Rogue River National Recreational Trail



Rogue River at start of the trail



Hike while the sun shines.......and so we did.  On Friday I left work early and we took Katie along for an hour-and-a-half  hike on the Jacksonville Trails - our third time hiking there this year.  But the highlight for this past weekend was our hike on the Rogue River National Recreational Trail (that's a mouthful).

We drove to Grave Creek just outside of Galice and after finding a parking spot in the boat launch area, headed out onto the trail.  We last hiked this trail in 2009 and have hiked the Rainie Falls trail (other side of the river) a few times as well. The Rogue River National Recreational trail is 41 miles long.  Our turnaround spot for this hike was the Whiskey Creek Cabin area that is at the 3.3 mile mark



Whiskey Creek Cabin



The trail climbs and descends along the cliff canyon offering awesome views of the river - but don't take your eyes off the trail for too long!  There is now an access trail on this side of the river that allows you to take a side trip to Rainie Falls for viewing, but we stayed on the straight and narrow path (literally) towards Whiskey Creek.  We crossed six different run-offs/creeks, came across huge fern covered boulders and even saw a few early spring flowers along the way.

Whiskey Creek

After an hour-and-a-half of up and down hiking, we arrived at Whiskey Creek and took the short side trail to the Whiskey Creek Cabin area for our own self-guided tour.  The cabin and grounds have been cleaned up and repaired since our last visit and look great. We also took a nice food and drink break along the sandy shore area of the Rogue River while enjoying the views and sunshine.

On our way back we got to see our first Bald Eagles while hiking as one caught a fish from the river and then flew up into a tree to eat.  The eagle apparently had better luck than most of the fisherman we saw and talked to on our hike! We also saw another Bald Eagle at the top of a tree as we drove across the Grave Creek bridge when leaving. It was a great way to finish a great hike!!!!!

If you are interested in hiking or backpacking this trail, I have included a link that gives you the BLM information about facilities, planning and access points.  Get out and enjoy this trail if you can. http://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/rogue/rogue-river-trail.php

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol


P.S. Curious what it's like to hike this trail?  Take a quick 40 second hike along the trail with me and my shadow.  The movie is a like shaky, but that's because I was trying to film while hiking along the edge of a cliff!