Tag: santiam state forest

Monument Peak Loop – 12/13/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date December 15, 2025
No Comments on Monument Peak Loop – 12/13/2025

It had been a couple of weeks since we’d had a chance to hit the trails, but a favorable forecast gave me an opportunity to check out the Monument Peak Trail system in the Santiam State Forest just south of Gates, OR. Heather would not be joining me on this outing as she had some Christmas preparations to attend to.

There isn’t a lot of information online about the trail system. Oregon.gov has a pdf trail map and the Statesman Journal recently featured the area in a story, but outside of that not much came up in searches. The trails are shown on both CalTopo and Gaia GPS. Interestingly both of these mapping apps showed the various trail names while the trail names on the current Oregon Department of Forestry pdf rarely lined up with the trail signs on the ground. On the other hand, the ODF’s Santiam Horse Camp Brochure does contain a map with all the trail names, however it does not show the most recent addition, the Bobcat Trail at all. Regardless of the trail names the locations of the trails shown were correct on all of the maps.

There are two official trailheads serving the area, Santiam Horse Camp and the Monument Peak Trailhead. The road to the horse camp is closed seasonally from November through April so that left the Monument Peak Trailhead for my starting point. (It’s possible to start at several of the road crossings by parking along the shoulder of either Monument Peak or Mad Creek Roads.)

I was the first car at the trailhead.

The trail map at the trailhead matched the online pdf.

My plan was to take the 1.1-mile Magic Trail (Monument Peak Trail on the signboard map) up to the Monument Peak Loop and start the loop in a counterclockwise direction. Instead of simply hiking the loop though I intended to do a figure eight by cutting across the loop on the Bobcat Trail then looping back around to that trail in a clockwise direction. I would then re-hike the Bobcat Trail and turn left to complete the Monument Peak Loop creating the figure 8. While this would add 3.6-miles and a several hundred feet of elevation gain I wanted to take the opportunity to check out as much of the trails as possible.

The Magic Trail began along an unnamed creek before switching back uphill through forest affected by the 2020 Beachie Creek Fire.

The trail crossed two gravel roads before ending at the Monument Peak Loop Trail.

The second road crossing.

Trail signs at the junction with the Monument Peak Loop.

Here the trail sign agreed with the signboard map calling this the Monument Peak Loop. It is also referred to as the Wild Boar Trail on the older ODF map. I headed right here toward the Santiam Horse Camp.

There was a lot of recent and/or future logging activity in the area, partly a result of the fire.

A lone bleeding-heart blossom.

It was a half mile from the Magic Trail junction to the horse camp. As I neared the horse camp the trail arrived at the edge of a clearcut that provided views across the Santiam River Canyon.

Looking west toward Salem and the Willamette Valley which was covered by low lying clouds. The Coast Range is visible on the far side of the clouds.

The city of Gates in the shadow below. The aftermath of the Beachie Creek Fire is on full display on the opposite side.

The high peak at the center (behind the lone snag) is Rocky Top (post) and high peak near the right side is Sardine Mountain (post).

One of the corrals at the horse camp.

The horse camp opened in 2006 and the trails developed with equestrian use in mind however they are open to all non-motorized use.

I passed by the horse camp and continued along the loop. The trail gradually climbed for 2.3-miles to the unsigned junction with the Bobcat Trail. Along the way the trail passed the historic Quartzville Trail which I haven’t been able to find much about online other than Judge John B. Waldo, Oregon’s first Supreme Court justice, used the route to travel from Gates to presumably the Quartzville district where mining activity was prevalent.

Hawk in the shadows.

There were a few obstacles on this side of the loop, but all were easy to navigate.

A bit of forest that was spared from the 2020 fire.

Market at the site of the historic trail.

The trail joined an old roadbed for a portion of this section.

The trail sign at this road junction was hidden behind the downed tree. The loop continues to the left here.

At the next road junction the trail went right.

The trail leaving the roadbed. The post on the left names this the Radio Flyer Trail while the trail sign on the right says Monument Peak Loop. At this point the trail had left the fire scar and now continued through nice second growth forest.

Flooded trail from the atmospheric river that passed over the PNW at the beginning of the week.

Just before reaching Wagon Road, I came to the unsigned Bobcat Trail forking off to the left.

Wagon Road from the junction. You can see the back end of a mushroom hunter’s car that was parked along the shoulder.

I turned left onto the Bobcat Trail which provided a mostly downhill break from the steady climb I had been doing since starting my hike.

Rhododendron

I encountered the first major obstacle of my hike on this trail; a good-sized tree had fallen along the trail on a slight downhill. I wound up walking on top of the tree for a bit to get around some of the larger limbs then spent some time clearing some of the broken branches from the trail before continuing on.

Coming up on Monument Peak Road.

The Bobcat Trail continuing on the other side of the road.

The Bobcat Trail dropped down to Mad Creek Road which I had to cross and then follow road MC100 for a little over 100′ to find the continuation of the trail.

Mad Creek Road is running left to right with MC100 straight ahead.

I had to walk down MC100 a bit to pick up the continuation of the trail.

There was a lot of target shooting happening just up Mad Creek Road which prompted me to speed up a bit as I continued on the final half mile to the junction with the Monument Peak Loop.

Back in the fire scar.

Dropping down to the trail junction.

Looking back at the Bobcat Trail.

I turned right at the junction and headed toward the gunfire. While I was fairly certain they were using an appropriate gravel pit I was a little more comfortable now that I was well below the road in a bit of a canyon. Below the trail Mad Creek was occasionally visible.

The trail turned away from Mad Creek near one of its tributaries which had a nice little waterfall boosted by the recent rains.

The trail climbed out of the canyon and crossed Mad Creek Road near the gravel pit where I could see the target shooters.

The maps all showed two road crossings along this section, Mad Creek Road and MP 800, before arriving at Monument Peak Road. That being said I crossed at least four roads and a fire break in the 1.3-miles to Monument Peak Road.

I’m not sure if this is MP800 or if it was the next one.

The fire break.

Woodpecker

Another road that isn’t on any of the maps to the right with Coyote Rock on the far side. (I assume this is Coyote Rock as this section of trail is also known as the Coyote Rock Trail.)

Coyote Rock

The trail crossing the mystery road.

The trail then made a steep descent below Coyote Rock to Monument Peak Road.

The trail is to the right here. The road straight ahead is also not shown on the maps.

After crossing Monument Peak Road the trail descended another half mile descent to Wagon Road where I had turned onto the Bobcat Trail earlier.

Another woodpecker

Arriving at Wagon Road. You can see a trail sign through the trees to the left. The mushroom hunter was here at his car, and we spoke for a moment before I continued on.

I turned onto the Bobcat Trail for the second time and followed it back to the Monument Peak Loop, this time without the sound of gunfire. This time I went left at the junction.

This portion, the Rhody Ridge Trail, of the loop began with a climb up what I assume is Rhody Ridge after crossing a gravel road.

This section had the most and trickiest blowdown of the day. I didn’t take pictures of most of it as I was too busy trying to figure out how to get over, through or around it.

After passing over the top of the ridge the trail switched back down the far side before crossing another gravel road.

Blowdown just before the gravel road. It would have been easier had I simply turned left at the first road crossing and followed the roads around the ridge to this point, but I had no way of knowing how bad the conditions were on the trail.

The trail continued through the burned forest before rejoining the gravel road for a short stretch.

Turky tails

At a point the trail veered left leaving the road. This section was also called the Pine Trail.

Signs for the Pine Trail at the end of a gravel road.

Approaching an old clearcut.

Rough-skinned newt crossing

More blowdown in the clearcut.

I was shocked to find some frost/ice here given my car had shown the temperature as 46 degrees Fahrenheit when I’d arrived at 7:45am. It certainly didn’t feel cold enough for anything to be frozen.

The Pine Trail section ending at MP400.

I turned left onto road MP400 and followed it for 0.7-miles to Monument Peak Road.

Little Rock Creek

Trail signs at the junction with Monument Peak Road.

I turned right onto Monument Peak Road for a little over 100′ then picked up the continuation of the loop.

There were vehicles parked in a turnout across the road here and I’d seen both hikers and cyclist heading up Monument Peak Road from MP400.

I followed this section of trail (Wild Boar) three quarters of a mile to complete the loop. This section was through a clearcut which allowed for some views.

Daisies

Rocky Top over the trees.

It was a bit of a climb to get back up to the junction.

The trail intersected an old logging road where I turned right along a wall of rock.

Rocky Top and Sardine Mountain up the Santiam Canyon.

Looking back along the old logging road.

Thistle

Sign post at the Magic Trail junction ahead.

I turned right onto the Magic Mile Trail and shuffled my way back to the trailhead. My feet and legs had apparently gotten soft during the couple of weeks off from hiking.

Stellar’s jay

Today’s hike wound up showing 14.5-miles on the GPS. Cumulative Elevation Gain was in the 3000′ range.

I would have saved myself 3.6 miles and at least 700′ of elevation gain by just doing the loop and skipping the Bobcat Trail. Starting at the horse camp when it is open would reduce the distance by another 2.2 miles. All that to say that there are options for shorter outings than what I wound up doing. While the area doesn’t have any major features that tend to draw crowds it was an enjoyable hike with just enough variety to keep things interesting. Given the relatively low elevation it is another nice option for the winter and early spring months when higher elevation trails are not yet accessible. Happy Trails and Merry Christmas!

Flickr: Monument Peak Loop

Tags Coyote Rock, hiking, Little Rock Creek, Mad Creek, Magic Trail, Monument Peak Loop, Monument Peak Trailhead, Oregon, Pine Trail, Rabbit Hole Trail, Radio Flyer, Rhody Ridge Trail, Santiam Horse Camp, santiam state forest, Wild Boar Trail

Hiking

Shellburg Falls – 01/20/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 21, 2025
No Comments on Shellburg Falls – 01/20/2025

It had been nearly 14 years since we visited Shellburg Falls (post). Since that time a lot has changed there, most notably the area was burned in the 2020 Beachie Creek Fire. The area remained closed until May 2024, when it was reopened thanks in large part to volunteer work done by the Trail Keepers of Oregon (TKO). I had MLK Day off from work and while the polar vortex was keeping people from outdoor activities in some parts of the country the low at Shellburg Falls was forecast to be a crisp but reasonable 25F with nothing but blue skies.

I couldn’t pass up hiking weather like that so while Heather was getting ready for work I headed out to the Shellburg Falls Trailhead. Please note that access roads for the trailhead changed post fire and that some information online and certain navigation apps (I’m looking at you Google Maps) still show the pre-fire route. The directions in Oregon Hikers Field Guide (linked above) are correct as of this writing.

One of the other changes post fire is that the loop we did back in 2011 is no longer possible due to the closure of the section of trail that passed behind Shellburg Falls. You can still reach Shellburg Falls on either the west side or east side, you just can’t make a loop out of it. There are several other loops that are possible in the area on the east side of the creek and my plan was to check out three of those and also take a detour to the Silver Falls State Park Backcountry.

Prior to doing any of that though I headed down the Shellburg Falls Trail to do the roughly 1.5-mile out-and-back on the west side of the falls.

The trail parallels Shellburg Road and briefly joins it after passing a gate to cross Shellburg Creek and then returns to a single track recrossing Shellburg Creek on a new footbridge installed by TKO volunteers.

Shellburg Creek

Trail sign ahead on the right marking the resumption of the Shellburg Falls Trail.

The trail soon passes the top of the falls before descending via new switchbacks and turning back up the creek for a view of the full waterfall.

May 2011 view.

First sunlight hitting the rocks above the trail.

Barricade and sign marking the closed section of trail.

2011 view

After admiring the falls I headed back up toward the trailhead but stayed on Shellburg Road and turned right across the parking area to head toward the shelter and day use area.
Some survivors on the far hillside.

I heard a number of woodpeckers throughout the day, but this was the only one I was able to spot.

Outhouse at the day use area up ahead.

Parking spots at the day use area along with the shelter. The trails on the left and right are the Vine Maple Trail, the shortest loop option at about 1-mile.

While my plan was to do the Vine Maple Loop it would not be all at once. Instead, my plan was to take the left (northern) section to the Shellburg Creek Trail where I would turn left onto that loop which would eventually lead me back to the trailhead where I would then take the southern section of the Vine Maple Loop to the August Mountain Trail.

The only tree I had to step over on a trail all morning.

Arriving at the 4-way trail junction with the Shellburg Creek, August Mountain, and southern portion of the Vine Maple Trail.

At the junction I made a hard left onto the Shellburg Creek Trail.

We had not been on this trail in 2011, so it was brand new to me. The trail climbed gradually along Shellburg Creek (no views) for a third of a mile before turning away from the creek and climbing more steeply.

I saw a good number of varied thrushes including 4 or 5 in this spot, but once again I failed at getting a clear picture.

The forest along the creek held up pretty well in the fire.

I was keeping an eye out for the Lost Creek Trail which would be heading uphill to the right (or left if you’re going the other way) of the Shellburg Creek Trail. I first spotted a faint trail signed as a horse route.

I had seen this trail on at least one map and knew it wasn’t the trail I was looking for. (It theoretically rejoins the Shellburg Creek Trail a short distance later, but I did not notice the other end.)

Frosty leaves

A short distance later the trail crossed a roadbed that was not on any of the maps that I had available to me. (This road is shown on several other maps that I did not happen to be using.)

Referring to the maps I had, and my GPS track this old roadbed looked like it might be what I was looking for. There was no sign for the Lost Creek Trail but the other tail signs at the junction increased my confidence that this could be the trail. I turned uphill on the roadbed and climbed 150′ in a quarter of a mile to the end of the road.

End of the line. I briefly searched for old tread before deciding that this was not in fact the Lost Creek Trail.

I returned to the Shellburg Creek Trail and continued on that loop. A tenth of a mile later I passed an abandoned trail that had been covered with debris. A few feet beyond the abandoned trail I came to an unsigned T-junction at the edge of a clearcut.

The T-junction

The trail leading uphill here was in good shape and I was confident that I had finally found the correct trail, so I turned right.
Heading uphill from the Shellburg Creek Trail.

After climbing for a bit I passed the upper end of the closed trail and a trail marker for the Snag Loop Trail.

As near as I can tell the decommissioned section of trail was the Lost Creek Trail as some maps show both the Lost Creek and Snag Loop Trails.

I continued uphill crossing a roadbed at the half a mile mark and arriving at Shellburg/Ayers Creek Road at the three-quarter mile mark.

Arriving at the road crossing.

Shellburg/Ayers Creek Road (depending on the map)

I turned right on the road for a tenth of a mile to an intersection where I proceeded straight into a wide muddy area.

On the other side of the intersection.

The Lost Creek Trail followed the muddy roadbed for another 0.2-miles before splitting off to the left at a trail pointer.

The trail continued uphill to Lookout Mountain Road at the edge of Silver Falls State Park.
Some of the forest up higher had survived the fire as well.

Arriving at Lookout Mountain Road.

Gate at the border of Silver Falls State Park.

I had been on the other side of that gate in 2022 during my 21.5-mile perimeter loop of that park(post).

The unmistakable flat top of Coffin Mountain (post) in the distance.

After tagging the gate, and shedding a layer, I headed back down to the Shellburg Creek Trail.

Shortly after starting back down I spotted a couple of early wildflowers.
Evergreen violets – Viola sempervirens

Snow queen

Back at the Shellburg Creek Trail.

From the junction the Shellburg Creek Trail descended at a good pace through a recently replanted clearcut before ending at Shellburg Road after two thirds of a mile.

While the Sun was out and it had warmed up a bit the shady areas were still frosty.

The trail crossed this road at the 0.3-mile mark. It turns out this roadbed is the one I turned up earlier in error.

Shellburg Road

I turned left onto the road and followed it approximately 500′ to the trailhead where I again headed for the day use area (left this time) and picked up the southern section of the Vine Maple Trail.

I followed the Vine Maple Trail back to the 4-way trail junction and turned right onto the August Mountain Trail.

The back of the shelter.

The August Mountain Trail crossed Shellburg Creek on another nice new bridge then climbed August Mountain to a signboard at a roadbed.

Following a pointer for the Shellburg Falls Trail I headed downhill into a creek drainage where I spotted a few deer on the opposite hillside.
While not unobstructed, the fire had opened up partial views of Mt. Jefferson.

Mt. Jefferson through the trees.

Two of the deer.

The trail dropped to Shellburg Road (again) and continued on the far side.

I however turned left onto the road in order to make another little loop, and to see if the fire had opened up any views of Stassel Falls. While the waterfall is on private property the Santiam State Forest Boundary extends far enough that it is possible to get glimpses of the 125′ waterfall. There is no official trail but I picked up a use trail which I followed, keeping an eye out for private property or no trespassing signs.

While the fire had burned away much of the trees the angle looking toward the falls from this side of Stout Creek still doesn’t provide a great view.
Stassel Falls

Given the rough terrain, dangerous hillside, and lack of a view I don’t recommend this side trip. I returned to the road and followed it down to a picnic table next to Lower Shellburg Falls. Along the way I was passed by a bike, the first person I’d seen on trail all morning.

The picnic table in the distance.

Lower Shellburg Falls

2011

I saw a second trail user, an equestrian, just before I headed up toward Shellburg Falls from the road.

I had the waterfall to myself and as a bonus there was a nice rainbow at its base.

Rainbow and ice below Shellburg Falls.

Icicles on the rocks above Shellburg Creek.

After admiring the falls again I headed back by taking the August Mountain Trail through the burned forest to the road crossing.
August Mountain Trail on the left.

At Shellburg Road I turned left and followed it above the falls and back to the bridge over Shellburg Creek.

At the gate I hopped back onto the Shellburg Falls Trail and took it back to the trailhead.

My convoluted route came to 10.8-miles with a little over 1700′ of elevation gain and consisted of five loops.

Given the numerous options and proximity to Salem (about an hour) it’s an area we need to make more use of. There is also a network of mountain bike only trails in the area making it a popular destination at times but on a day like to today it provided a lot of solitude.

One interesting prospect that I found myself thinking about was the possibility of shuttling from Shellburg Falls over to Silver Falls State Park. It would make for a long outing but could include at least a dozen waterfalls with the right planning. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Shellburg Falls

Tags August Mountain Trail, hiking, Lost Creek Trail, Lower Shellburg Falls, Oregon, santiam state forest, Shellburg Creek Trail, Shellburg Falls, Shellburg Falls Recreation Area, Shellburg Falls Trail, Silver Falls State Park, Snag Loop Trail, TKO, Trail Keepers of Oregon, Vine Maple Trail

Hiking Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Natural Rock Arch, Rocky Top, & North Santiam Park – 07/04/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 6, 2023
5 Comments on Natural Rock Arch, Rocky Top, & North Santiam Park – 07/04/2023

Traditionally we take a hike on July 4th somewhere in the Cascade foothills. Last year we broke that tendency by spending an extended weekend in California’s Siskiyou Wilderness (post). This year we set our sights back on the Cascade foothills with plans to hike three short trails featured in a couple of Matt Reeder’s guidebooks. All of the trails we were visiting today were impacted by the 2020 Beachie Creek Fire.

Our first stop of the morning was at the Natural Rock Arch Trailhead. Located in the Santiam State Forest Reeder combines the Natural Rock Arch Trail and the Rocky Top Trail as hike #15 in his “101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region” 2nd edition.

The forecast for Salem was for temps in the mid-90s so we got an early start.

The Natural Rock Arch Trail set off downhill from the small parking area through burned woods.

There were a number of wildflowers blooming along the trail including some impressive Cascade lilies.
Bleeding heart and penstemon

Iris

Cascade lily

Scouler’s bluebell

Inside-out flower

A few green trees remain.

Another Cascade lily

The trail was in pretty good shape overall and we could tell there was ongoing trail work. It looked like there were some rock steps that were going be placed in this section.

Penstemon

Oregon sunshine

It was a half mile descent to the Natural Rock Arch.

View from the arch.

Fin below the arch.

The trail continues through the arch and uphill a short distance on the other side to a small cave/overhang.

After visiting the arch we hiked back up to the trailhead regaining the 500′ in elevation we’d lost on the way down. The climb was the main reason we’d started with this trail preferring to make the climb before it got too warm.

In the guidebook Reeder has you drive to the Rocky Top Trailhead which is just under 2 miles away. The last mile or so of the drive to the Natural Rock Arch Trailhead had been a little rough and I didn’t feel like two more miles of the same so we decided to walk the road instead. While there was another 500′ of elevation difference between the two trailheads the gain looked to be very gradual on the topographic map.

This wound up being a great choice as the road was lined with wildflowers for nearly its entire length, and we also spotted a pika along the way.

Snowberry checkerspot

Rocky Top straight ahead.

Penstemon and big deer vetch

Cascade lily

Oregon sunshine, penstemon, Oregon bedstraw, and a daisy or two.

Oregon sunshine and paintbrush

There was a fair amount of shade while the Sun was still low.

Paintbrush and penstemon

Thimbleberry

Bleeding heart. There was more bleeding heart on this hillside than we’d ever seen in one spot.

Eight-spotted Forester-Alypia octomaculata

Pika below the road.

Pika

Rhododendron

The Three Sisters on a hazy morning.

Anemone

Paintbrush and lupine

Beargrass

A few patches of green below Rocky Top.

This was probably the worst spot in the road in between the two trailheads.

Bunchberry

Trillium with a few petals yet to fall off.

Violets

Spirea and valerian

Large boykinia

Lots of lupine.

Larkspur and phacelia

Arriving at the Rocky Top Trailhead.

A Marion County Sherrif drove up in his pickup as I arrived at the trailhead. We had a nice talk before he started back down the road. Heather arrived shortly afterward and we started up the Rocky Top Trail together.

Clodius paranssian

More flowers awaited along the 0.7 climb to the former lookout site atop Rocky Top.
Columbine

Beardstongue

Lupine

The road from the trail. The taller, rounded, peak in the center is Sardine Mountain (post). Sardine Mountain Road has yet to reopen after the 2020 fire.

Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters.

We decide the primary cause of the haze was smoke from the Tunnel 5 Fire on the Washington side of the Columbia River across from Hood River with the fires in Canada most likely adding their own smoke to the mix. The hazy view didn’t bother us though as the wildflowers and abundant pollinators held our attention.

Mt. Jefferson, Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters.

Mt. Jefferson through the haze.

Elkhorn Ridge (post) with Mt. Hood in the distance to the right. Elkhorn Ridge and Opal Creek Wilderness beyond were severely impacted by the fire and remain closed for now.

Mt. Hood above ridges of burned forest.

The loss of the trees did result in better views of the various rock formations in the area.

We’d never seen so many of these eight-spotted forester moths.

Hummingbird taking a rest from visiting the penstemon and paintbrush.

Another moth that had some excellent camo.

The moth putting its camouflage to use.

Penstemon

Rose

Rocky Top from the trail.

This was the only pink colored penstemon we spotted.

Lupine and beargrass

Not sure which of the Lycaenidae this is but it was pretty.

The spirea was popular.

Bumble bee

At one point it looked like Three Fingered Jack was sitting on top of Coffin Mountain (post).

Nice blue sky overhead.

Looking North. Henline Mountain (post) is the high peak on the other side of Elkhorn Ridge.

Bistort and penstemon

Haven’t been able to identify this one yet.

Beargrass

A snowberry checkerspot and some fried avalanche lilies.

The trail wound behind Rocky Top to come up the West ridge to the summit.

Arnica

Sub-alpine mariposa lily

Tiger lily and beardstongue

Catchfly

There was a 360-degree view from the summit which was of course impacted by the smoke. On a clear day we would have been able to see Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens in Washington but we settled for a string of Oregon Cascades and Mary’s Peak in the Coast Range.
Not sure what the story is behind this chair, but we weren’t about to test its stability.

Detroit Lake

Mary’s Peak (post) is really hard to make out, but it is on the far left of the horizon.

Looking North we could see Table Rock (post), the high point in the center, behind Henline Mountain closer and to the left and Elkhorn Ridge nearest.

Closer look at Table Rock.

Henline Mountain, Table Rock, Mt. Hood, in front and just to the right of Mt. Hood is Whetstone Mountain (post) and the two humps in the distance to the far right are North and South Dickey Peaks.

Mountain bluebird checking us out.

Mt. Jefferson

Three Fingered Jack behind Coffin Mountain, Maxwell Butte (post), Mt. Washington, the Three Sisters, and The Husband.

While we were at the summit we spotted another car driving up the road to the trailhead so after a nice break we headed back to let the next visitor(s) have their turn.

Zerene fritillary

Beargrass

Moth and a checkerspot

We passed the couple from the car about halfway down the trail. It would be the only other hikers we would pass on the trails this day. (We did see a few others but not on the trails.)
The road walk between trailheads was a butterfly bonanza. The road was now in full sunlight and that had brought out hundreds of butterflies and moths.

A bee, a moth, and a butterfly land on some flowers…

Painted lady

Fireweed Clearwing Moth (Albuna pyramidalis).

A fritillary and a copper.

Two coppers and a bee.

Checkerspots, a bee, a copper and part of an eight-spotted forester moth.

Eight-spotted forester moth.

The previous four photos were all from this group of Oregon sunshine.

Bleeding heart, no butterfly but a nice group of blossoms.

More moths and butterflies.

Swallowtail on penstemon

One of the blues I think, but not sure which.

Lorquin’s admiral

With the road walk included our hike here came in at 6.4 miles with a little over 1800′ of cumulative elevation gain.

We headed back toward Salem and turned into the North Santiam State Recreation Area (3.8 miles West of Mill City or 28.6 miles East of Salem along Highway 22.) While this is a State Recreation Area Marion County is managing the park through at least 2024 following the 2020 fire. Reeder described a 2.3-mile loop here but we weren’t sure what we’d find with limited information available online. We parked near the day-use picnic area and followed the sidewalk left past a large signboard for the campground to a small “Trail” sign.

We turned onto a wide mowed path and followed it into the fire scar which was hosting masses of very tall fireweed.

Sparrow

Stellar’s jay

We almost missed the spur trail to the larger loop which was unsigned and hidden by some brush.
The spur trail is to the right just ahead.

We turned right onto the spur and quickly came to a “T” junction where we turned right following a “To River” sign.

We watched a norther flicker fly into the snag ahead and it took a minute to figure out where he was.

The flicker

At the river the trail curved right following it to the camping area.

Trailing blackberries. We might have found a few ripe ones.

Arriving at the camping area.

North Santaim River

We continued on what was now a paved path to a road
Oregon grape

Mock orange

The boat launch.

North Santiam River

It was a lot cooler by the river than it was on the paths so we lingered for a bit before heading back to the loop. Prior to the fire the loop crossed the road to the boat launch and continued in the forest eventually crossing the park entrance road and completing the loop near the “To River” sign. We quickly discovered that the loop no longer existed on the north side of the roads. We up the boat launch road past the trail we arrived on then past the park host. We could have just turned right at the parking lot, but we decided to see if any of the loop remained. A short way up the entrance road we spotted paint for a crosswalk.
The park host on the left and the parking lot on the right.

Crosswalk for the pre-fire loop.

Looking North from the crosswalk there was zero sign of the former trail.

They had at least restored this short section of the loop so we were able to return to the spur trail and turn right then right again to complete the inner loop.

The “To River” sign at the spur trail junction.

Possibly a western wood pee-wee

Spotted towhee

Osprey

The park host from the trail.

The loop as we did it is now only 1.7-miles with 50′ of elevation gain.

The park wasn’t as crowded as we thought it might be on a hot holiday and there was no one else hiking the trails here. It was a nice enough end to a good day hiking and we had finished just after Noon so we had avoided the hottest parts of the day. To be honest we hadn’t expected a whole lot from any of these hikes and had chosen them primarily for their proximity to Salem, but the Natural Rock Arch and Rocky Top far exceeded our expectations. We were home around 1pm and had the rest of the afternoon to relax with the cats. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Natural Rock Arch, Rocky Top, and North Santiam Park

Tags Albuna pyramidalis, Beachie Creek Fire, Butterfly, hiking, Natuarl Rock Arch Trailhead, Natural Rock Arch, North Santiam Park, North Santiam River, North Santiam State Recreation Area, Oregon, Rocky Top, santiam state forest, wildflowers

Hiking Mollala Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Butte Creek & Abiqua Falls

While much of the country is dealing with a winter that just doesn’t seem to want to end the Pacific Northwests never really started. Another beautiful weekend was being forecast and we decided we just couldn’t miss another one so we headed out to check out a couple of short waterfall hikes. The trailheads for Butte Creek Falls and Abiqua Falls are less than 5 miles apart a short distance outside of Scotts Mills, Oregon. Both trailheads are located on roads accessed by taking Crooked Finger Road from Scotts Mills.

We started at the Butte Creek Falls Trailhead in the Santiam State Forest.

The trail set off from a small parking area (with an outhouse) passing to the left of the trail sign and descending .2 miles to a signed junction.

The right hand fork would lead us past Upper Butte Creek Falls on a loop back up to the parking area so we turned left first and headed toward Lower Butte Creek Falls. In just another .2 miles we arrived at a rocky ridge and the end of the maintained trail.

A well worn trail led out onto the ridge which provided a front row view of the falls high above Butte Creek.

After enjoying the lower fall we headed back to the junction and started the return loop. Upper Butte Creek Falls had been visible through the trees from the junction and we were quickly on our way down to its base.

Shorter and wider than its counterpart Upper Butte Creek Falls offers close up views and a path behind the falls into a good sized cavern.

While we were exploring around the splash pool we noticed that the salmonberries were beginning to bloom.

From the upper falls it was a short .3 mile climb back up to the parking area. The hike to these two waterfalls had been less than 1.5 miles so why not visit another nearby waterfall – The .5mile trail to Abiqua Falls. To get to Butte Creek Falls we had traveled 11.4 miles on Crooked Finger Road to CF 400, took a left and followed signs to the trailhead. Now we returned to Crooked Finger Road and headed back toward Scotts Mills for .7 miles to CF 300 marked by signs for an ATV staging area on the left. Despite the trailheads only being about 5 miles apart the drive was not quick. The 2.5 miles on CF 300 were slow due to the presence of many good sized rocks and ruts. High clearance, good tires, and 4wd were all helpful.

The Abby Foundation of Oregon owns the land where the trailhead, trail and, Abiqua Falls are, but allow the public to use it. A yellow gate marked the end of the tedious drive and the start of the short trail where we were greeted by a lone daffodil.

To find the correct path down to the falls we needed to walk back up the road a short way passing a first clear path that leads to a grassy clearing to a second worn trail marked by a white sign.

The trail down to Abiqua Creek was fairly steep in places but there were several sections of rope secured along the trail to assist with the climb.

The trail then heads up the creek in a narrow canyon toward the unseen falls.

Just as the trail began to curve out and around a rocky outcrop we got our first views of Abiqua Falls.

The canyon walls opened up to reveal a large circular bowl lined with columnar basalt colored with mosses and lichens with the falls as its centerpiece.

We spent some time exploring the rocky beach looking at the various rock cairns stacked about.

There was also a path around to the left side of the falls which I followed to see how far I could go.

We could have stayed there for hours if it had been warmer but it wasn’t so we headed out just as sunlight began to arrive inside the canyon walls.

Other than the Ouzels and a few other birds we had had the area all to ourselves.

We made it back up to the car (with some assistance from the ropes) just as another group of hikers arrived having survived the drive down. It was their turn to visit this special place. Happy Trails!

flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/sets/72157651119420415/

Tags abiqua creek, abiqua falls, butte creek, butte creek falls, hiking, lower butte creek falls, Oregon, santiam state forest, scotts mills, upper butte creek falls