Upper Rogue Trail: Woodruff Bridge to North Fork Park

Spring is almost here and we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather Sunday and stretch our legs for a good LONG hike.  Our dog Katie joined us as we met our hiking friend Richard at the Prospect Ranger Station near Union Creek for a shuttle hike on the Upper Rogue Trail.

If you are not familiar with the term “shuttle hike”, it is simply a hike where you leave a vehicle at the start and end of your hiking route.  So leaving Richard’s vehicle at the Ranger Station, we packed into our car and drove up the road to the Woodruff Bridge Picnic area.

Time for some trekking!

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the sound of mighty Rogue River and treated to the beautiful rapids/falls at the bridge.  This would be an 11-mile trek from Woodruff Bridge to the North Fork Park where the Upper Rogue trail begins (or ends depending on your view) it’s 47-mile course.  We have only hiked one other time over 10 miles – the John Dellenback Loop at Diamond Lake (see our 2013 June posting on this 11.5 mile hike).

The Rogue River at Woodruff Bridge

The first mile-and-a-half of trail kept us within sight and sound of the river which was very full from recent rains.  We also got to view a lot of whitewater and small rapids/falls that by summer would be gone.  Slowly but surely the sound of the river got louder until we finally arrived at one of the highlights for this trail segment - Takelma Gorge.

Takelma Gorge - WOW!!!!!

The area gets its name from the Upland Takelma Tribe.  This war-like band was dubbed “Rogues” by early French trappers and later “Rogue River Indians.” The gorge itself was formed when Crater Lake’s active volcano filled the valley with lava and ash. The river then created this narrow passage, carving out the gorge which now features cliffs 150 feet high.

The south end of Takelma Gorge

Halfway through our hike we stopped at the River Bridge Campground which is currently closed for camping, but provided us a place to stop and eat.  We sat around and told old hiking and camping stories while Katie worked on begging for our food.

View up river at the bridge - River Bridge Campground

Onward to North Fork Park......

As we continued on the trail we periodically saw Snow Queen flowers, the only flower we would see on this hike.  We also got to see British Soldiers on a tree stump.  Just to clarify, British Soldiers are a green lichen with a red head – we were not being invaded by England.  Our pictures did not turn out so good, so please click on the link to see pictures of each.

Since trail cleanup had not taken place yet, we did have lots of tree-fall across the trail and twice we had to navigate off trail to get around the blockage.  See the picture below for the worst encounter – yes, there is a trail going through that mess.

Yes, the trail goes through that!!!!

The Rogue River had its’ moments along this last 5-mile section, but eventually settled down to a calm slow flow as it came to the North Fork Park where there is a small reservoir.  This park is a great place to picnic & swim, but for us, it was the end of an awesome day of hiking.

Slower water as we near North Fork Park & the end of our 11 mile hike.

After a short shuttle drive back to Woodruff Bridge, we packed up and headed for Phil’s Frosty in Shady Cove for malts and shakes – ah yes, the reward for a hike well done!!

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol

P.S.  Be sure to check out Richard's website for his take on this hike.