Month: October 2023

Oceanside, Short Beach, Tillamook Wetlands, and Anderson Hill – 10/28/23

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 30, 2023
1 Comment on Oceanside, Short Beach, Tillamook Wetlands, and Anderson Hill – 10/28/23

A cold snap arrived in conjunction with the final hike of our official 2023 season leaving us with a decision to make about where to go. One of the great things about living in Western Oregon are the hiking options. We were debating between heading to Government Camp near Mt. Hood to see some of the new snow that the system had brought with it, or to the beach where things would be a little bit warmer. In the end we decided that we weren’t quite ready for a Winter wonderland yet, and highs in the low to mid 50s sounded a little more appealing than highs in the low to mid 30s. The beach it was where we had some unfinished business at Oceanside.

We had attempted to hike the beach at Oceanside earlier in the year on a different multi-stop day (post), but had saved it for the final stop only to find the area so crowded that there was no place to park. We wouldn’t be making that mistake again so this time it was stop number one on the itinerary. We had no issue finding a parking spot this time arriving just as the Moon was disappearing behind Three Arch Rocks.
From left to right: Storm, Finely, and Shag Rocks.

Three Arch Rocks is one of two designated wilderness areas along the Oregon Coast Managed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife as a wildlife refuge the 15-acre wilderness area was the first designated refuge West of the Mississippi and is one of only a few wilderness areas entirely closed to entry by the general public.

From the parking lot we took the stairs down to the beach and headed north toward the Tunnel which leads through Maxwell Point to Tunnel Beach.
Cape Lookout (post) to the south.

Maxwell Point

View from beside Maxwell Point.

The Tunnel was built in 1926.

The Tunnel from Tunnel Beach.

Three Arch Rocks from Tunnel Beach.

We hiked North along the beach passing a rocky point to Agate Beach before turning around where that beach ended at a cliff a little more than a third of a mile from the Tunnel.
The end of Tunnel Beach. At higher tide it’s not possible to get around the point here.

Getting closer to the end of Tunnel Beach. This set of ocean rocks are part of the Oregon Islands Wilderness, A string of of over 5,600 rocks, reefs, islets, and islands lying within three miles offshore mirroring almost the entire length of the Oregon coast from Tillamook Head to the California border. Like Three Arch Rocks this wilderness is also closed to the public.

Bald eagle on top of one of the rocks.

Seal

Agate Beach

Cape Lookout from Agate Beach.

After reaching the cliff we headed back to the Tunnel and then continued South along the beach 2.3-miles to Hodgdon Creek across from Netarts Spit (post).

An assortment of sea birds.

Maxwell Point and Cape Lookout

Sun starting to hit the Three Arch Rocks.

Sand dollar

Cormorants. There was a steady stream of flocks of birds heading south along the coastline.

Footbridge over Fall Creek.

Fall Creek

Frosty leaves near Fall Creek.

Great blue heron in a tree above Fall Creek.

Happy Camp

Hodgdon Creek

Seagulls and common mergansers near Hodgdon Creek.

Buffleheads

Netarts Spit

Happy Camp from our turn around point.

We returned the way we’d come and then drove North on Cape Meares Loop Road just under a mile and a half to a pullout across from a sign for Short Beach.
Three Arch Rocks and Maxwell Point now in full Sun.

A local built the staircase leading down to Short Beach and it is about as “Oregon Coast” as a staircase could be.

The beach only extends a short distance to the South.

The sea stack and Short Creek Spillway to the North.

We headed North along the cobblestone beach which isn’t the easiest surface to hike on, especially when they are wet and slightly frosty. On the positive side the cobblestones added some great sounds to the ocean as the waves tossed them about then rolled them over one another as the waves receded.

Starfish

The sea stack

Cape Meares (post)

I didn’t notice the little waterfall along the cliffs below Cape Mears until I looked at the pictures.

Red-throated loon

A third of a mile from the stairs we reached Larsen Creek Falls.

Apparently at low tide it’s possible to reach the cliffs below Cape Meares, but the tide was coming in and it also appeared that some sliding had occurred at some point, so we turned around a tenth of a mile beyond Larsen Creek Falls.
The area ahead in the shade is where things started looking a little sketchy.

These two beach hikes came to a total of 6.6-miles, 5.5 at Oceanside and 1.1 at Short Beach. From Short Beach we drove to Tillamook to try the Tillamook Bay Wetlands hike which I’d found as I was looking through the Oregon Hikers Field Guide. We parked at the Goodspeed Road Trailhead. The field guide entry showed this as a 3.6-mile loop following dikes through wetlands between the Wilson, Trask, and Tillamook Rivers. We were immediately confused due to the field guide mentioning a map and metal gate at the Goodspeed Trailhead but there was neither at the signed parking area.
Apparently there used to be a metal gate here instead of a the rope/chain.

We were pretty sure we’d followed the driving directions though so we stepped over the chain onto the grassy dike and began following it through the wetlands.

Bald eagles in the tree tops.

Bald eagles

The map in the field guide showed an elongated loop following what Google Maps and the GPS showed as the continuation of Goodspeed Road to the Wilson River then along that river to the Tillamook River where the route looped back along it then the Trask to Sissek Road. The dike we were on though reached a slough where it turned sharply South.
This is where the dike/path turned South. Our best guess is that there has been additional wetland restoration since the entry in the field guide and some of the dikes that the guide route followed have been removed.

We didn’t come up with our theory about what was going on until after we got home. While we were hiking we kept checking the GPS map/track and comparing it to the map in the field guide. We still weren’t sure if we really had started in the right spot given the lack of a metal gate and map at the trailhead or if we’d missed a turn somewhere. We continued to follow the dike system which looped around and after just over a half mile the GPS showed that we were on Sissek Road (now a grassy dike).
We weren’t getting across that.

Somewhere out that way, beyond the slough, was the Wilson River.

Now heading East toward Sissek Road.

At this point we had left Sissek Road which used to extend straight from Goodspeed Road where the signs and rope/chain is in this photo (ahead to the right at the 90-degree turn).

The dike system brought us to another signed parking area we’d pass on the way to the Goodspeed Road Trailhead. This one is just past a one-lane bridge over Hall Slough.

At this point we were sure we’d started at the correct trailhead and were now convinced we’d missed a turn somewhere near the start of the hike. First we tried walking a grassy track South from this parking area which brought us to another muddy slough, but not before spotting an egret and a great blue heron.

We backtracked to the parking area and then hiked Goodspeed Road back to the trailhead where I began searching for a different route.
Hawk above Goodspeed Road.

One path led down to Hall Slough ending in mud at it’s bank.

A second path led north on what the GPS showed as a former road but it was too overgrown and flooded to make it far.

We wound up doing just 1.9-miles here including the out-and-back explorations.

It was a fine little hike and we saw a nice little variety of birds, but it was a little disappointing not to be able to see any of the rivers. We had one last stop planned, another short hike I found in the Oregon Hikers Field Guide, the Anderson Hill Loop . The trail begins at Anderson Hill County Park to the right of a metal picnic table.

The 1.2-mile reverse lollipop loop gains just 130′ as it climbs to a power line corridor on Anderson Hill. The view from the power lines is of course limited due to the power lines, but the trail was in good shape and the forest was nice making for a decent little outing.

Junction with the spur trail to the power line corridor.

Footbridge and stairs leading back up to the picnic table.

The four hikes came to just 9.7-miles and 270′ of cumulative elevation gain and included ocean views, waterfalls, forests, wetlands, and ample wildlife.

It was a beautiful day weather wise and great way to end our season. We’ll scale back our hiking for the next 5-6 months, but we plan on getting out at least once a month until our 2024 season kicks off. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Tillamook Area Hikes

Diamond Peak Area High Cascades Hiking Oregon Trip report

Vivian Lake, Hemlock Butte, and Pool Creek Falls – 10/21/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 23, 2023
No Comments on Vivian Lake, Hemlock Butte, and Pool Creek Falls – 10/21/2023

After skipping a planned hike due to illness (and some less-than-ideal weather) we got back on track with a trip to the Diamond Peak Wilderness. The plan for the day was to start by taking the Vivian Lake Trail to Vivian Lake in the wilderness then hike the nearby Hemlock Butte Trail up to a former lookout site followed by a second stop to visit Pool Creek Falls. We began at the Vivian Lake Trailhead following the Vivian Lake Trail past an empty wilderness registration box and gaining some views of Diamond Peak.

The trail climbed gradually for 0.6-miles to a junction with the Diamond Peak Tie Trail. We had been at this junction before when we backpacked around Diamond Peak (post).

Along the way we entered the wilderness area.

We continued on the Vivian Lake Trail arriving at Notch Lake after another quarter mile.

We continued beyond Notch Lake arriving at the Mt. Yoran Trail junction after another 0.2-miles.

During our loop around Diamond Peak we’d turned onto the Mt. Yoran Trail here, but today we stuck to the Vivian Lake Trail which spent the next 1.2-miles climbing to a saddle. At times the trail was nearly level while at other times it launched steeply uphill. While it was too late in the year for flowers there were numerous colorful mushrooms and fungi along the way.

It looks to have been a good year for beargrass.

The trail was well maintained with only one small log across the entire route to Vivian Lake.

Another level section.

Pond along the trail.

The saddle at the high point of the trail.

After catching our breath at the saddle we began the mile and a half descent to Vivian Lake. The first two tenths of a mile the trail dropped steeply downhill to a shelf where it leveled out as it passed a pair of unnamed lakes.
Maiden Peak (post) across Highway 58 through the trees.

We passed the smaller of the two lakes a half mile below the saddle.

The second lake, which was just 100 yards from the first, was much larger.

Mt. Yoran from the lake.

Ridge above the lakes.

A tenth of a mile from the lakes the trail began another steep descent along a trickling creek before leveling out next to a marsh.
Just before beginning the descent the trail passed South of a third small pond/lake that was visible through the trees.

Heading down to the creek.

The marsh

Mt Yoran from the marsh. While it looks like a meadow, Fall Creek flows through here, and at times we could see water out in the grass.

Just 0.2-miles beyond the marsh we arrived at a junction with a spur trail to Vivian Lake.

We’d been to this junction before as well, in 2013 we had visited the lake as part of our Salt Creek Falls Hike (post). We turned left onto the spur trail and followed it a short distance to the lake.

We were able to use these rocks to hop across this narrow channel to the North shore of the lake where we were able to get a view of Mt. Yoran.

After exploring part of the northern shore I headed back across the channel and followed the trail around the South side of the lake until it petered out near a peninsula.

While I was exploring Heather was admiring the changing leaves.

When we headed back we took a brief off-trail detour from the Vivian Lake Trail to Fall Creek which we could hear from the junction with the spur trail.

After returning to the trail we headed back the way we’d come. The climb to the saddle was as steep as we’d expected so a rest was warranted prior to dropping down to Notch Lake where we stopped to watch several ducks enjoying the warm Autumn day.
Varied thrush. These continue to be the most frustrating frequently seen bird to try and photograph.

I believe these were ring-necked ducks.

Beyond Notch Lake we finally ran into some other people. We passed a single hiker on the far end of the lake and a group of six near the wilderness boundary. Those were the only people we would see on the trails all day.

Diamond Peak from the trail on the way back.

When we made it back to the trailhead we had the choice of getting in our car and driving a tenth of a mile back up Forest Road 23 to the Hemlock Butte Trail or walk there. We opted to walk and hiked past our car and up the road to the well signed trail.

The Hemlock Butte Trail is just a half mile long but gains 500′ to the site of a former fire lookout. While it was well signed, this trail was not anywhere near as well maintained as the Vivian Lake Trail had been. A number of downed trees combined with overgrown sections and some poor tread made the short climb an adventure.
Not all of the blowdown was as easy as this log to get over/under.

Multiple switchbacks kept the lower portion of the climb from feeling too steep.

The Hemlock Butte Trail succumbing to the vegetation.

The summit of Hemlock Butte is a rocky outcrop which required a fair amount of scrambling over the final 250′ to reach the small flat summit where the lookout once stood.

An obvious spur trail at the base of the rock outcrop leads to a view of Mt. Yoran and Diamond Peak. For those not comfortable with the scramble this is a good goal.

The trail to the summit at the junction with the spur.

Scrambling up

Mt. Yoran and Diamond Peak from the summit.

Wolf Mountain to the NW with clouds covering the Willamette Valley in the distance.

The view South.

Looking down from the summit. (The trail is to the right.)

Heather opted to stick to the spur trail viewpoint so after I’d taken in the view I headed back down. We decided that I would go ahead and bring the car up to the Hemlock Trail to pick her up. My hike here came in at 10.4 miles with approximately 2000′ of cumulative elevation gain.

After picking up Heather we headed for Pool Creek Falls which was located back off of Forest Road 23. The driving directions had been plugged into my phone but at some point during the first hike the route was lost and without signal we couldn’t use the phones to relocate Pool Creek. We had made note of it when we’d passed by that morning though so we started back trying to picture what the area/road had looked like because the creek was not visible from the road. Now the first 15.7 miles this road is paved (save for one very short gravel section) before turning to good gravel for the final 3.7 miles to the Vivian Lake Trailhead and we were both fairly certain that we had been on the gravel section when we’d passed by (wrong) so when we reached pavement we pulled over and used the GPS unit. We found Pool Creek on that map and confirmed that it was still about 2 miles away. We parked along the shoulder of FR23 across from the partially hidden sign announcing the trail.
The “trailhead” was just under 14 miles from Highway 58 or just over 5.5 miles from the Vivian Lake Trailhead.

The trail sign on the right. The Pool Creek Trail #4228 shows up on the Forest Service map, but they don’t have a dedicated webpage for it. We were made aware of the trail by following Hike Oregon, a good resource both online and through several guidebooks.

We had a little trouble getting started as the Forest Service and GPS maps both showed the trail following the right (East) side of the creek for a short distance before crossing over and initially there was obvious tread heading in that direction. The canyon quickly narrowed though, and we came to a large log that would have to be the trail in order for us to proceed any further but it was obvious that it wasn’t really the trail.

What looks like it might be tread ahead is actually the log.

Looking across at the other side of the creek the canyon wall seemed too vertical to be supporting a trail but we weren’t going any further on this side, so we backtracked to what looked like a faint path we had passed near the beginning. We had taken it to be a use trail down to the creek but now that we looked closer, we could make out a trail covered in leaves switchbacking up on the far side.
The Pool Creek Trail to the left of the creek. Here you can see the first switchback turning steeply uphill.

The makeshift creek crossing.

At the third switchback.

The trail was in reasonably good shape with a couple of larger logs to navigate. A little research showed that the Cascade Volunteers have this trail on their radar and had done some work on the trail in 2022.

The reason we hadn’t noticed the trail on the far side was because it climbed quite a bit in an initial series of short switchbacks so from where we had been the trail was already much higher than we’d expected it would be. In the photo Heather is coming up to the third switchback below.

These two trees are mentioned in the May 2022 trail update on the Cascade Volunteers webpage.

This one was high enough to easily pass under. On the far side are more cut logs.

Just under a half mile from the road we arrived below Pool Creek Falls.
First view of the falls from the trail.

Pool Creek Falls

After navigating a slightly slick crossing of the creek I followed a trail up to and behind the falls. We were happy to find that there was enough water flowing this time of year to get to see the falls, but it would be much more impressive in wetter seasons.

We spent some time at the waterfall then headed back to the car and drove home. It had been just under a mile with a little over 200′ of elevation gain for Pool Creek Falls. It had been an interesting day with wilderness lakes, a summit viewpoint, and a waterfall on trails in various conditions. One word of warning regarding FR23 – the paved section has some massive holes/dips and a number of sunken sections requiring alert driving. For once I had actually been looking forward to reaching the gravel portion of the road. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Vivian Lake, Hemlock Butte, and Pool Creek Falls

Tags Diamond Peak, Diamond Peak Wilderness, Fall Creek, Hemlock Butte, Hemlock Butte Trailhead, hiking, Mt. Yoran, Notch Lake, Oregon, Pool Creek Falls, Pool Creek Trail #4228, Vivian Lake, Vivian Lake Trail, Vivian Lake Trailhead, Willamette National Forest

Grants Pass Area Hiking Klamath/Siskiyou Mountains Oregon Trip report

Grayback Meadows and Babyfoot Lake – 10/09/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 14, 2023
3 Comments on Grayback Meadows and Babyfoot Lake – 10/09/2023

After double checking the weather forecast for our final two days in Grants Pass we’d decided that making an attempt at doing both of our remaining featured hikes on Monday provided us the best chance at semi-decent weather. Both trailheads were less than 40-miles from our room, but Grayback Mountain was to the SE while Babyfoot Lake was to the SW. A minor inconvenience but the extra driving in between might allow for some better weather in the afternoon at Babyfoot Lake. We’d already decided to stick to the shorter options for both hikes, partly due to the forecasted cloudy conditions and partly because Heather hadn’t been feeling well all weekend and I was feeling pretty spent after the previous two days of hiking. We began our morning under surprisingly dry skies as we left Grants Pass but soon found the rain as we neared the O’Brien Creek Lower Trailhead.

For his featured hikes Sullivan uses the O’Brien Creek Upper Trailhead but mentions a section of sharp rocks that can cause flat tires on the way to that trailhead. Starting at the lower trailhead would add 2-miles round trip but we felt it was worth not risking a flat. What we didn’t count on was how steeply sections of the 1-mile stretch would be as it climbed nearly 650′ to the upper trailhead.
O’Brien Creek near the trailhead.

It seemed like all of the climbs this weekend had been steep.

After two warm sunny days this hike finally felt like Fall.

As I approached this footbridge I noticed a yellow jacket fly into the big hole along the right side of the trail. A quick peak in revealed a busy nest so we wound up bushwacking uphill and around it hopping onto the bridge at the edge of the marsh ahead.

A nice newer looking sign at the upper trailhead.

At the upper trailhead we gave up on our rain gear. A light mist is all that was falling and our sweat from the climbing was making us wetter than the mist would. From the upper trailhead the trail followed an old roadbed for 0.2-miles.

At the end of the old roadbed this trail too decided to steepen greatly gaining approximately 900′ in nearly a mile to a junction with a spur trail to the Grayback Snow Shelter.

There were a few really big trees in the forest along the trail.

Grayback Mountain from the trail.

The trail crossing O’Brien Creek.

The junction with the spur trail to the snow shelter. It took me far too long to realize that the sign was upside down. I couldn’t figure out why it thought the Boundary Trail was to the left, after looking at it a few more times it dawned on me that the words were upside down.

Ah ha! It wouldn’t stay this way but it sure made more sense.

For the longer option to the summit of Grayback Mountain we would have taken the right-hand fork and gained another 1600′ to 1700′ over the 1.8-miles to the summit. Instead we forked left losing a little elevation over the 0.2-miles to the shelter.

There had been another car at the lower trailhead and we thought that the owner might be staying in the shelter but when we hiked past the shelter into Grayback Meadows we could hear voices in the trees.

There used to be a cabin out in the meadows and now there is a snow gauge and a campsite which may be where the voices were coming from.

We took a quick peak inside the shelter where some of the backpacker’s stuff was.

After checking out the shelter and meadows we returned the way we’d come.
It was steep going down too.

Trail pointer near the upper trailhead marking the continuation of the O’Brien Creek Trail to the lower trailhead.

We always enjoy seeing madrones on our hikes in Southern Oregon.

Slug on a shroom.

Bug on a shroom.

One more steep drop to the lower trailhead.

Our hike here came to 4.8-miles and upwards of 1750′ of elevation gain.

From the trailhead we drove North to Murphy then cut over to Highway 199 and headed back South to the Babyfoot Lake Trailhead. While the amount of precipitation during our hike to Grayback Meadows had been far less than we’d expected (we even spotted a small window of blue sky) it was raining steadily as we started up the gravel roads to the Babyfoot Lake Trailhead. Not only that but we quickly found ourselves in the cloud limiting visibility so it was a tedious 12-miles of bumpy roads.

Wind and rain met us at the trailhead and our rain jackets made a second appearance. The trail began at a signboard and traversed a hillside below Hungry Hill for 0.3-miles to a fork.

The forest is recovering from the 2002 Biscuit Fire.

To the left was the Babyfoot Lake Rim Trail. Sullivan’s longer option here include following this trail 0.9-miles to a viewpoint above the lake. Given the fog that seemed pointless, and it also looked like that trail was in need of some maintenance.

We forked right and continued to descend through the fog for nearly a mile to the lake.

A small stream with crystal clear water along the trail.

My nemesis, the varied thrush.

Near the lake the trail passes this rock outcrop which is a viewpoint without the fog.

Some of the trees around the lake survived the 2002 fire.

Babyfoot Lake lies just within the Kalmiopsis Wilderness boundary, marking just the second time (post) we’d visited this nearly 180,000-acre wilderness.

After visiting the lake we headed back up toward the car. Before we’d even made it past the rocky viewpoint the clouds began to break up revealing some patches of sunlight and blue sky.

I of course had to head out onto the viewpoint given the rapidly changing conditions.

Conditions continued to improve as we climbed back to the trailhead revealing more of the wilderness and surrounding terrain.

The patterns on this snag caught my eye.

The trailhead on the ridge ahead.

This short hike came to just 2.6-miles and 360′ of elevation gain and marked the completion of our quest to hike at least part of all 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Northern California” edition 4.2 (post).

With Southern Oregon complete, joining the Central Oregon Cascades, Coast & Coast Range, and NW Oregon & SW Washington, we are down to just 16 Eastern Oregon hikes to reach 500. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Grayback Meadows and Babyfoot Lake

Tags Babyfoot Lake, Babyfoot Lake Trail, Babyfoot Lake Trailhead, Boundary Trail, Grants Pass, Grayback Meadows, Grayback Mountain, Grayback Snow Shelter, hiking, kalmiopsis wilderness, O'Brien Creek Lower Trailhead, O'Brien Creek Trail, O'Brien Creek Upper Trailhead, Oregon, William L Sullivan

Grants Pass Area Hiking Klamath/Siskiyou Mountains Oregon Trip report

Tanner and Bolan Lakes – 10/08/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 13, 2023
2 Comments on Tanner and Bolan Lakes – 10/08/2023

After checking off two of Sullivan’s featured hikes on Saturday (post) we had another pair lined up for Sunday. Another day of clear skies and low 60-degree temperatures lay ahead as we drove from Grants Pass to our first stop at the Tanner Lakes Trailhead (note the Forest Service refers to this and the lakes as “Tannen” but Tanner is the official name used by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (the Board corrected the error in 2002 which had erroneously changed the names from Tanner to Tannen). The area here burned, like so many others in Oregon, in September 2020. For a look at the area before the Slater Fire here is a report by Just Peachy from July 2020.
There is a large turnaround/parking area at the end of Forest Road 041 which serves as the trailhead. The final 500 meters of the road are rough so high clearance vehicles are recommended.

A pink flag marked the start of the trail just up the road from the turnaround.

Heather still wasn’t feeling well so she decided that she would just do the 2.6-mile out-and-back to the Tanner Lakes which was the shorter of two options Sullivan listed for this featured hike. The longer option was either a 9.2-mile out-and-back to the summit of Tanner Mountain, or a slightly shorter loop ending with a 2.8-mile road walk. I was going to give the loop a go, but I was unsure of the trail conditions beyond the lake, so I was prepared to turn back at any point. It was just 0.4-miles from the trailhead to Tanner Lake where the Fall colors were reflecting nicely in the water.
The trailhead from the Tanner Lakes Trail.

A few trees survived the fire around the lakes.

Tanner Lake in the morning.

The trail crossed Tanner Creek and climbed gradually over a ridge to East Tanner Lake just under a mile from the larger lake.

Penstemon

Wallflower

Recent trail maintenance.

East Tanner Lake

Fireweed

One of the world’s largest incense cedars, Titan, is located to the West of East Tanner Lake but I failed to look for it to see if it survived the fire. Instead I continued on the Tanner Lake Trail climbing gradually for 0.6-miles to a former junction with a tie trail that has not been maintained since the fire.

The eastern side of the ridge fared better in the fire than the forest closer to the lakes.

Signs at the junction with the tie trail.

The tie trail used to be here.

I continued on the Tanner Lake Trail which gently contoured around the hillside for 1.5-miles to a junction with the Fehley Gulch Trail.

Second breakfast

The trail briefly left the fire scar altogether near the Fehley Gulch junction.

Looking back down at the Fehley Gulch Trail as it joins the Tanner Lake Trail.

Tanner Mountain from the trail near the junction.

A very short distance later I arrived at the Boundary Trail where I turned right.
Sign at the Boundary Trail junction.

I was now back in the fire scar and about to begin a steep 1100′ climb over the next mile to a ridge below Tanner Mountain.

Dark-eyed junco

Tanner Mountain again.

Scarlet gilia

One of two checker-mallow blossoms I spotted. The other was much nicer looking but it was downhill and I was too lazy to go down to get a good photo.

This trail was really steep at times.

Almost to the ridge.

The trail became pretty faint on the ridge.

Once I’d gained the ridge I set off cross-country toward Tanner Mountain eventually picking up a use trail which led to the 6305′ summit.

More steep climbing.

Looking back down over the use trail.

From right to left – Grayback Mountain, Lake Mountain, and Mount Elijah (with lots of other peaks).

The double humps of Red Buttes behind and left of Pyramid Peak with the outline of Mt. Shasta to the right of Pyramid Peak.

Preston Peak and El Capitan in the Siskiyou Wilderness (post).

Preston Peak and El Capitan

Bolan Mountain, our other stop for the day.

Bolan Mountain

East Tanner Lake in the shadow of Tanner Mountain.

A faint Mt. McLoughlin (post) in the distance on the right.

After a brief rest to enjoy the view I headed down to Thompson Ridge and located the Boundary Trail in the vegetation, after initially crossing right over it without noticing, and followed it downhill a half mile to Road 570.
The Boundary Trail dropping off Thompson Ridge.

Ferns along the Boundary Trail.

More signs of recent maintenance.

Old campsite near Road 570 and the boundary of the Red Buttes Wilderness.

This is/was the Boundary Trailhead but there isn’t much left post fire.

I turned right onto Road 570 and followed it 1.4-miles to Kings Saddle where I took another right onto Road 041. I spent a fair amount of time tossing rocks off of this road for the next 1.4-miles before arriving at the car.

Bolan Mountain from Road 570.

Pussy paws

Road 041 at Kings Saddle.

Pearly everlasting along Road 041.

Where things started getting ugly on Road 041.

It’s in the shadow but the runoff channel cut across the road here creating a decent sized divot.

Another rocky section of the road.

California sister at the trailhead.

My loop here came to 8.6-miles with 1700′ of elevation gain but the vast majority of it was all in the 1.3-miles from the Boundary Trail junction to the summit of Tanner Mountain.

It was a good thing Heather hadn’t tried to tough it out as she had gotten a bit worse while I was gone, and this was a tough one. We carefully drove back up to Kings Saddle then continued another 3.2-miles to Road 40 where we turned sharply downhill continuing 1.8-miles to the Bolan Lake Campground. This area was also part of the 2020 Slater Fire but unlike the Tanner Lake Trail I quickly discovered that the Bolan Lake Trail had not received any recent maintenance.

Heather again decided (smartly) to play it safe and stick to Sullivan’s shorter option here and do the 0.7-mile loop around Bolan Lake. I was going to attempt the 3.6-mile out-and-back to the former lookout site atop Bolan Mountain. The lookout was lost in the fire and “might” be rebuilt in the future. Our adventure began before we even got out of the car here though as the “trailhead” that was supposedly located near the end of the second campground loop was nowhere to be seen. The second loop was an eroded mess and we weren’t sure we were going to make it around. Fortunately we did and decided to drive back to the entrance of the campground and park along the shoulder.

The pointer is a trap!

We walked down the road to the second loop and I began looking for the Bolan Lake Trail which Sullivan said began on the North (uphill) side at the highest point of the loop. I walked up and down the road a couple of times looking for anything that looked like a trail but only saw a single rock atop a large downed tree that might have been intended to be a cairn. The map on the GPS unit showed the trail starting near the start of the loop by an outhouse but there was also no sign of a trail there. I finally decided to set off uphill cross-country hoping to pick up the tread along the hillside.
This looked like as clear a spot as any.

After only 100′ or so I came to trail tread.
Looking up the Bolan Lake Trail.

My guess is the rock on the log was where the trail used to begin but the log had been a bit too large to climb over.

It was just over a mile to a junction on a ridge crest where the trail turned right for half a mile to the service road up Bolan Mountain. This trail was everything I feared the loop around Tanner Mountain might be. The tread was faint, blowdown covered the trail, and at one point the tread was eroded to the point that side hilling for several feet above the former tread was necessary.
Faint tread was all that was left in most places.

The Bolan Lake Trail to the left.

Sometimes the tread just disappeared.

Lake Mountain, Grayback Mountain, Craggy Mountain, and Swan Mountain.

Momentary tread.

Just about 500′ below the ridge there was a large downed tree which required some side-hilling to drop below and then climb steeply back up to the trail.

I got back to the trail to find more debris covering it.

Final pitch to the ridge.

Bolan Mountain from the ridge.

The trail descended slightly on the far side of the ridge to the junction.

I assume the downed post and small pile of rocks marked the junction with the mile long Kings Saddle Trail.

The Bolan Lake Trail (I think) at the junction.

For the next half mile the tread would come and go so I relied on the GPS to stick as close to the trail as I could. The only issue was that the GPS labeled a rocky high point as Bolan Mountain so I briefly, and needlessly turned even more steeply uphill toward it before realizing there was no road here so it couldn’t be right.
I might be on trail.

I was sure I was on the trail here.

Mountain bluebird wondering what I was thinking.

Now I was just going uphill.

No idea where I was supposed to be at this point.

The rocky point that the GPS labeled as Bolan Mountain.

I got this far before realizing I was heading to the wrong spot.

At least from here I could see the road heading up to the former lookout site through the burned trees.

I headed cross-country to the road and followed it 0.2-miles to the foundation of the former lookout.
Not sure if the outhouse (above to the left) survived the fire or is new.

Stone steps to the former lookout site.

Preston Peak and El Capitan from the lookout site.

Bolan Lake from Bolan Mountain.

Tanner Mountain in the foreground.

Grayback Mountain from Bolan Mountain.

Red Buttes to the far left and Mt. Shasta through the haze.

As I was resting at the lookout site I considered my next course of action. I wasn’t overly excited about returning on the Bolan Lake Trail so I checked Sullivan’s map to see what other options I might have. He showed the access road traveling 1.3-miles down to Road 040 and from there it was 0.6-miles to Bolan Creek where he showed a short connector trail to the loop around Bolan Lake. That was only a tenth of a mile longer than returning the way I’d come so I decided on another road walk.

Bolan Lake from the service road.

Looking back toward Bolan Mountain.

Hoary comma

Gate along the service road.

Road 40 from the service road.

Road 40.

Mushrooms along Road 40.

The connector trail along Bolan Creek.

The trail around Bolan Lake.

The connector joined the trail at a footbridge over Bolan Creek which I crossed and continued around the lake counterclockwise.

>Thick vegetation along the lake shore.

Trail sign at the end of the second campground loop for the trail around the lake.

Pretty deep channel at the end of the loop.

I followed the road back to the first campground loop where I spotted Heather’s backpack and poles on a picnic table.

Bolan Mountain from Bolan Lake

My hike here came to 4.8 miles with a little over 850′ of elevation gain.

We returned to Grants Pass where we had a nice dinner at the Taprock Northwest Grill. Later, after checking in on the weather forecast for the next two days we decided to try doing both of our remaining featured hikes on Monday. With clouds and rain being called for it didn’t seem like a good time to summit Grayback Mountain so we would be doing Sullivan’s shorter option to the O’Brien Creek Shelter and that should give us plenty of time to make the drive to Babyfoot Lake and do the 2.4-mile option to the lake and back. If that didn’t work out we still had Tuesday morning to fit Babyfoot Lake in and finish our 100 featured hike goal (post). Happy Trails!

Flickr: Tanner and Bolan Lakes

Tags Bolan Lake, Bolan Lake Campground, Bolan Lake Trail, Bolan Mountain, Boundary Trail, East Tanner Lake, Grants Pass, hiking, Kings Saddle, Kings Saddle Trail, Oregon, Red Buttes Wilderness, Tannen Lakes, Tanner Lake, Tanner Lake Trail, Tanner Lakes, Tanner Mountain

Grants Pass Area Hiking Klamath/Siskiyou Mountains Oregon Trip report

Sturgis Fork and Mount Elijah – 10/07/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 12, 2023
2 Comments on Sturgis Fork and Mount Elijah – 10/07/2023

For our final trip of 2023 we headed to Grants Pass to hopefully finish our quest to hike at least part of all 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Northern California” edition 4.2 (post). We were down to six hikes which we were planning on doing over four days. The order of the hikes was a bit up in the air due to a forecasted shift in the weather in the middle of the four days from sunny and warm to rain.

Two of our planned hikes were located south of Applegate, OR off of Thompson Creek Road including the hike we had decided to begin the trip with to Grayback Mountain. The other hike, a combination of Sullivan’s Sturgis Fork and Mount Elijah hikes, we were planning on doing Monday in the rain. As we neared the turn to the O’Brien Lower Trailhead for Grayback Mountain we changed our minds and decided to swap the hikes. While both hikes involved viewpoints the hike from Sturgis Fork was longer, visited two peaks, and included a lake. So when we reached the end of pavement along Thompson Creek Road instead of taking sharp right onto Road 1005 we veered slightly right onto Road 1020 and followed it 7.5 miles to a fork with Road 600.

The Sturgis Trailhead is located 0.6-miles up Road 600 which was said to be a rough, rocky road suited more for 4wd vehicles. We opted to park at the fork and walk-up Road 600 instead of testing our luck.
Road 600 heading uphill.

We followed Road 600 uphill to the Sturgis Trailhead on the left just before crossing Sturgis Fork.

Crab spider on a fleabane.

The Sturgis Trailhead on the left.

The Sturgis Fork Trail begins at the trailhead and leads uphill 0.7-miles to the Boundary Trail #1207.

Trail map of the area.

For the hike Sullivan describes for Sturgis Fork we would turn right on the Boundary Trail and follow it approximately 1.7-miles to a viewpoint for a 4.8-mile (from the trailhead) out-and-back. He also mentions the possibility of combining the hike with several of his other featured hikes including Mount Elijah which was another featured hike we had yet to do. This combination would be somewhere between 12 and 13 miles with approximately 2500′ of cumulative elevation gain. We followed the Sturgis Fork Trail uphill through the forest to the Boundary Trail.

Nettle-leaf giant hyssop

The viewpoint we were headed to.

All that was left for signage at the Boundary Trail junction.

The Boundary Trail to the South toward Sucker Creek Gap (post).

We turned right onto the Boundary Trail which climbed gradually for 0.3-miles to another junction in a small meadow.

Coming from this direction all we noticed were a couple of signs on a tree and some pink flagging.

Trail signs for the Boundary Trail and Lake Mountain Trail #1206 to the Oregon Caves (post).

As long as the hike went as planned, we would be rejoining the Boundary Trail at this junction after having visited Mount Elijah. For now though we stuck to the Boundary Trail which soon entered a much larger meadow.

The trail became faint in the meadow, but the tread was clear enough that we were able to stick to it.
The trail can be seen in the lower right-hand corner.

Again the trail is in the lower right corner.

There was still a small amount of paintbrush in the meadow.

A clump of fireweed ahead that had gone to seed.

A small section of trees was located along this gully.

A little brushy here.

Ferns at the northern end of the meadows.

The double humps of the Red Buttes in the distance to the SE.

Preston Peak in the Siskiyou Wilderness (post) to the SW.

A little under a mile from the junction with Lake Mountain Trail we came to another junction at a pass.
Arriving at the pass.

This was the only signage that was visible at the junction.

The Boundary Trail continued NE along the ridge while somewhere (it wasn’t easily visible) the Elk Creek Trail dropped down from the ridge to a forest road on the northern side of the saddle and the Sparlin Tie Trail headed East on a traverse below Lake Mountain.
We could see tread heading East into the trees which was the Sparlin Tie Trail. The Elk Creek Trail wasn’t as obvious, but it dropped down to the right just a little way up the tread seen here.

Our plan was to take the Sparlin Tie Trail after visiting the viewpoint along the Boundary Trail so we continued climbing up the ridge.

Lake Mountain from the Boundary Trail.

Approximately 0.6-miles from the junction a short spur trail led to the rocky viewpoint.

There was a small geocache located at the viewpoint. Smoke from the still smoldering wildfires impacted the views a bit, Mt. Shasta is out there toward the right-hand side.

The outline of Mt. Shasta to the left of Red Buttes.

Preston Peak and other peaks in the Siskiyou Wilderness in the distance.

Closer look at the Siskiyou Wilderness peaks.

Grayback Mountain to the North. Mt. McLoughlin (post) is out there too but the haze made it really hard to see.

Mt. McLoughlin

After taking in the view we headed back to the saddle and continued straight onto the Sparlin Tie Trail.
The remains of a trail sign near the saddle.

The Sparlin Tie Trail straight ahead and the Elk Creek Trail heading off to the right.

Homemade? trail sign a short distance up the tie trail. (note Bigelow Lakes is spelled “Biglow”)

The advantage to taking the tie trail was two-fold. It both shortened the hike by 0.8-miles and it passed through the meadows above the Boundary Trail eliminating the need to make the 500′ climb that the Lake Mountain Trail would require. In Sullivan’s guidebook (edition 4.2) this trail is labeled as “unmaintained” but we found that it had indeed been maintained at some point in the not too distant past.

The tread was faint through the meadows but not any more difficult to follow than the Boundary Trail had been.

Cinquefoil

Coneflower and fireweed

Random sign along the trail.

Crossing through the final meadow.

Orange Sulphur butterfly

Just under a mile from the saddle we arrived at the Lake Mountain/Bigelow Lakes Trail #1214.
Arriving at the 1214 Trail.

We were now in the Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve. We turned right onto this trail which provided views down to Bigelow Lakes as it descended to the meadows around the lakes.
There was actually more blowdown along this trail than there had been along the tie trail, but it was easily navigated.

Bigelow Lakes from the trail.

The trail eventually skirted the edge of the meadows where a use trail led 0.2-miles to the larger of the Bigelow Lakes.

The use trail to the lake.

Heather wasn’t feeling the best, so she skipped the use trail while I visited the lake shore.

While I was at the lake Heather was making friends with this tree frog.

After visiting the lake I returned to the 1214 Trail and continued downhill just over half a mile to a junction with an old roadbed where Heather was waiting for me. (We encountered the only other hikers we’d see all trip on the trails near the junction with the use trail.)
The old roadbed.

Trail sign at the roadbed.

We turned left on the roadbed and followed it nearly a mile to the Lake Mountain Trail.

This bunch of blowdown was just before the junction.

There were several of these stands along the Lake Mountain Trail, all of which were blank.

We turned left on the Lake Mountain Trail and began a 1.3-mile climb along a ridge to Mount Elijah.

The lower portion of the trail passed through a nice forest.

The trail passed below the 6294′ Mount Elijah (for some reason both peaks along the ridge are named Mount Elijah on some maps) before gaining the ridge crest and climbing to the higher Mount Elijah summit at 6381′.

The taller Mount Elijah.

Lake Mountain from Mount Elijah.

Preston Peak and a cloud from Mount Elijah. Wildfire smoke was a little more of an issue now.

Red Buttes in the distance.

The other Mount Elijah from Mount Elijah.

Phlox

We shared the summit with this little frog.

The trail passed directly over the summit then descended 0.3-miles to a junction with the Lake Mountain/Bigelow Lakes Trail #1214 where we turned right sticking to the Lake Mountain Trail #1206 and descending nearly a mile via switchbacks to the Boundary Trail.

The junction with the 1214 Trail. Another with missing signage.

This tree required a detour downhill to get around.

Looking down at the Lake Mountain Trail as it switchbacked downhill.

The trail was a bit brushy in spots.

Bigelow’s sneezeweed

Pink flagging in the little meadow where the trail met the Boundary Trail.

The Lake Mountain Trail junction with the Boundary Trail.

We turned right onto the Boundary Trail following it back 0.3-miles to the Sturgis Fork Trail then followed it back to the trailhead and made the road walk down to our car.
We packed out yet another mylar balloon (GRRRR).

Junction with the Sturgis Fork Trail on the left.

Hoary comma

We were parked just to the right along the road below the hill.

My GPS showed 12.5-miles with approximately 2500′ of cumulative elevation gain.

It was a beautiful day but also a tough day physically, especially with Heather not feeling well. We were glad however that we’d decided to do this hike on the clearer day. We drove back to Grants Pass and checked into our room for the next three nights. Two of the six remaining hikes were done with two more slated for the following day. We were getting real close to finishing but Heather’s health was a bit of a concern. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Sturgis Fork and Mount Elijah

Tags Bigelow Lakes, Boundary Trail, Elk Creek Trail, Grayback Mountain, hiking, Lake Mountain, Lake Mountain Trail, Lake Mountain/Bigelow Lakes Trail, Mount Elijah, Oregon, Oregon Caves National Monument, Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve, Sparlin Tie Trail, Sturgis Fork, Sturgis Fork Trail, Sturgis Trailhead

Central Coast Coastal Range Hiking Oregon Oregon Coast Trip report

Big Creek -Forest Park and Strom Boulder Ridge – 09/30/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 2, 2023
2 Comments on Big Creek -Forest Park and Strom Boulder Ridge – 09/30/2023

Our hike this week took second fiddle to our son’s birthday which we planned to celebrate by taking him out to lunch/dinner in Eugene. We still wanted to get a hike in that morning, so we looked for something in the general direction of Eugene. Our original plan had been to visit Vivian Lake near Diamond Peak, but a forecast of rain, followed by snow, then more rain had us look elsewhere. Looking at my list of future hikes a couple of hikes between Corvallis and Newport caught my eye. They were more or less on the way to Eugene and the weather forecast looked good. The two hikes had been Strom Boulder Ridge and Olalla Reservoir. Double checking the status of the hikes revealed that Georgia Pacific, who manages Olalla Reservoir, had closed access due to low water at the beginning of September so that hike was out. I then turned to the Oregon Hikers Field Guide to look for another short hike in the area and found the Big Creek-Forest Park Hike in Newport.

We began with the Big Creek hike parking at the Agate Beach State Recreation Site.

A trail begins near the restrooms at a footbridge over Big Creek.

Big Creek in the morning.

The trail follows Big Creek toward Highway 101 then recrosses it leading to a tunnel under the highway.
A short section of the trail was paved.

At the eastern end of the parking area we came to this new kiosk that is being installed marking the start of the Agate Beach TRACK Trail. There was also a path directly to the parking lot from the kiosk which we used upon our return.

The tunnel under Highway 101. The stairs at the far end lead up to a city street while the trail makes a hard right to briefly follow the highway back across Big Creek.

A series of boardwalks crosses the marshy bottomlands of Big Creek.

While the kiosk was a new work in process there were a number of older looking interpretive signposts. This was one of only a handful that still contained an interpretive sign.

The bottomlands.

There were no signs at junctions but for the TRACK Trail stick to the level fork and ignore anything going uphill.

Further along the trail Big Creek could actually be seen flowing.

A non-boardwalk section along Big Creek.

Approximately three quarters of a mile from the kiosk the trail arrived at Big Creek Road at another new signboard.

The signboard at Big Creek Road didn’t have any information on it yet.

We turned right on Big Creek Road passing a large overflow parking lot for Big Creek Park and Reservoir, crossed Big Creek, and then turned left into Big Creek Park.

Stellar’s Jay

Northern flickers on the picnic shelter.

A signboard near the picnic shelter marked the start of the Forest Park Trail.
Map on the signboard.

Don’t be fooled by the footbridge over Anderson Creek to the right of the signboard, the Forest Park Trail follows an old gravel roadbed steeply uphill to the left of the sign.
Anderson Creek, the footbridge, and signboard from the roadbed.

The Forest Park Trail

While the Track Trail had gained almost no elevation the Forest Park Trail climbed over 200′ in its first half mile to a pair of water towers.
A nice sitka spruce forest lined the old roadbed.

Mushrooms

Sunlight hitting the trees.

The Pacific Ocean through the trees near the water towers.

Passing the water towers.

Beyond the towers the trail dropped 160′ to wetlands along Jeffries Creek then climbed nearly another 90′ to a gate at the Fogarty Street Trailhead.

The drop to Jeffries Creek.

Jeffries Creek

Wood ducks in the wetlands.

The gate near Fogarty Street.

The Forest Park Trail from the other side of the gate.

We returned to the kiosk at the start of the TRACK Trail the way we’d come then cut to parking lot and returned to our car. The hike came to 4.0 miles with just over 550′ of elevation gain, nearly all of which was on the Forest Park Trail. The TRACK Trail seems like a good option for kids with the Forest Park Trail adding some short, steep climbs for those looking for more of a workout. The ability to visit Agate Beach from the parking lot is a huge bonus. We didn’t have time today to visit the beach but had in 2018 during our Yaquina Bay hike (post).

For our next stop at Strom Boulder Ridge we drove East on Highway 20 from Newport to Burnt Woods and turned right onto Harlan-Burnt Woods Road. We followed this road for 2 miles then turned right onto the unsigned gravel Burnt Woods Forest Road. I found this hike on Alltrails which I have somewhat reluctantly been looking at more frequently, mostly to check for recent trip reports but there are also some obscure “hikes” that don’t appear in any of our guidebooks or in the Oregon Hikers Field Guide. Strom Boulder Ridge is one such “hike” which is really just a 7.5-mile loop on drivable gravel logging roads on Oregon Department of Forestry managed lands. As such there is no official trailhead (although Google Maps seems think there is). The loop begins 0.7-miles up the forest road but we decided to park at a pullout next to a gravel pile halfway to the start of the loop.

Morning fog was still burning off at 9:30am.

One thing to note is that there isn’t any signage and because the area is actively logged roads may be added or closed depending on operations. I had downloaded the Alltrails track and we had our GPS units with us. Almost immediately we passed a logging road coming downhill on the left that was not shown on either the Alltrails or Garmin maps.
A car by the gravel pile to the left with the road coming down the hillside to the right. Interestingly Google Maps labels this as “Burnt Woods Ridge Road” which both Alltrails & Garmin showed as the left-hand fork where our loop would begin. (Google doesn’t show a road there at all but you can see the road in the trees by looking at the aerial view.) Numerous times throughout the hike we relied on comparing the Alltrails Track to the GPS map and our track to that point to determine where we were and which road(s) to take.

The trip reports on Alltrails had all mentioned how quite this hike was and it was (we saw no other hikers and only passed one pickup truck on the loop) other than the gunfire that we heard almost immediately and then off and on throughout the majority of the hike. We followed the road uphill to a saddle then dropped slightly to a fork marking the start of the loop.

There was some room to park here at the start of the loop (this is not where Google marks the TH) as well as many pullouts along the loop where one could choose to start.

We forked right following the suggested direction shown on the Alltrails track sticking to the Burnt Woods Forest Road. Over the next three and a half miles the road swung out and around several ridges in a series of ups and downs resulting losing a cumulative 580′ but regaining over 400′ along the way. As we descended we found ourselves back in the fog for a while before it finally burned off.

Heading down into the fog.

One positive to the fog is that it can create some dramatic Sun rays.

Vine maple

Blue sky in the upper left hand corner.

The road to the right is an example of a road that wasn’t labeled on any map we had.

Emerging from the fog.

Looking back through the fog to blue sky and the Sun.

The only other “hiker” we saw on the loop.

We couldn’t see it but just over three miles from the start of the loop the road crossed Cline Creek which was the first time we heard what sounded like a decent amount of flowing water.

A little over a tenth of a mile beyond Cline Creek we left Burnt Woods Forest Road and forked uphill to the left onto Cline Creek Road.

Cline Creek Road climbed gradually for approximately a half mile at which point it steepened and climbed for another mile to a junction with Burnt Ridge Road.
Arriving at a clearcut. Much of Cline Creek Road was along different clearcuts.

Mylitta crescent

Red-tailed hawk soaring over the clearcut.

Trying to get the red-tailed hawk in flight.

Lots of Fall colors starting to pop.

The first signs we’d seen (noticed anyway) were at the Cline Creek/Burnt Woods Ridge Road junction.

We turned onto Burnt Ridge Road and climbed some more gaining just over 150′ in the next 0.3-miles to the loop’s highpoint along the ridge (1558′). From there the road followed the ridge in a series of ups and downs for another mile and a half before making a sharp left and beginning a steeper descent back to the Burnt Woods Forest Road.

Arriving at the high point which was actually the first good viewpoint being above one of the clearcuts.

Looking North at more of the Coast Range.

Theoretically we should have been able to see both Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson from here but between haze from the fog and clouds we couldn’t make either out.

Mt. Jefferson is out there somewhere. The fact that the Cascades have some snow again doesn’t help them stand out in the haze and clouds.

Yet another unsigned road junction. Sticking to the ridge is the key.

After crossing a saddle we gained views SE to Mary’s Peak (post)

The tower and summit meadow of Mary’s Peak.

The hard left prior to the steep descent. The road on the far hillside in the clearcut is part of the road Google Maps has labeled as Burnt Ridge Road but doesn’t show on Alltrails or the Garmin maps.

We followed the ridge downhill for a little over a mile to complete the loop then followed the Burnt Woods Forest Road back to our car.

The end of the loop at the bottom of the hill.

Due to where we parked our hike came in at 8.5-miles with a little over 1200′ of cumulative elevation gain.

While it wasn’t the most exciting hike there was enough variety for it to be pleasant and aside from the gunfire it was quiet. It’s a decent option for a moderate workout, especially after rains when the road walk would be less wet/muddy than many trails. I would probably avoid weekdays if there is active logging occurring though. One other thing of note – Alltrails entry for the hike mentions the Siuslaw National Forest requiring a recreation pass but this is not National Forest land (and there is no developed trailhead) so no passes are currently needed.

After the hike we drove to Eugene and met Dominique at Ubon Thai for a late lunch/early dinner for his birthday. Good food and as someone who enjoys spicy foods, they didn’t disappoint with their heat scale. We followed the meal up with a slice of cake we’d brought down from Gerry Frank’s Konditorei. A great way to end a nice day. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Big Creek-Forest Park and Strom Boulder Ridge

Tags Agate Beach State Recreation Site, Agate Beach TRACK Trail, Big Creek, Big Creek Park, Burnt Woods, Burnt Woods Forest Road, Burnt Woods Ridge Road, Cline Creek Road, Fogarty Street Trailhead, Forest Park, Forest Park Trail, hiking, Newport, Oregon, Oregon Coast, Strom Boulder Ridge