Hike 13: Rho Creek and Big Bottom

Distance: 8.2 miles out and back

Elevation Gain: 2,400 feet

Trailhead elevation: 2,624 feet

Trail high point: 4,529 feet

Season: May - November

Best: June

Permit: none needed

On the traditional lands of: the Molalla people

Directions:

• From Estacada, drive southeast on OR 224 for approximately 25 miles to the old guard station at Ripplebrook.

• Just past Ripplebrook OR 224 becomes FR 46 at a junction with FR 57. Stay on the main road (ignore signs for Timothy Lake) and continue straight on FR 46 for 4.2 miles from Ripplebrook to a junction with FR 63.

• Keep straight here, and drive another 12.3 miles south on FR 46.

• At a junction with FR 4670, turn right and drive 0.3 miles to a bridge over the Clackamas River and then a fork.

• Keep left on paved FR 4670 and drive 1.1 miles to a junction with FR 4671.

• Fork to the left and drive exactly 1 mile of pavement to the trailhead on your right.

• There is room for approximately 2 cars to park on the side of the road. Otherwise, continue another 0.2 mile to the road’s crossing of Rho Creek, where there are a few more spaces to park.

Hike: This lovely and little-known hike traces a cascading stream through a mossy and magical forest just south of Big Bottom. The trail is at times very faint but it is well-marked, and generally easy to follow. Best of all, because this is a trail that is very much off the beaten trail, the chances are that you will have it all to yourself. Because of this, I do not recommend hiking it alone – this place is very, very remote – but also very, very beautiful.

First of all, a word of thanks should go to the fine folks at Trail Advocates who helped reopen the trail and now maintain it. We all owe them a huge debt of gratitude for resurrecting such a beautiful trail! While officially still abandoned, the trail is reasonably easy to follow for the most part, with only a few faint sections. If you are unsure of your ability to follow trails like this, either download my GPS track and map or turn around when you feel uncomfortable.

Begin at a signpost on the side of FR 4671. The trail climbs swiftly above the road and angles to the south, towards Rho Creek’s narrow canyon. The trail soon descends slightly to meet the creek, passing over a verdant carpet of moss. At about 0.7 mile from the trailhead, the Rho Creek Trail crosses Tumble Creek on a large fallen log (if you can’t see the crossing, look around – the trail bends to the left and crosses Tumble Creek on a log about ten feet above creek level), then bends uphill to follow Rho Creek. For a nice and easy hike, I recommend turning around at the crossing as it doesn’t get better than this.

From the crossing, the trail climbs uphill above Rho Creek and eventually enters a recovering clearcut. Here, the trail becomes faint and will test the navigational abilities of most hikers. Just keep straight and keep your eyes on the trail ahead – there is nowhere else for the trail to go but straight (the creek is downhill while uphill would lead you further into the old clearcut). Eventually, the trail becomes easier to follow for a little while, but becomes faint again when it reaches a boggy spot along Rho Creek just a little ways up the trail. Here, you curve to the left, cross the creek and climb a short ways to Fadeaway Spring on your left. A natural pool about three feet deep at the edge of a clearcut, this is a really neat spot!

From here, the trail switchbacks up to a crossing of FR 4672 at 2.9 miles from the trailhead. Look for flagging to help you find the trail on the way down, as the Rho Creek Trail is not obvious heading back the opposite direction. Across the road, the trail becomes very obvious as it has received recent maintenance. You will hike steeply uphill until the trail reaches the edge of Rhododendron Meadow, now mostly grown-in (there is a meadow, but finding it requires bushwhacking). From here, blowdown becomes an issue and the trail becomes somewhat faint. Pass a signpost marking a junction, but without destinations – no junction indeed – and continue to a faint junction just after a final crossing of Rho Creek. Left leads to the ruins of an old guard station, but you should turn right. The trail climbs up to a campsite just off FR 4670 known as “Bear Camp” at 4.1 miles from the trailhead. Just across FR 4670, the Rho Ridge Trail heads south towards Graham Pass and north towards Mount Lowe (Hike 14). The summit of Mount Lowe is 2.6 miles and 800 feet of elevation gain to your right - so if you choose to continue, your overall hike will be 13.4 miles out and back with approximately 3,000 feet of elevation gain. Either arrange a car shuttle or return the way you came.

Less experienced hikers should probably turn around at Fadeaway Spring, as the trail from this point, though flagged, is at times fainter than most hikers would prefer. There is a lot to explore up here, and combining this hike with Mount Lowe would make for a rewarding and challenging day hike; do not stray off-trail in this area, however, as massive amounts of downed trees and thick rhododendrons make off-trail travel a nightmare.

Big Bottom:

If you are in the area and have extra time and a willingness to explore, you should consider checking out Big Bottom’s tremendous grove of ancient trees. To find Big Bottom, drive back to the junction of FR 4671 and FR 4670 and continue north on FR 4670 for 1 mile to the junction with FR 4651 on the west bank of the Clackamas. Continue straight, now on FR 4651, for 1 mile to a pullout on your right at a junction with what was once FR 4651-120. The trail is the decommissioned road, cutting right through the heart of a recent clearcut.

One of western Oregon’s newest wilderness areas, Big Bottom features some of the Cascades’ finest old growth timber – and serves as a lesson of the perils of logging virgin forest.

Begin by hiking down decommissioned road FR4651-120. This old logging road descends gently amid land that seems to have been cut 30-40 years ago – a juxtaposition that will seem jarring as you leave the grove on the way out. At one point Big Bottom was a proposed timber sale but years of citizen activism eventually resulted in its inclusion in the Lewis & Clark Wilderness Act of 2009. Soon reach open fields of daisies that are slowly erasing this old road. After approximately a mile of alternating daisy fields and newer-growth forest, follow the old road past and over a few downed trees into the heart of Big Bottom.

When the road curves into deep forest, the old growth becomes increasingly impressive. Six to eight-foot thick Douglas Firs reign supreme over a lush understory complete with many massive downed giants. The old road becomes an avenue of giants, a sort of Fifth Avenue with treescrapers on each side of the road. After about 1.8 miles the trail disintegrates near the edge of a marshy creek. You can continue on the remains of the road but it’s best to stop at the creek with old-growth giants around you on all sides. This makes an excellent pit stop before turning back.

The fun of Big Bottom is exploring off the road. Off-trail travel reveals mossy meadows, enormous cedars and fantastic displays of color in the fall. Remember this though: off-trail travel is inherently tiring, and climbing over huge downed trees takes a toll. Furthermore, while it is very difficult to get truly lost in Big Bottom (being that it is located between a gravel road and the Clackamas River), it is very easy to get disoriented, as the woods here have a uniformly beautiful quality that makes routefinding difficult. It is very easy to get turned around here. Allow lots of time to find your way out if you decide to head off-trail.