Forest Living in Oregon (Medford, Bend: real estate, crime, buying a house)

[ForestDwellerCA]

Greetings!

I have always loved Oregon (and NorCal). I am looking to retire and relocate to NorCal or Oregon to return to a simple life among the trees. Redwoods, sequoias and pines are healing for me. My days are spent primarily in yoga and meditation (8+ hours daily), plus spiritual study (2+ hours daily).

I am seeking help from others who may be more familiar with Oregon (or NorCal) forests where living can be comfy without being overly burdensome off the grid living.

My needs are few:

1) To live in a forested area with old growth redwoods and/or sequoias and/or pines.
2) Silence (or profound silence, other than the sounds of nature) are very important to me.
3) Electricity, water, basic utilities available (I'm open to satellite internet, solar power, well water, etc if municipal utilities are not available, but I don't want to rely on hauling water or using power generators).
4) To be within an hour or so from a natural foods/organic produce store and/or farmers market.

If it helps, you can imagine a forested zen-like yoga/meditation retreat type of environment as the ideal.

My total budget is roughly $1M but I'd love to spend less (and can spend up to $2M for the right opportunity).

I've spent countless hours on Google, real estate sites, YouTube, etc trying to learn more, but please forgive any of my ignorance; perhaps it is wiser to reach out on forums like this to see what I can learn from more experienced people. If there's another forum better suited to the information I seek, please let me know.

I've already started looking around Siskiyou County and am open to explore neighboring regions if anyone has recommendations (anywhere in Oregon or NorCal would be acceptable).

Any/all recommendations or advice is welcomed and appreciated.

Sincerely,
A hopeful forest dweller

Note: cross-posted in CA forum for obvious reasons

[Hemlock140]

We looked at homes in Sandy Oregon a few years ago, and even went with a realtor to look at a few, one on the river. Many of the homes there would suit your needs at about $750k and up. Unfortunately the house we looked at washed away in a flood the next winter.

Sandy also has brand new homes now in cookie-cutter developments as low as $450k, most of the woodsy ones are older.

[Arktikos]

Most Pacific coast conifers are not redwoods or pines. For Oregon, Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock and Western Red Cedar are predominant. Pacific silver fir is a very attractive, less common species. I believe Sequoia is only found on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Not sure about this.

We have the first two trees mentioned above in great abundance here in SE Alaska. No coastal redwoods or red cedar, however.

[NW Crow]

What is your preference on snow? If you want low snow, you'll want low elevation.

Maybe east of Gold Beach along Rogue River, or Myrtle Point. 10-20 miles from Brookings?


Applegate might be too dry for you, but pretty quiet for being close to Medford.

Shady Cove might work but inquire about property crime issue. Check snowfall.

East or south of Cottage Grove?

Eastern 2/3rds of state might not quite be your forest ideal but maybe look at places like Ukiah (west of La Grande) or La Pine or even Gilchrist / Crescent (south of Bend) or Parkdale (south of Hood River) or east of Prineville.


Google can probably tell you where meditation centers are, if you want proximity to possibly similarly minded folks.


If you gave indication of your top candidates so far and why, you might get recommendations closer to the mark. How big a town / city do you prefer within an hour? Do you want much of a small town right nearby or prefer not?

[Metlakatla]

Dunsmuir. I also wouldn't overlook Del Norte and Humboldt counties.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

If you want old growth redwoods or sequoias, your options are very limited. They are along some of the California coast in Northern California and there is a very small grove of Pacific redwoods located on the southern coast of Oregon. The biggest and best trees are mostly located in state or national parks.

If you want pine forest, you are looking at the back side of the Cascade range in Oregon and I don't know where in California. There are some old growth Ponderosa pines in Sisters, Oregon.

You want a place with full amenities but no people. That's going to be impossible to find. No one can put in amenities if they don't have a strong customer base.

I wonder if your budget will do it for you. Three generations of my family lived on 200 acres in Central Oregon, and there was no silence. On 200 acres you are not away from people. You can still hear traffic, trains, dogs barking, neighbors talking, cows mooing, kid screaming and riding dirt bikes, and just about any noise that humans make.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by ForestDwellerCA

Greetings!

I have always loved Oregon (and NorCal). I am looking to retire and relocate to NorCal or Oregon to return to a simple life among the trees. Redwoods, sequoias and pines are healing for me. My days are spent primarily in yoga and meditation (8+ hours daily), plus spiritual study (2+ hours daily).

I am seeking help from others who may be more familiar with Oregon (or NorCal) forests where living can be comfy without being overly burdensome off the grid living.

My needs are few:

1) To live in a forested area with old growth redwoods and/or sequoias and/or pines.
2) Silence (or profound silence, other than the sounds of nature) are very important to me.
3) Electricity, water, basic utilities available (I'm open to satellite internet, solar power, well water, etc if municipal utilities are not available, but I don't want to rely on hauling water or using power generators).
4) To be within an hour or so from a natural foods/organic produce store and/or farmers market.

If it helps, you can imagine a forested zen-like yoga/meditation retreat type of environment as the ideal.

My total budget is roughly $1M but I'd love to spend less (and can spend up to $2M for the right opportunity).

I've spent countless hours on Google, real estate sites, YouTube, etc trying to learn more, but please forgive any of my ignorance; perhaps it is wiser to reach out on forums like this to see what I can learn from more experienced people. If there's another forum better suited to the information I seek, please let me know.

I've already started looking around Siskiyou County and am open to explore neighboring regions if anyone has recommendations (anywhere in Oregon or NorCal would be acceptable).

Any/all recommendations or advice is welcomed and appreciated.

Sincerely,
A hopeful forest dweller

Note: cross-posted in CA forum for obvious reasons

Based on what little information you provide, Oregon and Siskiyou County is totally not what you are looking for. Sequoias are found along the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Range. Coastal Redwoods are found along the Northern California Coast.

You need to take a really long road trip, probably at least a month. Drive up to Bakersfield, over to the Sequoia National Forest. Then head north through the Sierras. After you get all the way through the Sierras, cut over to the coast and start heading south from Crescent City.

Make notes of the places you would like to live along the way. Then you can investigate those areas more later. That is the only way you will be able to make a right decision. You can't find out if you will like a place or not through posting on an internet forum. You have to experience it yourself.

Good luck with your search.

[Wile E. Coyote]

I would familiarize myself with flood, volcano and wildfire maps. I would locate 50 miles from any volcano. I would not live in Sandy, Oregon for that reason. Huge chunks of the forest are subject to burning every year. If it were me I would not want to live deep in the forest on a road with only one way out unless I was close to a large body of water (for a worst-case scenario). One needs defensible space around their property and a separate water source. These are all things that can be researched.

The safer place to live in Oregon is actually in a large valley that is well defended and not up against an urban growth boundary. That area supports a large population.

[Metlakatla]

Sugar pines and Douglas firs (in the pine family) are found on the western slopes of the Cascades down through the Klamath and Siskiyou Mountains.

But Idk if I'd want to move to the middle of the forest these days with all the fires. As the poster above said, having just one way out could end badly. I also don't think it's going to be easy to find that mixture of total silence and proximity to amenities that the OP's looking for.

[NORTY FLATZ]

From the people that I know, that have tried "off-the-grid, simplistic living" they unanimously all say this: "It's NOT easy and carefree. And, it's A LOT more expensive than buying a house and living in a city/neighborhood."

Now, as far as the legality of living amongst the trees and frogs, that's another cross to bear...

Finding a place (escapism) on this planet that has 9 billion people walking on it is increasingly difficult.