Southern Oregon and Southern Oregon Cascades
Wizard Island and the incomparable Crater Lake (Hike 79).
Southern Oregon isn’t just a place; it’s also a feeling. The climate is warmer and drier than in many other parts of Oregon, the days are longer, and the flora and fauna unique and fascinating. You’ll find much to love here, from intriguing wildflower meadows to deep, remote canyons, and from thunderous waterfalls to the incomparable Crater Lake. Much of what you’ll find down here is unique to southern Oregon (and far northern California). As this part of Oregon feels distinctly different, it should not be surprising that a movement to carve out a new state - the state of Jefferson - has been active down here for decades.
I would have preferred to offer more hikes in this section but a constant parade of fires and poor weather kept me out of Southern Oregon more than I would have liked. Few places in Oregon have felt the ravages of climate change more than the state of Jefferson, and many places in this part of Oregon have burned in the recent past. The Kalmiopsis Wilderness (Hike 82, but also mentioned in Hike 20) has seen two of Oregon’s largest fires (The Biscuit Fire in 2002 and the Chetco Bar Fire in 2017), and many trails in the Kalmiopsis remained closed or impassible to this day. To the east, the North Umpqua River was the site of the massive Archie Fire in 2020 that blackened more than 130,000 acres in the area along and around the North Umpqua River. Many of the places I would have loved to visit were closed or impassible; I look forward to seeing them reopen as the years go by.
Nevertheless, presented here are twelve of my absolute favorite hikes. Some of these hikes are well-known to many southern Oregon hikers, but others are seldom visited. There is something for everyone here, and you should find many reasons to return to these hikes again and again.
76. King Mountain Rock Garden
77. Lemolo Falls
78. Mount Thielsen Meadows
79. Crater Lake
80. Mount Bolivar
81. Rogue River Trail
82. Illinois River Trail
83. Kerby Peak
84. Sucker Gap and Swan Mountain
86. Lower and Upper Table Rock
87. Hobart Bluff