Elk 6 Tillamook State Forest 6 Wilson River Trail...out of steep hillsides and crosses beautiful...
Transcript of Elk 6 Tillamook State Forest 6 Wilson River Trail...out of steep hillsides and crosses beautiful...
Be Prepared• Letsomeoneknowyourplans• Lockyourvehicle• Readtrailheadsigns• Packplentyofwater
Protect the Forest• Stayondesignatedtrails• Sharethetrail• Packitin,packitout• Checkcurrentfireconditions
Tillamook State ForestT r a i l g u i d e
Wilson River TrailJones Creek – Keenig Creek Trailhead
lengTh: 9.6milesdiFFiculTy: Moderate
Jones Creek TH to Footbridge TH–3.5miles
Footbridge TH to Keenig Creek TH–6.1miles
Pack
I t I n-Pack It
Out
Tilla
mook Forest
For More InformationOregonDepartmentofForestry
TillamookDistrictOffice5005East3rdStreet
Tillamook,OR97141-2999(503)842-2545
www.oregon.gov/OdF
WolfCreek
Ryan Creek
Cedar Butte Road
Wils
on
Wolf Creek Road
Wolf Point Road Cedar
Creek
Cedar Creek Road
Jones Creek
Trail
River
Bridge Creek
Wilso
n
Buck Creek
Archers RoadJordan Creek Road
Mue
sial
Cre
ek R
oad
Keenig Creek
JonesCreek
50 miles toPortland
TillamookForestCenter
MP22
MP21
Wolf Point2,440’
Footbridge
WilsonFalls
Bridge CreekFalls
3.5
1.0
River
MP19
17 miles toTillamook
MP18
KeenigCreek
1.5
3.6
Miles between points1.4
Highway Milepost Markers
HighwayGravel Road
N
Private LandState Land
Hiking & Mt. Biking Trail
Undeveloped CampingPicnic Site
Trailhead Visitor Center
0 1/4 1/2
Camping Bridge
6
6
Wilson River Trail
Wilson River
KeenigCreek
Footbridge
JonesCreek
KingsMountain
ElkCreek
6
6
6
TillamookForestCenter
Wilson River TrailOverview
**cauTiOn**Useextracautionwhendrivingonsingle-lanegravelroads
intheforest.Driveslowlyandwatchfortrucktraffic.Bepreparedforchangingtrailandweatherconditions,
steepterrainandlooserock.Printed on recycled paper 6/09
TRaIl InFORMaTIOn
Trailhead accessThistrailcanbereachedfromseveraltrailheads.
Jones Creek TrailheadThistrailheadislocatedattheJonesCreekDay-UseArea.TravelonHighway6betweenmilepost22and23.TurnnorthonNorthForkRoad,crossthebridgeandturnleftintotheJonesCreekDay-UseArea.Thetrailbeginsnearthetrailheadsignandheadsdowntowardtheriver.
Footbridge TrailheadTravelonHighway6tomilepost20andparkattheFootbridgeDay-UseAreaonthenorthsideofthehighway.
Keenig Creek TrailheadTravelonHighway6tomilepost18andturnnorthonCedarButteRoadanddriveoverthebridge.TurnleftontoMuesialCreekRoadandcontinue0.2miletothetrailheadontheright.
about the TrailTheWilsonRiverTrailisa20.6miletrailextendingfromKeenigCreektoElkCreekTrailheadsandmaybeaccessedfromseveraltrailheadsinbetween.ThisguidehighlightsthewesternportionofthetrailfromJonesCreekTrailheadtoKeenigCreekTrailhead.Aseparateguidecoverstheeasternpartofthetrail,whichextendsfromElkCreekTrailheadtoJonesCreekDay-UseArea.PartsofthistrailfollowtheWilsonRiver,andsomesectionsventureintotheforestawayfromtheriver.Visitorsmayenjoythistrailasonelongjourneyorinsections.TheOregonDepartmentofForestrymanagestheTillamookStateForestformultiplerecreationalopportunities.Shortportionsofthenon-motorized
Wolf Creek
WilsonRiverTrailtravelnearmotorizedtrailzones.Youmayhearsoundsofmotorcyclesandall-terrainvehicles.Pleasemakesuretoremainontheappropriatedesignatedtrails.
Jones Creek Trailhead to Footbridge Trailhead
ThisportionofthetrailfollowsthenorthsideoftheWilsonRiverandHighway6.ThefirstmilemeandersalongtheriverpastJonesCreekCampgroundandtheTillamookForestCenter—anawardwinningvisitorcenterofferingexhibits,natureprograms,andfacilityrentals.IfyoureachtheWilsonRiverTrailfromthevisitorcenter,makesuretoreturnpriortoclosingtimebecausethegateswillbelockedafterhours.DownstreamfromthecenterthetrailmeetsCedarCreekRoadforabout100feet-watchfortraffic.Makesuretostayrightandavoidsidetrailsinthegroveofredalders.Atthe1.1milemark,anarrowlogbridgewithattachedhandrailcrossesCedarCreek.Thisspotisagreatplacetopeerintopoolsforsalmoninthefall,hearthecallofabeltedkingfisherorlookforsignsofbeaver.FromherethetraillevelsandpassesalargeSitkasprucetree,andseverallargestumps.ThetrailcrossesunderthepowerlinestwiceandthenclimbsawayfromtheWilsonRiverandhighwaysounds.Maidenhairfernsappearonmoistrockwallssurroundedbywesternredcedarandbigleafmapletrees.At2.0miles,WilsonFallscascadesfromahighledgeandflowsacrosstherockytrail.ThisisagooddestinationspotforthosewhowouldliketohaveashortertripandreturntoeithertheJonesCreekDay-UseAreaortheTillamookForestCenter.Ifalongertripisdesired,continue1.3milesonthetrailcrossingseveralbridgeswhileenjoyingthedenseforestandsmallstreams.Visitorswillcometoajunctionwithtwooptions.ThefirstleadsacrosstheWilsonRivertotheFootbridgeTrailheadin0.3mile,andtheotherleads6.1milestoKeenigCreekTrailhead.
Tillamook Treasures
Footbridge Trailhead to Keenig Creek TrailheadToreachtheWilsonRiverTrailfromtheFootbridgeTrailhead,parkattheadjacentFootbridgeDay-UseAreaonthenorthsideofthehighwayandfindthesidetrailuptotheroadandtothefootbridge.Crossthefootbridgetotheconnectortrailthatleadsdownhilloverthedryriverbedandintotheforestfor0.3miletoajunctionwiththeWilsonRiverTrail.Thetrailtravelswestoveralogbridge,anduptoarockbluffwithniceviewsoftheriverbelow.Theroutedropsintothenextdrainage,andsoonintersectstheWolfCreekRoadin1.0mile.Followtheroadnorth500feetandpickupthetrailheadingdowntothecreek.Alogbenchoffersaplacetorelaxandenjoythemajesticviewofmossybouldersandlushfernsabsorbingthetricklingwater.ThisisagoodplacetohavelunchandturnaroundifyouhavenotarrangedashuttlefromKeenigCreekTrailhead.Severalmajesticwaterfallsspilldowntheruggedhillsidesinthenext3.6milesbetweenWolfCreekandCedarButteRoad.Becausethisareaissteep,bepreparedforchangingtrailconditions,sheerdrop-offsandlooserockespeciallyduringheavyrains.FromWolfCreek,thefirstmileascendsquicklyandthenturnsintoamoregradualclimb.Alongthewaysmallwesternhemlocktreesdottheforestflooralongwithmassivenurselogsthatprovidewildlifehabitatandcreatenichesforplantstogrow.Afterreachingavista-filledridgeline,thetrailfordsthefirstofmanystreamsthatmarksthebeginningoftheRyanCreekwatershed.
indian-pipe (Monotropa uniflora)Thesepeculiarflowersgrowinconiferousforestsatlowelevation,andmaybespottedalongthistrailinmid-June.Theflowersarewhitebecausetheydonotcontainchlorophyll,whichmeanstheyarenotabletoproducetheirownfood.Thisplantisanindirectparasitecalledamycoheterotroph—itobtainsenergyfromafungus,whichinturngetsitsenergyfromalivingplant.
Forthenext2.8milesthegentlyrollingtrailiscarvedoutofsteephillsidesandcrossesbeautifulcascadingwaterfalls.AsyounearCedarButteRoad,enormoussnags(standingdeadtrees)jutoutofthegroundservingasareminderofaforestfullofbigtreesthatexistedpriortotheTillamookBurn.FromCedarButteRoad,theroutebeginsa1.5miledescenttotheKeenigCreekTrailhead.Thetrailtraversesanumberofswitchbacksandarecentclearcutharvestarea.Severaltreesremainintheopenareafornaturalseeddispersal,anddebrisonthegroundcontributestoorganicmatterneededontheforestfloor.