Siskiyou & Siskiyou View Trails

May 7, 2017

With all the new trails being made here in Southern Oregon, even the maps for the various hiking parks are outdated once they are printed.  So it was no surprise that we found a newer trail when hiking a new trail that wasn't even on the map at the Jacksonville Forest Park.

New trail......and yes, it was steep and narrow.

When we last hiked at the Jacksonville Forest Park in March, we saw a sign for the new Siskiyou trail. The trail at that time was still being finished so we did not hike it.  But now that the trail is completed and the sun was shining with temps in the 70's, we ventured out to hike at least a  portion of this new trail.

The "Beauty" part of the Siskiyou trail.....

....and the "Beast" part of the Siskiyou trail.

We parked at the main area just inside the park boundaries and began by hiking the Rail trail to the Ponderosa Snag trail till we came to the official start of the Siskiyou trail.  It was only .5 miles to reach the trailhead.  The Siskiyou trail wasted no time in qualifying for "steep" as the first .3 miles were switchbacks and uphill!

One of the many great views along the Siskiyou trail.

The trail then had various uphill and downhill segments as most trail do, but overall stayed level and wound it's way through meadows & forested areas while providing momentary views of the surrounding Jacksonville Hills.  We also saw lots of wildflowers during our entire hike like Paintbrush, Cat's Ear, Larkspur, Sea Blush, Fiddleneck, Balsamroot and more.

Balsamroot

Blue Dicks

Groundcone

At about 2 miles into our hike, we came across another trail, the Siskiyou View trail which was not listed on the map.  We decided to try this side trail and found that it becomes a loop trail with a spur to a viewpoint.  Even though the entire length of the loop and spur trail was only a mile, we were limited on time today. So after completing the loop trail,  we decided to backtrack along the Siskiyou trail to a connector trail for the Norling Creek trail.

What? Another new trail off the new trail?

The end is near.....

....and the end is here!

Once on the Norling Creek trail we headed back towards the parking area but not before hiking through the Norling Creek Wetlands area.  This wetlands habitat is in the process of being restored and we saw a few geese and ducks already enjoying the benefits.  The overflow from the wetlands area cascades down into the creeks below where there was bench for relaxing to the sound of the cascading water.  It appears that maybe picnic tables or other benches are in the works for this area which would be great.

One of the small waterfalls along Norling Creek

Geese enjoying the Norling Creek Wetlands Area

Our hike seemed to end too quickly,  but it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed venturing out on a new trail.  We hope to return to the Siskiyou trail and hike it all the way to the Pipsissewa trail and Granite Falls. But that trail is not scheduled for completion till Autumn of 2017.   Guess that is one hike we will have to wait on.

Trekking Together
Glenn and Carol

Prescott Park Update

March 11 ,2017

After hiking the Cathedral Hill trails on Friday, we headed up to Prescott Park for a short hike along the main road and loop around Roxy Ann on Saturday morning.  Nothing eventful about the hike, but just wanted to share an update on the Prescott Park trail improvement and expansion project.

The world is a dangerous place!

At the beginning of the loop around Roxy Ann they have now cleared out, leveled and added rock to what will be one of the new parking areas.  

New parking area at beginning of Roxy Ann loop

We also noticed new posts at various trails around the loop that will eventually include the trail names and maybe miles or other information.

One of many new trail posts that we spotted.

There were also covered display boards put in since we last hiked that we are guessing will eventually include maps of the park with trail information and the famous "you are here" dot.

One of the future homes for park maps???

We did find another new trail just before the rock quarry on the right side when hiking the loop road counter clockwise.  If anyone hikes this or knows where it leads, let us know.  Otherwise we will eventually hike it ourselves and see where we end up.

Snow covered Mt McLoughlin looms in the distance

We did see a few Goldfield and Desert Parsley wldflowers in bloom and included their pictures below. That's if for now - looking forward to seeing what other changes takes place over Spring & Summer.

Goldfield

Desert Parsley

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol

Roxy Ann/Prescott Park - The Nameless New Trail

August 28, 2016

Roxy Ann/Prescott Park is one of those "close to home" hiking parks that we don't do postings on too often. However, since this hike was on a new trail, so new it wasn't even named or signed yet, we decided to let everyone in on the secret.

Glenn heard about this new trail while in line at the local Fred Meyer store. Seems the couple in front of him began talking to the cashier about a new trail they had hiked at Roxy Ann that moring and the cashier, an avid hiker, wanted to know more details.  Glenn chimed in that he too had hiked up there and was interested. So after a glowing account of their hike and since Fred Meyer shoppers are honest and truthful people, we decided to get this new nameless trail a try.

A portion of the new trail near the start

August here in Southern Oregon is usually known for two things:  hot weather & smoke from wildfires.  On the day we hiked, we knew we would have to start early to beat the heat but late enough to allow the first gate on the drive up to be open.  So we arrived at 8:00 am and planned on a 2-hour hike . (a little Gilligan's Island music please)

The trail was in the shade on the west side of Roxy Ann Peak 

The trail starts right at the second gate area where everyone parks.  It is on the left side of the road and takes you slightly downhill from the main road but for the most  part  parrallels the road.  Since it was early, most of this porton of trail was still in the shade.  After about a mile the trail begins a series of long switchbacks downhill till your reach the saddle area between Roxy Ann Peak and Little Roxy Ann.

Little Roxy Ann

After the switchbacks the trail begins entering the more forrested portion of the hike which was our favorite part.  The climbing and descending were mixed in with flat portions as the trail wound its's way around trees and manzanita bushes.  We came across deer a few times during this portion and there were different spots on the trail that afforded great views of both Table Rocks.

Slowly the trees begin to appear......

Even the manzanita were subject to the trail cutters.

The trail eventually made it way to the north-east side of Roxy Ann where the landscape is an Oak Savannah and mostly out in the sun.  We saw numerous large dead woodpecker trees and their residents along the trail and had some great views of Roxy Ann in one direction and Mt McLoughlin in the other direction.

Must be a few woodpeckers in the area

VIew of Roxy Ann Peak as the trail heads out into the sun 

The trail ends by tying in to the loop road near the Rock Quarry.  The distance from the start of the trail to this point is 4.3 miles.  So for most hikers, you would take a left onto the loop road and walk it around and down to get back to your car.  It would be about a 6 mile hike.  Or if  you are into long hikes, taking a break where the new trail joins the loop road and then hiking back the way you came on the same trail would take you back to your car for an 8.6 mile hike.

View of the end of the trail

View of end of the trail from the loop road - no sign, no name, just a trail

However, both of those options are not what we did, but then you probably don't want to do what we did, at least not on a hot day.  When we arrived at the loop road we saw another new trail right across the road and thought it was a continuation of the trail we had hiked and that it would take us back to our car.   (Jaws music please).  At least that is how Glenn heard it told, but maybe those Fred Meyer shoppers weren't honest????  Anyway, that other trail we took consisted of a series of switchbacks that go uphill to the very top of Roxy Ann, which was not on our agenda today.  So after hiking two-thirds of the way up and then realizing where this trail was going, we jumped onto the Manzanita trail to get back down.  That trail by 10:30 am was in full sun and it was a long..... hot....... descent and our hike turned into a 7 mile "way too hot and long" hike in which we drank all of our water.  Good thing there was a Starbucks on the way home!!

But don't let our misadventure scare you away.  This new trail (the first one) is a very nice 4.3 mile trail and we really enjoyed hiking it.  The soil is loose in many sections due to it being new and not yet packed down, so do watch your step.  It is open to hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding ---- at least there was evidence that all 3 groups have used this trail.  Matter of fact, we hope to hike it again in the Autumn or Winter and will probably try to do the out and back hike for 8.6 miles.

There are plans for even more trails and facilities to be built at Prescott Park, so for those of you in the Southern Oregon area, keep your eyes and ears open for any updates.  In the meantime, we'll keep exploring any new nameless trails we find and keep you updated through our blog.

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol