The course plays from 4,900 yards to the back tees at 6,852 yards, with a difficult slope of 142. The coloured sand comes from a local nickel mine. If playing up and down hills, hitting blind shots and playing out of blue-green sand bunkers is your game, this course is made for you. The Seven Feathers Hotel offers special stay-and-play golfing packages, so check there first. Myrtle Creek is also the name of the little town. This 18-hole “countryside golf course' is located 11 miles north of the casino. The entrance to Seven Feathers Casino features Skookum Hyak, the largest bronze eagle in the world. They provided the leadership and inspiration to build the casino in 1994, the hotel in 1996, and the RV park ten years later. Originally there were seven families involved-along with the seven generations who came before them. That was placed in an endowment and in 1993 was invested in a bingo hall in Canyonville. It took Washington until 1982 to somewhat correct that 1854 mistake, when a settlement was made for $1.5 million.

Scenic Canyonville is a good place to go antiquing. The Oregon Donation Land Act of 1850 allowed settlers to move into the Cow Creek and South Umpqua River Valley, and the Umpqua paid the price of assimilation with disease, poverty and death. In 1854, the federal government purchased 700 square miles of their land at three cents per acre, leaving the Umpqua landless and poor. The Umpqua Valley traditionally belonged to the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe. Seven Feathers RV Park is orderly and well-maintained. I was impressed with the wide cement roads and pads, picnic tables, insulted water taps, 70-foot pull-throughs and manicured lawns between the sites. There are 191 fully serviced sites in this pet-friendly park, with free internet, cable television, laundry facilities, fitness centre, heated pool, hot pool-and the list goes on. This park is so appealing that it just begs you to stop, for at least one night. This is a premier RV resort that consistently earns high ratings for its facilities, cleanliness and visual appeal. The resort is a popular place to spend the night and play a round of golf.

Snowbirds travelling along I-5 often stop at the Seven Feathers Casino and Resort in Canyonville, Oregon, about 25 miles south of Roseburg.

Seven feather