Upper Rogue River Trail #1034 - Natural Bridge to Takelma Gorge

July 8, 2020

We continued with our "wandering Wednesdays" this week with a trip to the Union Creek area.  We took Katie and drove to and parked in the Natural Bridge Day Use area to hike a section of the Upper Rogue River  #1034 trail.

Time to hike on a "wandering" Wednesday

View of the Natural Bridge area

 After taking a short hike to view the Natural Bridge area from the man-made bridge over the Rogue River, we began our trek south along the Upper Rogue River trail.  We hiked past Knob Falls, through the Woodruff Bridge area and made our way to our turnaround point, Takelma Gorge.

Lots of Prince's Pine on this hike

Takelma Gorge, our lunch and turnaround point

Along the way we had great views of the beautiful Rogue River, saw a pair of doe's with fawns along the shoreline, osprey and blue heron flying along the river, and were treated to lots of Prince's Pine, Twin Flowers, Wintergreen, Candystick, Wild Roses and Horsemint too.

The beautiful Rogue River

Candystick

The section from Natural Bridge to Woodruff Bridge did have a number of trees across the trail due to lack of trail maintenance this year, and on the section from Woodruff Bridge to Takelma Gorge we had a few sections of trail that were completely overgrown with shrubs.  Made for some interesting navigation.

Tree blockage along the trail.....

....and overgrown shrubs on other sections of trail.

At Takelma Gorge we took a nice break on some stone ledges to enjoy the sound and view of this area.  We only saw a few other hikers throughout our trek.  Weather was great, although towards the end of our 10.5 mile hike the temps were starting to get up in the low 80's and by then were we tired.  Still it was a great day & an incredible hike along a beautiful river.  Beats work anytime!

Trekking Together
Glenn and Carol

Upper Rogue River Trail: Woodruff Bridge - River Bridge

October 22, 2016

Autumn beauty also means autumn weather.  So it took a few weeks to finally get out and enjoy the beautiful colors that make autumn our favorite season.

We drove to the Woodruff Bridge Picnic Area located near Union Creek and met the Friends of the Umpqua Hiking Club for a 9-ish mile hike along the Upper Rogue River Trail. This section of the trail provides you with many views of the Rogue River, autumn color along the river and trail, great starting and turnaround points (River Bridge Campground & Woodruff Bridge Picnic Area), very little elevation change, and then almost in the middle of the hike is the Takelma Gorge - a destination in itself.  It is a wonderful section to hike in either direction and one that we have hiked many times and at different times of the year.

Rogue River at Woodruff Bridge - the start of our hike.

For today's hike we headed south from Woodruff Bridge.  The Rogue river became so quiet at times, one would not even know they were hiking next to it, then the river would pick up speed and remind us that it was still there.  Our trail would wind along the river shore, at times almost too close, as we saw large trees that once stood on the shore now fallen over into and across the river. The woods along the trail were very thick with undergrowth that had changed to autumn yellow and since the weather was still mild enough, mushrooms of various shapes, sizes and colors also decorated our hike.  One pair of mushrooms even got into the autumn spirit with red color and was our favorite fungus of choice.

Our favorite fungi on the hike!!

Just before the 2 mile mark the river really picks up speed as it narrows and begins it's journey through Takelma Gorge.  Although water levels are lower at this time of year, Takelma Gorge is still an amazing sight to see and always worth the short hike for viewing.  If you really want to see the gorge at it's best, take this hike in early spring as rains and melting snow fill the river and thunder through the gorge.  Just look at how high some logs are that got stuck in the gorge.

Takelma Gorge

After passing the gorge, the trail meanders towards and then away from the river, winding through the woods and kept us in the shade most of the hike.  This is great when it is summer, but today the temperature was 42 degrees when we started hiking and the sun did not come out too often.  So our hiking pace was steady to keep us moving and warm.

Autumn color along the Rogue River

Leaves like this were a constant carpet on this hike

Once we reached the River Bridge Campground, our group found a picnic table at a campsite and took a much welcomed rest & food break.  It gave us the opportunity to meet some members of the club, share hiking stories, and of course it gave Katie a chance to beg for bannans and other treats -- to which end she was successful.

The Rogue River just above the River Bridge area

Although our hike back was along the same trail, it always amazes us how different things look from another direction.  We also ran into 3 other groups of hikers out on the trail which was great to see.  Our 9-ish mile hike took around 5 hours with breaks and picture taking.  We enjoyed talking with the folks from the Friends of the Umpqua Hiking Club before, during and after the hike and hope to hook up with them again in the near future.  Thanks for letting us hike with you!!!!!  If you live in or around the Roseburg area, be sure to check out their website for their hikes every other Saturday.

The Friends of the Umpqua Hiking Club

Be sure that  you too get out and visit a park or walk around the neighborhood while the colors of autumn are still around!!  Don't let the season pass you by - enjoy it!!!

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol

Upper Rogue Trail

April 18, 2015

Since warmer temperatures were in the forecast, we decided to drive up to the Union Creek area and stretch our legs (and Katie's) for a long and beautiful hike along the Rogue River

The Upper Rogue trail stretches over 40 miles along the Rogue River.  One end is at the Mount Mazama Viewpoint in the north, the other end is at the Prospect Reservior Park in the south.  In between there are various access points that allow for short or long day hikes.  We chose the Woodruff Bridge Picnic area for our access on today's hike.

We began by hiking from our car to the Woodruff Bridge and seeing the beautiful falls directly upstream.  Not sure if the falls have a name or not, but Woodruff Falls would seem like a good name.  We then began our trek that would take us from Woodruff Bridge south to the River Bridge Campground and back again.

Within the first mile we encountered two places where large trees had fallen into the river and taken with them large amounts of the riverbank, including the trail!  We worked our way around these areas and rejoined the trail without having to do too much bushwhacking.

Even though the Rogue River is a little low for this time of year, it was still very beautiful to hike along this scenic river and enjoy the fresh smell of the woods.  It didn't take long for the noise of the river to increase as we arrived at the beginning of Takelma Gorge.

View of the beginning of the Takelma Gorge from 2014 hike

We took a break to enjoy the viewpoint and did notice  a few new logs at the beginning of the gorge that had been washed downstream over the winter.  The trail at this point became very rocky as we hiked up above the gorge, but always within sound of the rushing water below.

After the gorge segment we enjoyed hiking on softer ground and were treated to a few wildflower varieties: small white trilliums, yellow woodland violets,  snow queen, and even some fairy slipper orchids.  The British Soldiers that we saw last year when hiking with our friend Richard, were present as well.

Faily Slipper Orchids

Snow Queen

Trillium

Yellow Woodland Violets

We arrrived at the River Bridge CG after 2 hours of hiking and found an empty campsite where we could sit down, eat, and enjoy a nice break.  In Katie's opinion, the salmon jerky was the best item for lunch, followed closely by a banana.

Once rested and refreshed, we began our return hike to Woodruff Bridge.  One highlight of the hike back was seeing a Pileated Woodpecker fly by and land on a tree within viewing distance.  We have seen these very large woodpeckers a couple of times while hiking Roxy Ann, but never along the Rogue River.

After our two hour hike back to Woodruff Bridge, we decided to continue on the trail and hike a few extra minutes north.  As a result we finished our hike at 10.1 miles -- our first 10+ mile hike of the year.  A long hike -- a beautiful river -- temperatures in the 70's.  What a great day!

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol