Mary’s Peak / Siuslaw National Forest

Albany, OR to Mary’s Peak | Camping in Siuslaw National Forest | Hiking Mary’s Peak | November 2025

When we returned to our van after our side quest, we were relieved to find it just the way we left it in the Amtrak parking lot. It was a foggy and dreary afternoon, but that was fine, we had a few chores that needed to be done and then all we wanted was to get back to hiding in the woods. Our chores consisted of getting groceries, taking care of recycling, and doing laundry, so we picked out places to go in Corvallis that were relatively close together. We made the short drive over, then knocked each errand out: food, laundromat, local cans & bottles return.

I have to admit, I was both anxious and excited to go to Corvallis. I had driven through with Charlotte back in 2017, and all I remember was seeing a rainbow spread across the sky as I drove West on US-20 on my way to the coast. Since then, this small town has been in the back of our minds as a possible place to end up one day. I had barely seen it and Curtis had never been, yet we know that someday we’d love a chance to live in the PNW, in preferably a smaller town or city close to mountains and outdoor recreation, that still has all the conveniences we enjoy — and somehow, this town seemed to check all the boxes. It even had a company Curtis was interested in working for. Over the years we’ve built it up in our minds to some pretty high standards that I doubt any town could meet. Today felt a little bit like a make or break situation — would we love it and continue calling it our someday, maybe home? Or would the illusion shatter and send us spiraling?

The answer was….neither, really. We simply completed our errands, and after a very brief consideration of doing anything else here, we decided to move on. It does seem like a nice little town, though as expected for this time of year, it was overcast and dreary, which makes it harder for me to envision myself living there. Beyond that, the company Curtis liked is moving out of the area, so if we were to end up out here, it would have to be our own decision. So, we’ll keep it on the table, and continue not making decisions, because we still like our life as it is.

Our next goal for this trip was to spend a little time in the Siuslaw National Forest, which was between Corvallis and the coast. After leaving town, we drove about an hour to the forest near Mary’s Peak area, then started down a forest road to find a dispersed camping site. We ended up finding one several miles down a road that wasn’t too muddy, and somehow had a bit of cell service, which was a surprise because we hadn’t had it anywhere else. It was a good thing we did though, because Curtis remembered that evening that he had a meeting to call into early the next morning!

After a very quiet night in the woods, we drove back up to Mary’s Peak area and parked in the day use lot. Curtis felt that this was a little like cheating because it cut off a lot of the elevation gain that he wanted to work for, but hey, if we end up living up here, he’ll be able to hike up the hard way as much as he wants. The heavy fog remained throughout our entire time on the peak, so personally I think it’s ok to take the easy route and save the harder one for when there will be more of a reward. Anyway, this peak is the second highest in the Oregon coastal range, and is a very prominent peak for Curtis’ list, and was one I’ve wanted to hike for a while as well. We grabbed our coats since the clouds and wind were making it rather chilly, then set off on our short hike up the mountain. The path we took up was a wide service road, and it wasn’t long before we were enveloped into the clouds and couldn’t even see the van in the nearby lot. The lack of wide open vistas led us to enjoy the smaller details along the way, like trees and the moss.

We made it to the peak, which was completely socked in — as expected — then decided to take a different trail back down, which took us through an old growth forest. When we made it back to the parking lot, we had a small lunch, then Curtis went to go find a letterbox while I hung out in the van. He came back panting, as the trail he took had him start heading straight down the mountain, which meant he had to regain all that elevation to make it back to me.

We debated whether we wanted to stick around here another day, but the dreary weather was really detracting from the experience in the coastal mountains, and looking at the forecast, we didn’t see it improving. However, we did see that if we just drove to the coast, we would supposedly find the sun and some warmer weather. And so to the coast we went!