Tag: roseburg

Cow Creek Trail and Gorge – 06/22/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 26, 2025
2 Comments on Cow Creek Trail and Gorge – 06/22/2025

After spending the night in Roseburg (post), we were finally headed to the Cow Creek Trail. There wasn’t much recent information online regarding trail conditions. The trail is an additional hike in the back of William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon”. It also doesn’t help that the Forest Service websites have been undergoing an update and trail information is basically non-existent at this point. VanMarmot’s Travels has the best write up on the trail, but his visit was back in 2018. There were a couple of brief write ups from 2023 & 2024 from outings that didn’t provide details, nor did they appear to have hiked the entire 6-mile trail.

Located about an hour SE of Roseburg, the Cow Creek Trailhead is not identified on Google Maps but there is a pit toilet and room for a number of cars.

The trail begins next to the East Fork Cow Creek next to a small memorial plaque.

The trail was pretty overgrown which was fine except for the fact that the previous day’s rain was still sitting on the leaves which quickly soaked us.

The trail climbed a bit and swung around a ridge leaving the East Fork Cow Creek drainage and entering the South Fork Cow Creek drainage.

Madia along the trail.

Madrone along the trail.

The trail then descended to the first of several bridgeless crossings of the South Fork Cow Creek.

We had brought our water shoes for the fords which we changed into even though our feet were damp from the wet vegetation anyway.

Shortly after crossing the creek we entered the 2021 Wildcat Fire scar which burned almost down to the creek.

Another overgrown section of the trail.

The first tricky obstacle we had to get through.

There were some big trees along the trail.

About a mile from the trailhead we came to the second ford of the creek. At this point we’d left the fire scar behind.

The trail is straight ahead on the far side.

We came to the third ford less than a quarter mile from the second.

Wildflowers in the trail.

The trail became even more overgrown beyond the third crossing.

Columbine and blowdown along the trail.

Twinflower

The trail here was completely covered by salal.

Rhododendron above the trail.

Pond along the trail.

The trail had climbed above the creek which helped with the amount of brush along the trail, but it presented new challenges with downed trees.

Wintergreen

Anemones

This section of downed trees required crawling under a few and over others.

I had gotten ahead of Heather and at approximately the 2.75-mile mark I came to a pair of large, downed trees that had caused a small slide on the far side of them. These could not be ducked under and in order to get over them I had to go between the two by bracing my left foot on the upper tree and then hoisting myself over the large lower tree.

I paused on the far side assessing the trail ahead while realizing that Heather’s legs aren’t long enough to make it over this obstacle as I did. Going below the trees wasn’t an option due to their length and the steepness of the hillside, and going around above them would have led through the small slide which didn’t seem like a safe choice. Then I looked back and realized that getting back over these trees from the side I was on was going to be even harder than getting over had been due to the angle of the trees. While there were no other visible obstacles ahead along the small portion of trail I could see I knew I was still over 3-miles from the upper end at Railroad Gap with no idea what the conditions ahead were. I decided to call it and work on figuring out a way back over the trees.

I was barely able to get my leg high enough onto the tree to pull myself over using the bark of the tree for a grip (good thing it didn’t come off). A couple of minutes later I met up with Heather and let her know about the obstacle ahead and we headed back to the car. While it was a little disappointing to turn back we would at least be getting home earlier than we’d expected.

We skipped the water shoes on the way back since fording the creek couldn’t add any more water to our shoes/socks and just enjoyed the scenery along the trail.

Pink pyrola

Northern phlox

Snail

Another look at the first major obstacle.

Pinesap

Tiger lily

Coral root dressed as vanilla leaf.

Since we had ended the hike early we decided to stop at the Cow Creek Falls Trail which we’d passed on the drive to this trailhead. Located across form the entrance to the Devil’s Flat Campground we parked near old Devil’s Flat Guard Station.

We followed a pointer for the Cow Creek Falls Trail to complete a 0.4-mile loop passing above Cow Creek Gorge.

Devil’s Flat Guard Station

Cow Creek Falls Trail

Tiger lilies

We came to an unsigned fork near a footbridge and correctly chose to turn left.

The right-hand fork just led back up to Cow Creek Road according to the GPS.

We had to keep an eye out for poison oak along this trail.

Cow Creek Gorge

Stable from the trail.

Prince’s pine

Stonecrop

The loop led back up the Devil’s Flat near the old stable.

From the stables we followed a road back to our car near the Guard Station.

My 5.5-mile track at Cow Creek and our hike at Cow Creek Gorge.

The Cow Creek Trail was beautiful so it’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to hike the whole thing, but we enjoyed the portion that we could. Maybe the trail will see some maintenance, but that is becoming harder and harder with budget cuts and now the current administrations staffing cuts. Combine that with the possibility of public lands being sold off and the outlook is a little bleak. Knowing that things don’t last forever is one of the reasons that we have been trying to visit as many different trails as possible while we can. The other thing we can do is let our representatives know how important it is to keep our recreational lands open to the public. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Cow Creek Trail and Gorge

Tags Cow Creek Falls Trail, Cow Creek Gorge, Cow Creek Trail, Cow Creek Trailhead, Devil's Flat, Devil's Flat Campground, Devil's Flat Guard Station, East Fork Cow Creek, hiking, Oregon, roseburg, South Fork Cow Creek, Umpqua National Forest

Hiking Mt. Theilsen/Mt. Bailey Area Oregon Roseburg Area Trip report

Highway 138 Waterfalls Part 2 – 06/21/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 25, 2025
1 Comment on Highway 138 Waterfalls Part 2 – 06/21/2025

In June 2022 we spent a night in Roseburg during a week of vacation. Before checking into our room we had spent the day visiting several waterfalls along Highway 138 (post). The next day we had originally planned on hiking the Cow Creek Trail on our way to Ashland, but we wound up doing other hikes instead and saved Cow Creek for another year (post). This was the year that we put Cow Creek back on our schedule. The plan was to hike the Cow Creek Trail Saturday morning then spend the night in Roseburg and the following morning hike the 1-mile Shadow Falls Trail before returning home.

Our timing coincided with the first weekend of Summer as well as some unseasonably cold and wet weather. As the weekend neared and the forecast became clearer, Saturday called for rain showers along with temperatures in the upper 30’s to low 40’s (Fahrenheit). Sunday however was going to be rain free with partly sunny skies emerging later in the day.

Friday evening we decided to tweak our plans and visit Shadow Falls on Saturday morning and save Cow Creek for Sunday. With Shadow Falls only being a two-mile hike we would have plenty of time to add some other stops. While we had visited most of the well-known waterfalls along Highway 138 in 2022 there were a couple that we had not stopped at so we added those to the itinerary along with a stop at Cavitt Creek Falls near Shadow Falls and the Clearwater River Trail along Highway 138. This would give us a 5 stop day and close to 6.5-miles of hiking.

We made the approximately three-hour drive from Salem to the Shadow Falls Trailhead along Forest Road 25 in the Umpqua National Forest. The drive took us to Glide on Highway 138 where we turned off onto Little River Road which we were familiar with from our visit to Wolf Creek Falls in August 2022 (post).

The hike here is straightforward with the trail losing a little over 300′ of elevation in a mile to a viewpoint of the waterfall.

Salal

Oregon goldthreads

Geranium

Snail

Footbridge over Cavitt Creek.

Cavitt Creek

There were some nice rock formations along the creek.

Shadow Falls

There was a rope and scramble trail next to the fence at the viewpoint, but with the wet and muddy conditions we stuck with the view from the end of the official trail. After spending a little time admiring the waterfall we headed back up to the car.

Rhododendron

Looking down from above the falls.

The top of Shadow Falls.

Northern phlox

From the trailhead we drove back along FR 25 8.5-miles to the BLM managed Cavitt Creek Falls Recreation Site. The site consists of 10 campsites ($10.00 fee and reservations must be made 5 days in advance) and a day-use picnic area. The main attraction is a swimming hole below Cavitt Creek Falls. The falls themselves are under 10′ in drop, but they are a scenic little cascade. An ADA accessible trail leads down to a viewpoint above the falls, and a set of stairs continues down to the swimming hole.

The campground host from the small day-use parking area.

The wheelchair accessible path.

Picnic area near the viewpoint above the falls.

The swimming hole was empty except for this common merganser.

Cavitt Creek below the falls.

This was a nice little stop where we managed to get in almost a third of a mile of walking. Being there on a wet, chilly morning worked out great for just checking out the waterfall. We returned to our car and made our way back to Highway 138 where we turned right (east) and headed for our next stop at Clearwater Falls. It was a little over 63 miles from the Cavitt Creek Falls Recreation Site to the Clearwater Falls Campground where we parked near the picnic area and followed a short (one tenth of a mile) path to the beautiful Clearwater Falls.

Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway Map at the picnic area.

First time we’ve seen a wolf warning; it is usually bear or cougar.

Understandably this was the first stop where there were other people, but it wasn’t crowded, and everyone got a chance for a little solitude on the observation deck. After taking our turn we returned to the car and headed back west on the highway just 3.6-miles to Whitehorse Falls Campground.

The small parking area near the picnic grounds.

An even shorter trail here led to a viewing platform for Whitehorse Falls. We saw several of the same faces here as we’d seen at Clearwater Falls.

Clearwater River below Whitehorse Falls.

Once again we returned to the car and continued west, this time 8.8-miles to the Clearwater (East) Trailhead.

The trailhead is just a pullout along the shoulder of FR 4776.

The 1.7-mile Clearwater River Trail begins (or ends if you start at the Clearwater (West) Trailhead) on the opposite side of the road.

The pointer to the right was labeled “Unmanaged Trail” which was a term we had not encountered before. We would pass four such signs along this trail and can only assume they are use trails connecting to FR 4776 at various points.

This was a lovely trail which made a couple of ups and downs as it followed the river toward Toketee Lake.

Crab spider on prince’s pine.

Twin flower

This was the biggest skunk cabbage that we’d ever seen.

Hedge nettle

Tiger lily

Northern phlox

Arnica

One of several small cascades along the river.

Scouler’s bluebells

Rhododendron

Another Unmanaged Trail heading off to the right.

Candysticks

Yet another Unmanaged Trail.

Arriving at the west trailhead.

We were hoping for a view of Toketee Lake, but we would have had to road walk a bit to get one.

We returned the way we’d come without seeing another person on this trail.

Foam flower

There were a pair of ouzels flying around this cascade.

Ouzel aka American dipper.

This stop came to 3.5-miles, our longest hike of the day. There was a little noise from the highway at brief times along the trail but for the most part the river drowned out the cars. It was a good way to end the day as far as hiking went.

With all the stops being short and/or simple out-and-backs instead of the individual tracks here is a map of their relative locations.

This image includes our 2022 visits as well.

We timed things pretty well too with the rain really letting loose on our drive into Roseburg. After checking in to our room and getting changed we headed out to get some dinner at 7 Seven Thai which turned out to be a great pick, then headed to Fred Meyer for some room snacks before turning in for the evening. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Highway 138 Waterfalls Part 2

Tags Cavitt Creek Falls, Cavitt Creek Recreation Site, Clearwater Falls, Clearwater Falls Campground, Clearwater River, Clearwater River Trail, Highway 138, hiking, Oregon, roseburg, Shadow Falls, Waterfalls, Whitehorse Falls, Whitehorse Falls Campground

California Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Crater Lake Area Grants Pass Area Hiking Klamath Mountains Klamath/Siskiyou Mountains Marble Mountains Medford/Ashland Area Mt. Shasta Area Mt. Theilsen/Mt. Bailey Area Oregon Red Buttes Wilderness Rogue-Umpqua Divide Roseburg Area Salmon Mountains Scott Mountains Siskiyou mountains Sky Lakes/Mountain Lakes Area Trinity Alps Trinity Divide

Southern Oregon & Northern California

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 6, 2023
9 Comments on Southern Oregon & Northern California

Several years ago we set a goal for ourselves to hike all 500 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes…” series of guidebooks (post). In 2020 we completed the first of these books covering the Central Oregon Cascades (post). We followed that up by completing a pair of books in 2021 starting with Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast and Coast Range” 3rd edition (post) followed up by “100 HIkes/Travel Guide Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington” 4th edition (post).

Generally speaking in order to check a hike off our list we need to have hiked a substantial portion of Sullivan’s described hike or visited the main attraction(s) he identifies for the hike. For 66 of the hikes we followed the books described route. For the other 34 hikes various factors contributed to us not completing all of each featured hike. For some we started at a different trailhead, others had portions of trail(s) closed when we visited, and several had longer options that would have required multiple days to complete. In some other cases we did slightly different routes, sometimes by accident.

The area covered by Sullivan in this book, as the title suggests includes parts of Southern Oregon and Northern California. It contains his southernmost featured hike, Caribou Lakes. In general the area covered in Oregon begins just North of Roseburg extending East to Highway 97 (with the exception being Klamath Falls which is included in his Eastern Oregon book), South to California, and West to Marial on the Rogue River. In California the area extends south to the Trinity Alps Wilderness, West to the Siskiyou Wilderness, and East to the Mount Shasta Wilderness.

The hikes inside the red lines represent the location of the featured hikes.

In addition to the three wilderness areas in California mentioned above the featured hikes included visits to the Marble Mountain, Castle Crags, Russian, and Red Buttes Wilderness areas in California. Wilderness areas in Oregon included the Red Buttes (OR & CA share this wilderness), Kalmiopsis, Wild Rogue, Soda Mountain, Mountain Lakes, Sky Lakes, Rogue-Umpqua Divide, Boulder Creek, and Mt. Thielsen.

In addition to the 15 designated wilderness areas there were hikes in two National Monuments – Oregon Caves & Cascade-Siskiyou, and Crater Lake National Park.

#1 North Bank Ranch-Hiked 6/5/2015 6/25/2023

#2 Fall Creek Falls-Hiked 6/13/2022 8/7/2022 6/25/2023
Fall Creek Falls
#3 Little River Waterfalls-Hiked 8/7/2022
Yasko Falls
#4 Boulder Creek-Hiked 9/7/2020

#5 Twin Lakes-Hiked 6/14/2022

#6 Fish Lake-Hiked 9/3/2022

#7 Buckey and Cliff Lakes-Hiked 9/3/2022

#8 Umpqua Hot Springs-Hiked 6/13/2022

#9 Toketee and Watson Falls-Hiked 6/13/2022

#10 Lemolo Falls-Hiked 6/13/2022

#11 Cowhorn Mountain-Hiked 9/15/2016

#12 Miller and Maidu Lakes-Hiked 8/1/2012

#13 Tipsoo Peak-Hiked 10/2/2014

#14 Thielsen Creek-Hiked 8/8/2020

#15 Mount Thielsen-Hiked 9/23/2012

#16 Diamond Lake-Hiked 9/5/2020

#17 Mount Bailey-Hiked 8/12/2012

#18 Boundary Springs-Hiked 6/13/2014

#19 Park Headquarters-Hiked 7/31/2023

#20 Garfield Peak-Hiked 7/31/2023

#21 Discovery Point-Hiked 9/19/2022

#22 The Watchman-Hiked 8/12/2012 7/31/2023

#23 Wizard Island-Hiked 8/1/2023

#24 Mount Scott-Hiked 10/2/2014

#25 Plaikni Falls and The Pinnacles-Hiked 7/30/2023

#26 Crater Peak-Hiked 7/30/2023

#27 Annie Creek & Godfrey Glen-Hiked 7/30/2023 7/31/2023

#28 Union Peak-Hiked 9/17/2022

#29 Upper and Lower Table Rocks-Hiked 6/9/2017 (Lower) & 5/26/2022 (Upper)
Lower Table Rock

View from Upper Table Rock
#30 Lost Creek Lake-Hiked 6/9/2017

#31 Takelma Gorge-Hiked 10/15/2020

#32 Natural Bridge-Hiked 10/16/2020

#33 Union Creek-Hiked 10/17/2020 9/20/2022

#34 Abbott Butte-Hiked 10/17/2020

#35 Hershberger Mountain-Hiked 10/16/2020

#36 Muir Creek-Hiked 5/27/2018

#37 Rattlesnake Mountain-Hiked 9/6/2020

#38 Seven Lakes West-Hiked 9/9/2023

#39 Seven Lakes East-Hiked 9/9/2023

#40 Blue Lake Basin-Hiked 9/18/2022

#41 Mount McLoughlin-Hiked 8/27/2016

#42 Fourmile Lake-Hiked 8/26/2016

#43 Sky Lakes via Cold Springs-Hiked 9/24/2022

#44 Sky Lakes via Nannie Creek-Hiked 9/24/2022

#45 Fish Lake-Hiked 10/7/2018

#46 Brown Mountain Lava Flow-Hiked 8/28/2016

#47 Lake of the Woods-Hiked 10/7/2018

#48 Mountain Lakes-Hiked 8/25/2016

#49 Soda Mountain-Hiked 6/3/2015

#50 Pilot Rock-Hiked 7/29/2017

#51 Mount Ashland Meadows-Hiked 6/3/2015

#52 Lithia Park-Hiked 6/2/2015

#53 Bandersnatch Trail-Hiked 6/17/2022

#54 White Rabbit Trail-Hiked 6/17/2022

#55 Grizzly Peak-Hiked 6/5/2015

#56 Roxy Ann Peak-Hiked 5/30/2022

#57 Wagner Butte-Hiked 6/4/2015

#58 Siskiyou Gap-Hiked 6/16/2022

#59 Jack-Ash Trail-Hiked 5/27/2022

#60 Sterling Ditch Tunnel-Hiked 6/10/2017 5/2/2023

#61 Jacksonville-Hiked 6/8/2017

#62 Enchanted Forest-Hiked 6/11/2017

#63 Observation Peak-Hiked 6/15/2022

#64 Collings Mountain-Hiked 6/8/2017

#65 Applegate Lake-Hiked 6/8/2017 5/29/2022

#66 Red Buttes-Hiked 10/27/2015

#67 Frog Pond-Hiked 6/18/2022

#68 Azalea Lake-Hiked 10/26/2015

#69 Sturgis Fork-Hiked 10/7/2023

#70 Grayback Mountain-Hiked 10/9/2023

#71 Oregon Caves-Hiked 10/30/2015

#72 Mount Elijah-Hiked 10/7/2023

#73 Sucker Creek-Hiked 10/26/2015

#74 Tanner Lakes-Hiked 10/8/2023

#75 Bolan Lake-Hiked 10/8/2023

#76 Polar Bear Gap-Hiked 7/1/2022

#77 Raspberry Lake-Hiked 7/3/2022

#78 Devils Punchbowl-Hiked 7/2/2022

#79 Rough and Ready Creeks-Hiked 5/12/2017

#80 Babyfoot Lake-Hiked 10/9/2023

#81 Eight Dollar Mountain-Hiked 5/4/2023

#82 Illinois River Beaches-Hiked 5/4/2023

#83 Grants Pass Nature Trails 5/3/2023

#84 Rouge River Trail East-Hiked 5/1/2023

#85 Rogue River Trail West-Hiked 6/24/2023

#86 Paradise Lake-Hiked 6/28/2016

#87 Sky High Lakes-Hiked 6/29/2016

#88 Campbell Lake-Hiked 6/27/2016

#89 Paynes Lake-Hiked 7/24/2017

#90 Russian Lake-Hiked 8/24/2022

#91 Hidden & South Fork Lakes-Hiked 8/26/2022

#92 Trail Gulch Lake-Hiked 8/25/2022

#93 East Boulder Lake-Hiked 8/23/2022

#94 Kangaroo Lake-Hiked 7/23/2017

#95 Deadfall Lakes-Hiked 7/25/2017

#96 Caribou Lake-Hiked 7/27/2017

#97 Castle Lake-Hiked 7/26/2017

#98 Castle Crags-Hiked 7/26/2017

#99 Black Butte-Hiked 7/28/2017

#100 Mount Shasta Meadows-Hiked 8/22/2022

In our minds this was by far the most challenging area to finish even though we did so before completing Eastern Oregon. The difficulty with Eastern Oregon mostly revolves around distance from Salem and the size of the area covered. The Southern Oregon-Northern California area is smaller and the hikes not as far away, but it involved a lot of trails that frankly don’t see the level of maintenance that most of the other areas receive. While we’ve encountered rough trails, all over poison oak is much more prevalent down south which doesn’t invite pushing through overgrown tread or bushwacking around obstacles. This area has also been hit harder by fires over the last couple of decades leaving extra work to reopen them as well as remove additional blowdown as the dead trees fall over. When the conditions were good though the scenery and diverse plant and wildlife made for some spectacular hikes. There are many that we’d love to do again and several non-featured hikes that we have in our future plans, so we aren’t done with area yet. Happy Trails!

Hiking Oregon Roseburg Area Trip report Willamette Valley

Fern Falls and Comstock Day Use Area – 06/25/23

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 28, 2023
1 Comment on Fern Falls and Comstock Day Use Area – 06/25/23

We spent the night in Roseburg after making the long drive from Salem to Marial for a day hike along the Rogue River (post) and on the way home we made a couple of stops. Our plan involved portions of two of Sullivan’s featured hikes. Because we’d done one of the options for each of the hikes we had checked them off our to-do list, but we didn’t want to pass up the chance to do the additional options.

Our first stop involved a short out-and-back to Fern Falls along the North Umpqua Trail. In his Fall Creek Falls hike Sullivan provides two options, the hike to Fall Creek Falls (post) or three stops including Fall Creek Falls, Susan Creek Falls (post), and Fern Falls.

It took a bit of research online to figure out if the section of the North Umpqua Trail to Fern Falls was actually open. The area burned in the 2020 Archie Creek Fire closing the lower sections of the trail. The first few miles are managed by the BLM before the Forest Service takes over at the Umpqua National Forest boundary. The Forest Service has not lifted their closure order but it wasn’t clear whether or not the BLM had reopened their portion. Since there was no information on the BLM site stating that the trail was closed and several people had posted recent trip reports on Alltrails we decided to give it a try and drove to the Swiftwater Trailhead along the North Umpqua River.

There was no closure order posted at the trailhead and a couple of fishermen had beaten us to the parking area so we set off on the trail.

Fireweed

At the quarter-mile mark we forked right on a spur trail to an interpretive sign overlooking Deadline Falls.

Deadline Falls

After admiring the falls we returned to the North Umpqua Trail and continued on through the fire scar.
Signs of ongoing trail work.

Northern phlox

Remains of a footbridge lost to the Archie Creek Fire.

The current creek crossing. We joked that this was a prime difference between the BLM and Forest Service. It feels like the Forest Service waits until everything has been repaired (plus a year or two) before reopening trails after a fire while the BLM reopens them once they are passable.

Self-heal

The trailing blackberries were ripening along the trail providing us with a nice second breakfast.

North Umpqua River from the trail.

We also spotted a few ripe blackcap raspberries.

Bleeding heart

Crab spider on a California harebell.

Heather was really excited to find ripe thimbleberries too.

Highway 138 on the far side of the river.

Approximately 1.7 miles from the trailhead we arrived at Fern Falls.

A fallen log dissected the view of the falls, a result of the fire but it was a nice view and a good turn around point.

Musk monkeyflower

I managed to pull a ripe salmonberry out of this bush below Fern Falls.

We returned the way we’d come under increasing sunlight. Birds had been singing all morning and with the increased light we were finally able to spot some of them.

Moth

Lazuli bunting

Black-headed grosbeak

Unidentified small bird.

Wren, possibly a house wren.

This little one was way up atop a snag. Merlin suggests it’s a Macgillivray’s warbler.

Woodpecker

Backside of a Stellar’s jay.

Raven

Our hike here came to 3.4 miles with maybe 300′ of elevation gain.

We hopped into the car and drove to our next stop at the Comstock Day Use Area for the BLM managed North Bank Habitat Management Area.

We had visited the area in 2015 starting a loop from the West Access Trailhead. We planned another loop from this trailhead which would share a 1.2-mile section of that earlier loop.

We began by passing a green gate at the NW end (left) of the trailhead parking area and following an old roadbed for 0.1-miles to a fork.

We stayed right on the signed Soggy Bottom Trail.

We followed the Soggy Bottom Trail for 0.7 miles to the Middle Barn.

Checker-mallow

Turkey vulture

We spotted a deer way up on the hillside in the distance.

Heading down to Soggy Bottom.

Middle Barn

We stayed right past a road to the barn and continued to the next fork and turned left on the North Gate Trail.
Soggy Bottom

Bindweed

The North Gate Trail ahead on the left.

North Gate Trail

Elegant brodiaea

Common wood nymph

The trail climbed steadily for the first three quarters of a mile passing a grove of cedars near the end of the stretch.

The cedar grove.

A little past the cedar grove we passed an old structure on the opposite side of a barbed wire fence.

On the far side of the structure was a sign for the Wrong Way Trail which looked as though it saw little to no use. The map at the trailhead showed this trail dead-ending in the forest which might explain why.

Beyond the Wrong Way Trail junction the North Gate Trail began a much steeper climb up to a junction at a saddle with the Middle Ridge Trail.

Much of this section was in full sunlight making it a bit of a trudge.
View from the North Gate Trail.

Steepest section of the trail but at least there was some shade here.

Gopher snake

Trail sign at the saddle.

We turned left on the Middle Ridge Trail for 1.2 semi-familiar miles.
The Middle Ridge Trail.

View from the Middle Ridge Trail.

View from the saddle.

A dip along the ridge.

First view of the North Umpqua River.

Hawk on a tree.

A different hawk in flight.

Elegant brodiaea

Looking back along the Middle Ridge Trail.

We remembered this structure in the ground.

Approximately 1.2 miles from the saddle we arrived at a junction with the Thistle Ridge Trail.
Approaching the junction.

View back up along the trail.

Whistlers Bend Reservoir and the North Umpqua River. Despite a bit of haze the view was far better than it had been in 2015.

The 2015 view on a cloudy June 5th.

We turned onto the Thistle Ridge Trail which led us past a few great madrone trees.

Ookow

View from the Thistle Ridge Trail. Below is the lower portion of the trail which seemed to be quite a way down.

We quickly realized why it seemed so far down when we came to what we believe may be the steepest section of trail we’ve hiked.
When you can’t see the bottom of the hill you know it’s steep.

The trail finally leveled out a bit through a stand of oak trees.

After just under a mile on the Thistle Ridge Trail we came to a junction with the West Barn Road.
The junction below from the Thistle Ridge Trail.

We turned left again and followed this steepish trail down 0.2 miles to the West Barn.
European centaury (invasive but pretty)

West Barn

The West Barn Road was a little muddy in spots.

We followed this road a total of 0.7 miles back to the junction with the Soggy Bottom Trail where we turned right to return to the trailhead.

Daisies were profuse in some areas.

We ignored the Deer Hollow Tie Trail that joined on the right.

The Comstock Day Use Area from the West Barn Road.

Our loop here came to 5 miles with a little over 1000′ of elevation gain, some of which was impressively steep.

The trails here were lined with poison oak at times but they were always wide enough for us to easily keep away from it.

These were a couple of pleasant hikes and made for a nice outing before driving back home to Salem. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Fern Falls and North Bank Habitat

Tags Comstock Day Use Area, Deadline Falls, Fern Falls, hiking, Middle Barn, Middle Ridge Trail, north bank habitat, North Gate Trail, North Umpqua River, North Umpqua River Trial, Oregon, roseburg, Soggy Bottom Trail, Swiftwater Trailhead, Thistle Ridge Trail, West Barn, West Barn Road

Hiking Mt. Theilsen/Mt. Bailey Area Oregon Roseburg Area Trip report

Highway 138 Waterfalls – 06/13/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 21, 2022
5 Comments on Highway 138 Waterfalls – 06/13/2022

The last two years have created a bit of urgency to our goal of completing the 100 featured hikes in all five areas covered by William L. Sullivan in his 100 hikes guidebook series (post). Between the pandemic and 2020 wildfire season it became clear that taking our time could create issues down the road so starting last year we refocused our efforts on finishing the 500 hikes as soon possible. As we started 2022 we were down to just the Eastern and Southern Oregon (and Northern CA) areas to complete (post). The majority of the remaining hikes were from the southern book where a number of planned trips had been canceled in recent years due to weather and/or the effects of wildfires. We spent a week in Medford earlier in June checking off Roxy Ann Peak (post) and the Jack-Ash Trail (post) and we headed back south a couple of weeks later to hopefully check off more.

A cool and wet Spring has left parts of Oregon, in particular the northern and central Cascade Mountains with a lot of lingering snow. Many trails and trailheads in those areas that in recent years would be open are still snowed in but Southern Oregon had been dealing with an extreme drought, so the recent weather has not had as much of an impact leaving trails accessible. While accessibility wasn’t an issue the weather forecast was a bit of one. More wet weather was forecast for the start and end of our six-day trip with the possibility of snow at higher elevations. After some substituting and rearranging of hikes we settled on a tentative plan that gave us some flexibility in case the forecast tried to pull a fast one on us. Since Monday was supposed to be mostly cloudy with a chance of showers off and on all day we decided to combine a number of stops east of Roseburg along Highway 138 to check out seven different waterfalls.

We started our morning off at Susan Creek Falls. This waterfall is one of three stops listed in featured hike #2, Fall Creek Falls (4th edition). This area was burned in the 2020 Archie Creek Fire and to date the other two stops at Fall Creek Falls and the Tioga Segment of the North Umpqua Trail remain closed. The BLM has managed to get the 0.7 mile Susan Creek Trail open although the trailhead on the north side of the highway was full of logs forcing us to park across the street at the Susan Creek Picnic Area.

After dashing across the highway we set off on the trail through the burned forest.

Checkermallow

A slug and a bug on a flower.

Pea

Approaching the falls.

Columbine

Susan Creek Falls

This short trail only gained about 150′ and was a nice leg stretcher after the drive down from Salem. After admiring the falls we returned to the car and continued east on 138 to milepost 59 and turned left onto Forest Road 34 to the Toketee Falls Trailhead. One of two stops that make up featured hike #9 (edition 4.2) a 0.4 mile trail leads to a platform above the falls which spill out of gap in basalt cliffs.

Evidence of overnight rains on the trail.

A very faint rainbow over the North Umpqua River.

Stairs down to the viewpoint platform.

Toketee Falls

We spent some time admiring this waterfall which is one of Oregon’s more recognizable falls before returning to the car and continuing on FR 34 to FR 3401 and following it to the Umpqua Hot Springs Trailhead.

The hike starting here is not the second part of featured hike #9 but rather its own entry (featured hike #8, edition 4.2). Sullivan gives two 0.6 mile round trip options starting from this trailhead. The first is a 120′ climb to Umpqua Hot Springs overlooking the North Umpqua River. To reach the hot springs we crossed the river on a footbridge and turned right to make the climb up to the springs.

Candy sticks along the trail.

Just before the hot springs I veered downhill on a side trail to visit the river.

During lower flow there is another hot spring along the river bank in the area.

I climbed back up to find Heather sitting near the springs. There were a number of people enjoying a soak and with clothing being optional pictures were very limited.

We climbed down from the hot springs and returned to the trailhead where we took a short trail up to FR 3401 and turned left following a short distance to the resumption of the North Umpqua Trail.
Heading up to the road.

The North Umpqua Trail on the left leaving the FR 3401.

Approximately a quarter mile along this segment we arrived at Surprise Falls, a cascade created by cold springs bursting from the hillside below the trail.

The mossy cascade was beautiful and we spent quite a while enjoying the lush green surroundings. A very short distance further we arrived at our turn around point at another spring fed waterfall, Columnar Falls.

This fall gets its name due to the columnar basalt that the water both cascades down and spouts right out of.

The hot springs across the river from Columnar Falls.

We returned the way we’d come and hoped back into our car and drove back to Highway 138 where we again turned east. Our next stop was the second waterfall in featured hike #9, Watson Falls. Another short (0.4 mile) trail leads from the Watson Falls Trailhead to Southern Oregon’s tallest waterfall.
The top of Watson Falls from the trailhead signboard.

This trail gains 300′ as it climbs to a viewpoint part way up the 272′ waterfall.

Watson Falls from below.

Footbridge over Watson Creek.

Heather at the viewpoint.

The splash pool.

On the way back down we took the loop back trail which splits off just before the creek crossing.

This trail follows Watson Creek down to FR 37 where a right turn and short road walk completes the loop.

Watson Creek at FR 37.

A little bit of blue sky and sunlight along FR 37.

Once again we returned to Highway 138 and continued east. Our next three stops were in the Lemolo Lake Recreation Area so we turned off of the Highway onto FR 2610 at a pointer for the Recreation Area. Our first stop was at the Warm Springs Trail.

Yet another short trail (0.3 miles) that led to a scenic waterfall.

Viewing platform above the falls.

We both really liked the angled basalt cliff on the far side of these falls.

This waterfall surprised us a bit with how much we both liked it. We headed back to the car and drove back the way we’d come until reaching a canal bridge along FR 2610 where we turned across it to the North Umpqua Trail.
The canal bridge is 5.6 miles from Highway 138 on FR 2610.

Sign near the canal bridge.

The North Umpqua Trail.

The section between Lemolo Lake and the Umpqua Hot Springs Trailhead is called the “Dread and Terror Segment” but both sections we hiked were beautiful.

This would be our longest hike of the day at 3.5 miles round trip. The trail followed the North Umpqua River providing numerous views while losing 400′ to a viewpoint above Lemolo Falls.

Numerous seasonal streams and seeps flowed across the trail.

Unnamed fall along the river.

Trillium

Ouzel

Lemolo Falls

We took a short break at the viewpoint then headed back. We had one final stop to make on the other side of the river to visit a better viewpoint below Lemolo Falls.
Red flowering currant along the trail.

Bleeding heart.

From the canal bridge we drove back toward Lemolo Lake crossing the dam then in half a mile turned right on FR 3401 for another half mile to FR 800 where we again turned right. We followed FR 800 for 1.6 miles to a spur road (FR 3401-840). The trailhead is located approximately a quarter-mile down this road but we parked as soon as we had a chance due to this road being in the worst condition we’d experienced this day.
Approaching the trailhead.

This old trail/trailhead was recently reopened and aside from the poor access road the trail was in good shape. The first 0.6 miles follows an old roadbed to a former picnic area where the Lemolo Falls Trail used to begin. Three quarters of a mile later the trail arrives at the North Umpqua River below Lemolo Falls.

The former picnic area (Note the picnic table in the trees to the right.)

Valerian along the trail.

One of many brief appearances of blue sky during the day.

This was by far the superior view and a great way to end the day. We climbed back up the 500′ that we’d descended to the falls and called it a day. Our seven stops was a new personal record (previously six on a trip down the Oregon Coast). With most of the hikes being rather short our mileage for the day was just a smidge over 11 miles with a little over 1800′ of cumulative elevation gain. It was a long day made longer by a couple of delays due to road construction so it was later than we’d planned when we pulled into our motel in Roseburg but we had managed to finish three more featured hikes (and one third of a fourth) and although it had sprinkled off and on all day we’d also had a few sun breaks which made it a perfect day for chasing waterfalls. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Highway 138 Waterfalls

Tags Archie Creek Fire, Columnar Falls, Dread and Terror Segment, Highway 138, hiking, Lemolo Falls, North Umpqua River, North Umpqua Trail, Oregon, roseburg, Surprise Falls, Susan Creek Falls, Toketee Falls, Umpqua Hot Springs, Warm Spring Falls, Waterfalls, Watson Falls

Hiking Oregon Roseburg Area Trip report Willamette Valley

North Bank Habitat

We recently headed down to Ashland, OR on vacation for a few hikes and to catch a play at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. On our way down south we stopped at the BLM managed North Bank Habitat just north of Roseburg for a quick hike to break up the drive. The primary goal of the habitat is to provide secure habitat for the Columbia white-tailed deer and other special status species.

The 10-mile square area has several access points and trail possibilities, although some access points are only open during certain days/hours so check ahead. We started our hike at the West Access and headed up the Blacktail Ridge Road Trail.

The area which had been a farm/ranch? was very different than any of the places we have visited. Rolling hills of grass and oak trees along with valleys filled with forest.

There were also a lot of flowers, many that were unfamiliar to us. The only issue was having to watch out for the poison oak that seemed to be everywhere along the way.

Yellow Glandweed

Poison Oak lining the old road

Elegant Brodiaea

Blessed Milk Thistle

Despite it being a cloudy day there were views all along the ridge. We kept our eyes open for deer on the surrounding hillsides but weren’t having any luck. The only signs of wildlife so far were some blackbirds at the trailhead and lots of birdsong from the trees.

We followed the Blacktail Ridge Road Trail to a junction with Middle Ridge Trail to a second junction the Thistle Ridge Trail. Some of the best views were along the Middle Ridge Trail (which we were now on) just after the Thistle Ridge junction. It was here that we began spotting wildlife. First a hawk

Then a small blue bird

and finally some deer.

They were a ways off but there appeared to be a pair of black-tailed deer not the Columbian white-tailed but they were deer none the less. We continued to spot new flowers as well including several Henderson’s stars which were really unique.

Eventually we reached a junction with the Chasm Creek Road Trail. Here we turned left and headed steeply down the old muddy road.

The trail eventually leveled off and we strolled through mores open grassland to the border of the Jackson Ranch where we turned left on the Jackson Ranch access road. This area was filled with birds including this beautiful western bluebird.

Just before reaching North Bank Road at the gated Jackson Ranch access road we turned left again along a short path lined with daisies and purple self-heal to return to the West Access Parking area.

Granted it was a Monday morning but we didn’t see another person during the 6.2 mile loop. It was a perfect way to kick off a week of vacation. Happy Trails!

flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/sets/72157653672903899

Tags blessed milk thistle, Elegant Brodiaea, hiking, north bank habitat, Oregon, poison oak, roseburg, self-heal, western bluebird. henderson's stars, yellow glandweed