McCubbins Meadow Hike

Overview

NOTICE: Trails in this area were affected by the 2020 White River Fire. Please check the Barlow Ranger District closure map before planning an outing. The small Lower White River Wilderness (2,806 acres) was one of the federal wildernesses created in 2009 under the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act to protect a pristine section of the White River Canyon. The wilderness falls under two jurisdictions: the Mt. Hood National Forest for the western section and the Bureau of Land Management for the eastern section. There are no official trails although a few short stretches of abandoned road remain. Thus, the wilderness is little visited, and most people dip their toes into it at its very western edge at Keeps Mill Campground (see the Clear Creek to Keeps Mill Hike). This hike, however, allows you to explore two salient features of the wilderness: the pristine canyon bottom along the White River and the more easily accessible prairie in the BLM section on its southern rim. When not in the wilderness itself (there are no boundary signs), you’ll be walking in the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s White River Wildlife Area. Also, all areas below the canyon rim are part of the federally designated Wild and Scenic River. Getting down into the canyon involves a true bushwhack and close encounters with tangles of vine maple, rock walls, scree, and fallen trees. However, you could opt out of the canyon scramble and still pass a very enjoyable day exploring the different sections of McCubbins Meadow. Elk and deer are common here, and you may just want to sit in the deep shade of an oak and watch what comes (checking occasionally for ticks, of course). McCubbins is not the official name of this prairie, but it is close to McCubbins Gulch and the OHV area named for that feature. Members of the McCubbin family herded sheep in the area in the 1880s. Cross the cattle grid, and follow the road track as it passes through a rather scrappy woodland of Douglas-fir, grand fir, and ponderosa pine. The trail, sometimes a lit

Trail Stats

Photos

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