Stewart State Park - Rogue River Trail

Last Friday was sunny and beautiful outside, so Carol & I took Katie and drove up Highway 62 to Joseph H Stewart State Recreational Area, otherwise known as Stewart State Park. The day-use area where we parked is open all year, but the campground is closed from November - February.

The bike path - our hiking trail

Since we hiked this loop last year, we decided this time to do so in the opposite direction. From the day-use area we hiked up to the nearby bike path. Stewart State Park has 11 miles of bike paths through the park, all paved and well marked, which makes it a great place for a family outing with the kids.  The bike path took us through wooded areas of Pine and Madrone and over various streams and runoffs.  We stayed on the bike path through the park and campground areas till we arrived at Peyton Bridge. During this 3-mile stretch we saw a couple of deer almost immediately, and when we emerged from the woods at the campground area, there was a group of six more deer watching us. I wasn't able to get a good picture of them, but trust me, they were beautiful to see and fast runners as well!

Our "rain forest" frog

At Peyton Bridge we turned off the bike path and began hiking on the Rogue River Trail.  This entire trail is over 17 miles long, taking you along the various shorelines of Lost Creek Lake.  We hiked the Rogue River Trail from Peyton bridge back to the day-use area.  Most of this trail segment is shaded all day, so at times it was like hiking in a rain forest.  Parts of the trail were covered in green moss and there were multiple bridges along the way for crossing streams and runoffs, some with beautiful little waterfalls.  We were even lucky enough to spot a little frog hopping across our path who then posed for a picture.  The Rogue River Trail gave us various viewpoints of the lake, took us past the boat marina and restaurant area, and finally back to the day-use area, our beginning point almost three hours earlier for this nice 7 mile hike.

If you live in the area but have never visited Stewart State Park or hiked any of the surrounding trails, why not put it on your list of places to go this year.  You can get more information on the park by going to http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_30.php

I would also recommend hiking the Rogue River Trail from the Lewis Creek Trailhead to the Blue Grotto, where at certain times of the year there is a beautiful waterfall. Get out and enjoy the outdoors!!!

Trekking Together
Glenn and Carol

One of many little streams we crossed