Highlights
Difficulty: Easy or Moderate
Distance: 2 miles total OR 6.5 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: minimal
Season: Spring through fall (access depending on snow)
Notes: This hike is featured in “Oregon’s Ancient Forests: A hiking guide” – Get the book here!
About this Hike
The Upper Rogue Wild & Scenic River is quite dramatic, passing through narrow canyons cut through lava rock, lava tubes where the whole river disappears, and gorgeous ancient forest in the quarter-mile strip the wild and scenic designation protects. Much of the Upper Rogue River Trail is quite wonderful, and the Rogue Gorge Trail offers an easy taste.
The Rogue Gorge area is a popular stop for travelers on OR 62. The paved path to the gorge viewpoint is a lovely little quarter-mile loop, but for a superb forest hike it’s better to follow the river downstream on the unpaved trail once you’ve taken a look at the gorge. The trail passes cabins, accessed from the Union Creek area, so it doesn’t feel very wild, but the views of the river and the huge Douglas-fir and pines make up for that. You can turn back here, or continue another 2.25 miles to the Natural Bridge.
If you don’t want to do the whole out and back hike from the Rogue Gorge to the Natural Bridge, simply drive a few miles south to the Natural Bridge Campground and Viewpoint parking area for a short walk.
Getting There
From Medford, travel 52 miles northeast on Oregon Route 62 toward Crater Lake National Park. Or from points north and east, travel to the junction of OR 138 and OR 230 at the northwest corner of Crater Lake National Park.
For the Rogue Gorge, find the Rogue Gorge Day-Use Area and parking lot on the west side of OR 62, just north of Union Creek Resort, or 25 miles south of the junction of OR 230 and OR 138.
For the Natural Bridge, look for the Natural Bridge Viewpoint parking area adjacent to the Natural Bridge Campground just south of the 55 mile post of Hwy 62.
Take Action
Oregon Wild has worked to defend the forests here from logging for years, as well as seeking expansion of nearby Wilderness and Crater Lake National Park. The River Democracy Act proposal would protect nearby Union Creek as a Wild & Scenic River. Take action to support this bill here.
