Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Did you know…
The name Umpqua is said to mean “thundering waters” or “across the waters.”
An alternate meaning: “Satisfied,” as in how you feel after a meal.
2.
Susan Creek Falls
ManyofthenumerouscreeksthatemptyintotheNorthUmpquaRiverfinishtheirdownhill
courses as sparkling waterfalls. Susan Creek, one of them, can be reached by a short hike
from mile marker 29. Although the terrain is challenging, the sound of the 50-foot falls—a
steady rumble heard through the trees—is an added incentive to make the trek.
3.
Fall Creek Falls
As the drive continues upriver toward the Umpqua National Forest, the vegetation grows
markedlydenserthaninthefoothillsbelow.Thevastwoodland—nearlyamillionacres—is
amedleyofrivers,creeks,lakes,volcanicformations,andstandsofDouglasfirmixedwith
many other hardwood species.
Of the many footpaths that wend through the area, the Fall Creek Falls Trail is espe-
cially dramatic. About a mile long, it begins two miles beyond the entrance sign for the
national forest. The hike slips through a crevice, past numerous columns ofvolcanic rocks,
and ends with theatrical flair at Fall Creek Falls and its punchbowl-shaped basin.
4.
Steamboat
Hemmedinbycliffsandforestedpeaks,thescenicbywaycurvesbesidetheNorthUmpqua
River—icy cold and glassy clear—to the small community of Steamboat. The waterway
hereisfamedforitssummerrunsofsteelheadtrout,avigorousfishthatcanweighupto15
pounds. The area also serves as a gateway to the surrounding woodlands. One side trip, a
six-mile drive on Steamboat Creek Road (Rte. 38), weaves through Black Gorge to Steam-
boat Falls.
Once back in Steamboat, the drive continues east on Rte. 138, arriving some 10 miles
later at Weeping Rocks (near Marsters Bridge), one of several places to stop and observe
spawning chinook salmon. Fighting the often powerful current, the fish swim upriver in
latesummerandearlyfall.Afterfindingsuitablespots,theymaketheirnests—depressions
in the riverbed called redds—with thrusts of their tails, a motion that displaces sand and
gravel.
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