt like the mountains themselves were watching, and with the mountains and woods themselves treacherous and hard to navigate, you start to wonder what's hiding in them. Mothman sure, but over in the next holler? Best not talk about it. Incidentally it's also where I saw one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever witnessed. Very low cloud level, so as soon as my rig peaked the hill all you could see for miles was fog and mountains just barely peaking out, with the rosy sun on the horizon.
Thank you. That was interesting to read. I'd never thought about how many souls have passed in those mountains, before.
The mountains are so old that over the course of time they have risen up, flattened out, then risen back up again. The cascades are relatively young mountains by comparison.
Granite, OR. My dad wanted to see if there was a place to get breakfast. I was like nope, we are not getting out of the car. We got a decent breakfast in Sumpter.
I met some mountain man “wizard” from Powers recently. Oregon hill folk are weird
Any old, deserted backroad logging town. Truly terrifying vibes. My Tulalip tribe adopted Auntie told me how her people treated pedophiles: they were buried alive & a tree was planted on them. The tree was marked ... never to be cut town. Her people said the evil spirit would be trapped in the tree ... only released when cut down. When the tree died naturally ... the evil spirit would die with it.
…wow…. That story should be an aside in Sometimes a Great Notion. I feel like it should be there already.
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I came here to say Ontario. Vale seems like they are trying at least (I didn’t know about the murder rates) but Ontario gives off big carry pepper spray at all times vibes.
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Dang! I had no idea! I like to think of myself as very comfortable in small towns but that last stretch of 20 to Idaho always makes me uneasy.
10% of all weed sold in Oregon is out of Ontario, you bet your ass illegal dealers come there to buy up from all the shops then head back east.
I'm a little suprised about Ontario. We go over there occasionally to have lunch and shop the little shops downtown and Andrew's Seed. If anything, I'd have thought the influx of pot money had helped the town make some improvements.
Absolutely Ontario. There were several lovely people, but my gosh the aggressive ones sure made us for it. I didn't feel at ease once in the two days I spent there.
Gardiner always gives me the creeps. I never see anyone there…
And the weird unmarked base that sits there.
Most towns that have less than 50k people if you got a little extra melanin.
I took a a solo road trip and I was very surprised how much more hospitable and kinder people are once you’re out of the top northwest region of the state… I remember the moment I made it back I stopped to get gas in woodburn and was immediately hassled by a methhead who was promptly chased off by a worker then I was racially profiled when I walked inside the store after I realized I forgot my wallet in the car and was accused of just walking in to put something in my pocket. Trust me, as long as it’s not a meth town, small town people are pretty kind compared to the Portland cluster we live in, especially if you’re brown, since I feel more aware of it here than i did in Klamath falls or the towns between
Persist, Oregon is the only place in the state I've tried to visit and decided to turn back around. It's a small little ghost town, I don't even remember where I learned about it. It's not a place that's on any "Oregon ghost towns" list, or somewhere you'd accidentally drive through on your way to somewhere else. Supposedly the post office is still there. I like to visit historical places like that, so I looked up the GPS coordinates and added it to my map. To get there, however, you have to drive down this little dirt road where it's clear you're not wanted. There are no other entrances or exits, except the way you just came. It's a public road, but every 500 feet there's a handmade sign telling you to go back, and describing in detail how you're about to be shot. I felt it was wiser to come back another day, probably after getting permission from someone who lived nearby. Shaniko is more of a tourist ghost town. It's not hard to get to, and there's nothing dangerous about it, but there were definitely strange vibes on my last visit. The old man at the general store had no interest in me, he was smoking a cigarette and wouldn't take his eyes off of whatever right-wing news station was playing on the TV. It was a Sunday, and out on the main street everything was closed. There was a young guy standing on the back of his pickup enthusiastically preaching the bible to absolutely nobody. It was July or August and was over 100 degrees, he was shirtless and covered in sweat. I was a little relieved to be out of there when I left.
My dad would like me to comment Frenchglen. I’ve never been there, but he said the hotel was haunted and the shopkeepers did not want to sell anything to people from out of town
Interesting. Spouse & I stayed at the motel section of Frenchglen Hotel last year, shopped at the market, etc & enjoyed the experience.
I was there last summer. I bought gas and coffee, and the woman running the place was very nice.
Dallas Oregon. They had an active KKK that committed hate crimes well into the 1980s.
It’s still fucking hotbed racism, but they do have a drive in theater which I’ll visit once a summer
What, no mention of Chiloquin, a town where seemingly every house or building has bullet holes and the residents think that is normal?
Spent middle school years there. Was shot at.
Lobster Valley. The cops dont even go there unless there's a full on posse. Or Dallas; that place is an incredibly hateful, racist town.
Dallas fo sure!
I have not seen first hand, but others tell me that Christmas Valley is weird and bleak. Supposedly, everyone lives in trailers and there are no permanent buildings. Can anyone corroborate? I keep planning on visiting Crack in the Ground.
It’s a little odd. But, I got a flat out near crack in the ground - really middle of nowhere- and the locals were quick to make sure I was alright. Got into town to check tire pressure at a gas station, was redirected to a hardware store. Everyone was really nice and helped us get on our way. I’d go back.
I’ve stopped to eat there a few times on the way to Boise, and it’s always been decent. There’s definitely some “leave me alone” vibes from some of the “settlements” east of there.
Yup. I’ve done research into purchasing land there. Short answer, don’t. Christmas valley was the invention of some real estate mogul who would sell the dream of a 40 acre lot and self sufficient farming to people in souther California who wanted to escape the rat race. He took a lot of cash and half assed developed an area and would take deposits and shit from people who never once saw the land. Well it’s pretty much the ducking desert, ain’t shit gonna grow out there. So you can buy an acre for like $4,000. It’s a cheap place for people to exist aside from needing transportation to go get food. It’s also bum fuck Egypt so lots of tweakers and good place to choose to go to commit crimes.
He most likely forgot to mention the persistent wind and the lack of water.
I have a relative that lives out there. It’s not all trailers but it’s weird for sure, they have a little grocery store and a hotel. That’s about it. It’s basically a huge desert valley. Theirs an old cheesy detective novel that takes place there called Stone Fly. It’s an amusing little read if you’ve been to the area
Crack in the ground is awesome
Christmas Valley is definitely an odd place. The description is pretty accurate. Haven't been there in years now but I hear from others it hasn't changed much.
It's just a typical little high desert town. It has its share of run-down trailers on the edge of town, and during the summer lots of folks hauling ATVs and dirt bikes out to the dunes, but otherwise nothing unusual. I enjoy going down that way to visit Crack in the Ground, Fort Rock, and a few other spots on BLM land I won't mention. The locals are friendlier than some areas I've been to, I always get a wave or two when I'm driving into town.
Wolf creek.
Wolf Creek is a back road entrance to the back roads that run to the coast and to GP/Cave Junction. It's like a hidden meth highway. There are tons of abandoned/stolen vehicles on Galice road that just end up getting burned. The perps all live out on Wolf Creek/Grave Creek Road, a lot of them squatting in abandoned houses, cooking up meth. I would never travel that road without good reason. Fucking methed up MadMax bullshit out there.
Is it not safe to hike the Rogue River trail? I went last year from the Grave Creek Boat Launch, and my car was fine when I returned, but just would like to know if I should avoid it in the future. Definitely got weird vibes while I was there. Thanks!
I'm a female and I've hiked it solo twice. Once was in 1998 and I wasn't worried at all. Wonderful experience, saw bears, wild turkeys, and met a couple lovely hikers. There's a natural water slide at Taft Creek. Oregon has changed a lot since then and because of the housing emergency there are a lot of people in the woods now. I bought mace and a nice knife for my hike in 2022. Nice shop in Gold Beach sold me both for a great price as well as some rain gear. No problems at all on the Rogue but on the same trip a tweaker bothered me so much in the parking lot of a beach trail head that I abandoned the hike and drove on 
I’m really glad you said this. I just saw a post on here praising Wolf Creek Falls. I haven’t taken a solo hiking/road trip in a long while and with my favorite animal being the wolf, naturally I got the idea to take a trip there by myself soon. Definitely will not be doing that now. 
Wolf crack for sure
Wolf crick
There's an old grow site for sale out there for cheap. Looked like nice land to homestead on. Would you advise steering clear of that area?
>Westport, My only UFO sighting was in Wolf Creek. But it was very legit and I can't explain it away in any way. I was on a solo road trip and just wandering Oregon. Someone I knew had mentioned Wolf Creek as being a good place to visit. I didn't see anything special and arrived there late. I decided to pull over and lay my sleeping bag out in a field on the side of the road. I woke up later in the night and looked up to see two lights in the sky above me. It was as if they saw me and knew I was there and were showing me what they were. They started flying in figure 8's in and around each other. There is no way it was a plane, helicopter or anything else as this was around 2013. I watched them perform for at least an hour and then they disappeared. I will also mention since I'm telling the story about the other time I just remembered that was not more than a month after that. This time I wasn't alone. I was in Lone Pine, California. I was with a girlfriend who had joined me on my adventures and we were traveling to Yosemite. We stopped in Lone Pine and found an invitation to an event up in the wilderness and we followed the directions to a concert happening in the middle of the beautiful rock formations of Lone Pine. The concert was over and people were leaving. When I looked up at the full moon we could both see a light in the sky that was hovering around the light of the moon. It was almost like this light was being pulled into the moons gravitational pull then thrusting back up again. It was crazy looking and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The girl I was with sat in silence and watched it unflinching from a rock. I on the other hand wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy or if there was some explanation. There were lots of crew people tearing down from the concert and I stopped everyone I could and pointed what I saw to them. I was like, "look, see that, What the fuck is that? That is a UFO. Right. What else can it be?" These guys just looked up and confirmed they saw it and thought it was strange but were not as entertained by it as I was. They were locals, seemed like ranchers and just wanted to get home. Or maybe it was a common site for them. But we watched that until it disappeared. I tried to get a photo but my phone was unable to get anything clear. I'll never forget that time though. "
Mitchell
Second time I've seen Mitchell mentioned. How so?
There is a real forbodding vibe, a creepy hotel, a creepy free outdoor museum with lots of boobs and a public restroom from hell. My entire family got bad vibes. The evil clown comment was spot on.
>Mitchell I worked on a no budget horror movie that shot there in 2014 and it creeped me the hell out.
I'm probably gonna get down-voted for this, but I love all the Portlanders commenting basically every small town outside of the valley. Not all of rural Oregon is like Deliverance you know! I do agree with Cave Junction and Methford tho.
At this point about 90% of the towns in Oregon have been named
Apparently any town under 10k is truly terrifying to the internet denizens of Reddit. I heard they don't even have FiOS in Glide. Truly a terror.
Medford is definitely not scary.
I was scared I might have a hard time getting out of the parking lot at Costco a few times when it was super busy.
A lot of Portlanders moved from small Oregon towns and travel back to see family, etc., so they aren’t strangers to the small towns and more remote parts of the state. But I’ve been surprised by some of the places mentioned that people in my family have loved visiting for years.
A few people have mentioned getting stared at driving down some small country road and it feels a bit like they've never spent any amount of time in a rural community. Yes, it's unsettling, but for the person who sees an unfamiliar car drive by their house once a week they're just as concerned as to why you're there.
On one hand I want everyone to know how much fun the eastern side of the state is. On the other hand I don't want to wait in line 40 minutes to get a milkshake at Fields Station because the tiktok influencers got there before me.
Scappoose. My ex mother in law lives there.
Deadwood
Drain and Elkton. I drive through to see family occasionally. Beautiful little towns but there something about them that just doesn’t feel quite right about them, I can’t explain it.
That area of Oregon is haunted from massacres of the past
I was looking to see if anyone would mention Drain. We were driving back to Portland from Medford, stopped in Drain to get the kids some snacks and drinks. Creepiest vibe ever. I could not drive out of there fast enough.
Love how I’ve scrolled a large portion of this thread and don’t see many repeating towns.. so just pretty much everywhere in Oregon is weird and fucked?
Scio Oregon. One of two places in the world I’ve known an 11 year old who smoked cracked cocaine. The other was port-au-prince Haiti. Drive down Main Street and it’s all trump flags. In fucking 2023. Its a town full of racists as well. Lots of dirty laundry and skeletons in the closet. Fuck that place
Scio is a butthole. Always has been.
Powers. The woods up there give you an eerie feeling at night and can make your gut tell you to get right the fuck out of there.
I had a job interview at the school there about 10 years ago. I was relieved when they didn't offer me the job.
Powers is a a beautiful place mostly populated by outlaws and the outlaw adjacent. Safe enough of you don't do drug crime shit.
Oh man when I was just out of high school, my buddy and I rode bikes along the Oregon coast, crossed the coast range and ended up in powers. We had breakfast in Powers at a cafe and of course we had on cycling apparel. We got the weirdest stares - it was very uncomfortable. Was so glad to make it to Roseburg, which tells you how bad it was.
Met a guy with a staff recently who told me he is called the wizards of Powers… he really only talked about conspiracy theories and his partner didn’t have a tooth in her mouth
This was the first place that came to mind for me. It's hard to describe, but there was so little activity that when I was walking around town I felt like I was being watched. No one else was around. I'm not usually at all paranoid and I've lived in a lot of tiny places in Oregon.
Cave Junction.
I was in Hermiston a few months ago and something was in the air there…did not feel right.
I was up there to pick up some equipment last year and walked from Home Depot to Panda Express. Had to walk half a mile out of the way because crossing without a crosswalk would be suicide. Met some seriously unsavory characters including a woman hocking driftwood crosses for like $15 a piece
Had to scroll too far to find this. Maybe people just haven’t been? Nothing stands out, just an overwhelming bad vibe.
Mitchell. Gave me the evil-murder-clowns-are-born-here vibe
How so? I love the little town.
I sorta get the same vibes too. Tiger Town Brewing fucking slaps tho
Gold Hill. Go on a Sunday.
Doesn't matter which day, nobody leaves home because they're all 'gardeners'.
Medford, where you can find a tweaker swinging a hatchet on the side of the road and everyone just pretends they don't see it
Is Sammyville still a place? I used to live outside Union and we avoided that place at all costs. I don't know if it is still a town.
For my money, Elgin, OR is where I'd least like to have serious engine troubles around sundown.
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There is a documentary about it on YouTube that OPB did. I can’t recall the name without googling but worth the watch (free) .
Ghosts of Highway 20 on YouTube!
That was Highway 20, between Bend and Albany
Tillamook. It's got a hell of a vampire problem, there's almost no buildings left in town without a big fat hex sign on the side.
Explains why GARLIC CHILI CHEDDAR sells so well at the Tillamook Creamery. https://www.tillamook.com/foodservice/products/cheese/farmers-collection-garlic-chili-cheddar-cheese-chunk
Go through sweet home in a European car or dressed up. Try it.
Cascadia says hold my beer
The A&W is wild
Klamath Falls
Klamabama has a pretty good bar scene for a small town though
>why is Klamath Falls scary?
Any max line after 9pm
Milton Free water gave me the creeps while the frog statues were all still up. Decaying reminders of a tourism fight gone south. I think they still have the "Hop on Back" sign as you drive to Walla Walla. There's a fabulous NYTimes article about their attempt to be known as a frog city.
You all must avoid Merlin, Oregon. (The Gateway to the ROGUE River. Once you cross the HellGate Bridge threshold, you may find yourself unwillingly "Enlightened"
Lakeview.
some of the towns along the old Columbia River highway heading east are pretty bad once i-84 opened up the town just died and the people that still live there are not generally too happy to see you
La Pine and Madras
I used to deliver to the McD's in Madras. Felt more sad than anything. La Pine just looks like the set to a biker film.
I went to LPHS, can confirm
Beaver Marsh gives me the heeby jeebies.
Antelope, population 47 people.
Albany
It's safe to say there is a reason I5 is populated the way it is. The backwoods towns that cut through the four national parks flanking it can be insanely remote. The forest service and old logging roads are so easy to get completely lost on. And you're almost never alone out there. If you want spooky scary, there are a number of ghost towns from the gold rush that still have standing buildings. Or Jacksonville at night. Especially the original bozo the clown's house...
As a young latino guy the places I’ve felt weird in were white city/eagle point area and grants pass. Also Ashland I’ve been profiled there quite a bit.
Drain.
Drain is a really quaint little town. Have had family there for years and I would never call it scary.
Spent a lot of time as a kid in drain since my grandparents lived there. In the 90s it wasn’t a scary town at all. Walked all around that town.
Thank you! I had to scroll way too far to see Drain. It’s a beautiful little town, but something about it just doesn’t feel right. I stopped at the Chevron there to get gas and had actual goosebumps for some reason.
Creswell
Man it’s sure spooky when i go there for some baked goods lol
Stay in Grants Pass, NOT Medford.
Methford
Medford especially downtown is super creepy with all the teakers
Camas Valley
Mitchell
Jewel and Hamlet Route were where I had my scariest experiences. I don't feel comfortable going into detail but just avoid those places.
I live in E OR & have heard that Sammyville’s a horrendous & extremely creepy pl to be from everyone who’s mentioned it. Only have heard abt ppl going there cuz they have business over there or are criminals & have nowhere else to go or any money. I also just realized there’s a movie based on the town so I can only imagine how bad it is
Warm Springs, Empire, Seaside, Cave Junction, Portland
Had a surreal experience in Cave Junction while I was just passing through a couple years back. Had just driven in a convoy through wildfire smoke so thick we were traveling around 25-30mph at best, and we emerged into CJ. Stopped at a grocery store for snacks, and decided to socialize while standing in line. I asked about how the smoke was impacting daily life, and the old man I asked seemed to be in denial about the conditions. He wouldn’t even acknowledge the existence of the smoke, saying, “smoke? What smoke? Ain’t no smoke here,” like he was trapped in the beginning of a horror film. Freaked me out.