The final outing of Wildlife Week fell on Saturday, so Heather was able to join me. I’d picked the Fern Ridge Wildlife Area west of Eugene, OR for this final outing, in part because it gave us an excuse to check out a pair of waterfalls SW of Eugene between Reedsport and Drain.
The forecast called a chance of showers through early afternoon, and we drove through several along Interstate 5 before exiting the freeway on Highway 38 south of Cottage Grove. As we headed west on Hwy 38 the showers eased and we even had some blue sky by the time we parked at the gated entrance to Loon Lake Recreation Site.
With the campground still closed for the season we parked at a pullout next to a bridge over Mill Creek and then hiked past the gate to the day use area.
Mill Creek from the bridge.
Stellar’s jay
Chipmunk
Loon Lake
The lake was formed by a landslide. The boulders in the Mill Creek picture above were part of that landslide.
At the end of the day use area we picked up a paved path that led into the forest.
Trillium
We veered right at a hiker symbol onto a short path (about a quarter mile) that led into the Elliott State Research Forest and ended at Loon Lake Falls.
This was our first hike in the Elliott State Forest and possibly only hike given the forest webpage states under “There are no established trails, restrooms, or trash receptacles.”
Fairy lanterns
Given that the unnamed stream that feeds the waterfall appears to start just a bit further uphill I suspect it doesn’t often have much of a flow, but it was a decent waterfall in a lovely setting.
After admiring the waterfall we hiked back to the car. This stop was just 1.5-miles with 200′ of elevation gain.
Quite a bit of the distance was walking from the road to the day use area.
The next waterfall we visited was Camp Creek Falls. This waterfall is on private timberland just off of a BLM road. The timberland company’s public access map available online currently shows the area as open to the public but that could change at any time. Because of this I am not going to go into detail for the location but there is information online from other sources. If you do plan on trying to visit the waterfall, I highly suggest looking up the current land ownership through the Douglas County Assessor (Douglas County GIS| County Map) and then looking up the current owner online to find out about public access.
A very short path led down to the waterfall.
Camp Creek Falls. The rock here is sandstone which creates the 31′ stairstep cascade.
Snail
This was a very pretty waterfall. There were however a few beer cans and bottles around and a fire pit along the creek which were disappointing. We’ll never understand why someone would take the time to visit such a beautiful location and mar it.
With the waterfall visits checked off we headed back to Highway 38 then made our way north to the Fern Ridge Wildlife Area.
Before reaching Highway 38 I had to pull over to get a couple of photos of an elk herd.
We started our hikes at Fern Ridge WLA by parking along Cantrell Road at a pullout for the West Coyote Unit.
The wildlife area maps showed loops on both sides of Coyote Creek. We set off on a trail leading off from the pullout which followed an old roadbed.
Camas
Not sure why this was lying on the side of the trail away from the trailhead, but it provides information on the seasonal allowed usage of the units.
The trail led to a grassy track along Coyote Creek.
Geese
The maps showed the trail then looping back closer to the creek and returning to Cantrell Road at the Coyote Creek Canoe Access. There was a bench right next to the creek near the mowed track but we didn’t see any sign of a trail here, so we continued another 0.2-miles on the grassy tack before deciding we’d for sure missed the return trail, if it even still existed.
Roses
Channel along the dikes.
We turned around and returned to the bench where, coming from this direction, we could make out a faint trail leading into the woods.
This trail was muddy with vegetation encroaching on it, including an alarming amount of poison oak.
Rough-skinned newt
Slug
Snail
Made it out.
Dodging poison oak isn’t either of our favorite pastimes so we were hesitant about the trail in the Coyote East Unit. Nevertheless we crossed Coyote Creek on Cantrell Road where large signboards announced the Nature Trail. (FYI there are no parking pullouts on this side of the creek.
We walked up the trail a short distance to the start of the loop where Heather said thanks but no thanks and headed back to the car.
I opted to give it a try and set off to the right on the more obvious trail. There was a bit of poison oak but on this trail it wasn’t encroaching as much as it had in the Coyote West Unit.
Western meadowrue
Bench along Coyote Creek
The Nature Tail also emerged onto a mowed track where I messed up the route.
If I had consulted the map I would have realized the trail continued left on the grass for a short distance before returning to the woods and looping back around to mowed tracks. The trail then sticks to the grass as it heads south before turning back to the west. I turned right mistakenly thinking I was further along the route and having not paid attention to the mix of grass tracks and woods.
I should have gone this direction. The presence of the bench should have tipped me off.
I kept my eyes out for a trail on my right and after 0.2-miles I spotted a possibility.
Overgrown but in the right spot.
I was now paying closer attention to the map compared to the GPS and realized my mistake of turning right, but I could also see that this overgrown path must be the continuation of the loop. It was muddy and overgrown but in just 370′ I was back at the start of the loop.
After completing my “modified” loop I road walked back to Heather and the car. This hike wound up being two miles with no elevation gain.
The orange section is where I turned right instead of left as I should have. I estimate that going the correct way would have added approximately 0.75-miles. I don’t know what type of condition the other section of trail through the woods is in.
These were an odd couple of trails, possibly more useful for hunters during hunting seasons. We had one more stop at planned at Fern Ridge WLA at the https://myodfw.com/sites/default/files/2019-02/Fisher%20Butte.pdf. We parked at the large trailhead off Highway 126 and set off past a large signboard.
We’d spent time in this unit in November 2021 when we started from a different trailhead along Royal Avenue (post). The “trails” here are a series of dikes through the wetlands creating multiple route opportunities. We wound up with a 4.3-mile hike consisting of two loops.
Road to Fisher Butte,
We spotted quite a few different species of birds and heard a lot of bull frogs. There were also some impressive camas fields in some of the wetlands.
Camas
Bird viewing platfrom.
Red-winged blackbird
Bullfrog. They were everywhere and continuously startled us when they would make a loud “alarm” sound before jumping into the water.
We turned left at the platform onto this dike.
Sparrow
Blue-winged teals. This was the first time seeing this species during Wildlife Week. We had seen a couple of these ducks back in 2021 at Cold Springs National Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Oregon (post).
Another big field of camas.
Fisher Butte at the end of another dike.
Geese in formation.
Checkerbloom
Blue sky, a far cry from the low clouds and showers we’d driven through in the Eugene area earlier in the morning.
Geese and cinnamon teals.
I needed a more powerful camera to make out the various ducks and other birds we were seeing in the distance.
There were a number of great blue herons hunting in the wetlands.
Another viewing platfrom.
Looking toward the Royal Avenue Unit.
Pelicans. Another species that I hadn’t seen at any other wildlife area this week.
Purple martin
One of at least a half dozen American bitterns that we saw in flight. We were unable to spot any before or after they were in flight.
Swallows in flight
There was a lot happening in this part of the unit.
White pelicans and a mute swan (non-native)
Geese
Another first this week – greater white fronted geese. It’s a blurry photo but it was the best I could do given their distance.
Goose passing the swan.
Same goose passing a pelican.
Northern shoveler
Hawk
Another large group of various ducks and other birds.
Bald eagles
Two types of camas
Heading back to the trailhead along the side of Fisher Butte.
Flax
The final stretch of Wildlife Week.
The showers never materialized, and the wildlife was abundant making this a great end to Wildlife Week. Over the seven days I visited five national wildlife refuges, two state wildlife areas, and two wetlands covering nearly 60-miles of hiking. I got to see a great variety of wildlife and know I missed so much more. Happy Trails!
Flickr: Fern Ridge WLA plus waterfalls
The trailhead sign for the Clay Creek Trail is ahead on the opposite side of the road.
Siuslaw River
Clay Creek on the left emptying into the Siuslaw.
Stairs at the Clay Creek Recreation Area across the river.
The Clay Creek Trail climbing above Clay Creek.
It’s hard to tell size here but the diameter of this tree was well over 5′.
The junction for the loop.
One of several reroutes we encountered.
On the ridge top.
Madrone trunk and bark, always fascinating.
Lots of mushrooms pushing up through the forest floor.
Good sized trees near the high point.
No idea what you might see on a clear day.
The viewpoint.
Nearing the footbridge.
The fog had lifted off the river at least.
Note that Royal Ave and the trail to the viewing platform are open year around with the other restrictions listed below.
We took a picture of this map to assist us with our route.
White crowned sparrow
Northern harrier on the hunt.
Wetlands in the Royal Amazon unit.
The bittern taking off.
Not the greatest photo but enough to identify it.
A hawk on a stump.
American coots
Gibson Island (with the eagles in the snag to the far left)
A flock of geese above the coots.
There were a number of these small birds pecking around in the mud which, with some help from Molly in the comments, are American pipits.
Continuing west.
We used the stones to the right to cross the water here.
Great blue heron (with Highway 126 in the background).
Sandpiper in the roadway.
End of the line.
Seagull
Perhaps the same northern harrier.
The harrier taking a break.
The path to the platform.
Dunlins (thanks again to Molly)
The platform.
The first signs that the fog/clouds might be breaking up.
Looking back at a little blue sky and a visible Gibson Island
Fisher Butte is the low hill ahead to the right.
Gibson Island was now lit by direct sunlight.
The dike running between Fields 3 & 4.
Looking back over the ditch.
California scrub jay
Northern shovelers and a bufflehead.
Buffleheads and two hooded merganser females.
Kingfisher
American robin
The gravel road and another small portion of the wildlife area on the other side.
Noisy geese.
Back on the mowed track.
A sparrow
Spotted towhee and friend.
Finch
As of yet unidentified little bird.
This path headed north from the trailhead, something to explore on our next visit.
wanderingyuncks 