1.3 hr
Overview
NOTICE: Trails in this area were affected by the 2020 Beachie Creek Fire. Please check current closures in the Willamette National Forest before planning an outing. Although the beginning of this hike is not a trail, after visiting here you may consider it one of the most scenic roads you will ever walk upon. You will travel through magnificent old growth, gaze upon the dazzling turquoise waters of the Little North Santiam, and view part of the mining history and artifacts of Little North Santiam Mining District. Above the pellucid emerald splendor of the Opal Pool, you can branch off from the popular lollipop loop and take a new alignment of the Kopetski Trail up Opal Creek's east bank to the ancient groves at Cedar Flats. You can make the return via the historic company town of Jawbone Flats, now part private environmental education center and part outdoor museum. While none of this hike is in the federally-designated Opal Creek Wilderness, it is all part of the adjacent Opal Creek Scenic Recreation Area: the jurisdiction for both areas became law in September 1996 after a 16-year battle to curtail Forest Service plans to log the drainage. You can shorten the time and distance of this hike by riding a sturdy bicycle in to the Kopetski-Jawbone Flats Trail Junction or as far as Jawbone Flats and hiking from there. For the first part of this hike, you will be traveling on a gravel road. The track is used by the residents and guests of Jawbone Flats only, so it is not likely that you will encounter any vehicles. Head past the gate at the trailhead and walk along the road in an ancient forest of Douglas-fir, western red-cedar, and western hemlock. Salal and Oregon grape form the understory as the road drops. Look down the slope for massive Douglas-firs several hundred years old. Cross the Gold Creek Bridge and view the cascades and pool in the chasm below. The road rises to the Whetstone Mountain-Jawbone Flats Trail Junction, the former trail an old jeep track, FR 2209-330, leading up to the left. The road
Trail Stats
0.0 km
377 m
755 m
0 m
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Photos
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