Box O Ranch – BOOTS on the TRAIL

Box O Ranch Loop (Soda Mountain Wilderness) 15-Apr-2021

2021-04-152021-11-23Posted in Hiking, Oregon Wilderness Areas, Southern Oregon, U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged BLM, Box O Ranch, Bureau of Land Management, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Day Hiking, Hiking, Jenny Creek Oregon, Soda Mountain Wilderness, Southern Oregon2 Comments

Oregon’s Soda Mountain Wilderness is divided into two sections by a high-voltage power line. The western section got the few trails in this wilderness; the eastern section got none. Which, of course, spawned our interest in exploring it. We did a short hike from Randcore Pass to Rosebud Mountain (Rosebud! Rosebud!) in 2017 and then a loop from the pass to the old Box O Ranch in 2018. These explorations were done by connecting old and fading roads with a little cross-country travel. During our loop in 2018, uncertainty about the location of the wilderness’ eastern boundary got us to climb a rocky ridge we didn’t need to climb. True, we got a view of Mount McLoughlin, but it wasn’t worth the effort. Map gazing (and a download of the wilderness boundaries) suggested a lower, easier path for part of the loop. We went out today to explore this revised loop.

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Box O Ranch Loop (Soda Mtn. Wilderness) 26-Apr-2018

2018-04-262022-01-30Posted in Hiking, Oregon, Oregon Wilderness Areas, Southern OregonTagged BLM, Box O Ranch, Bureau of Land Management, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Day Hiking, Green Springs Inn Oregon, Hiking, Jenny Creek California, Jenny Creek Falls California, Jenny Creek Oregon, Oregon, Oregon Gulch Research Natural Area (RNA), Rosebud Mountain Oregon, Soda Mountain Wilderness, Southern Oregon

Box O Ranch Soda Mountain Wilderness Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Oregon

UPDATE: We hiked a more direct version of this loop in 2021.

Oregon’s Soda Mountain Wilderness is divided by a powerline corridor into two pieces. The larger, western piece hosts some of the best known hikes in both this wilderness and in Southwestern Oregon: the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), the Lone Pilot Trail, the Pilot Rock Trail, and the Boccard Point Trail. The eastern piece, where oak and pine forests transition into the state’s eastern desert, has no formal trails and is less well known. Jenny Creek, which has been suggested for Wild & Scenic River status, and the former Box O Ranch are perhaps the best known of the eastern area’s offerings. Last December, we did a short exploratory hike to the summit of Rosebud Mountain on the edge of the Oregon Gulch Research Natural Area, which is within the wilderness. Today we explored the heart of the wilderness with a longer loop hike to the former Box O Ranch and Jenny Creek.

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Hiking with Citizen Kane (Soda Mtn. Wilderness) 17-Dec-2017

2017-12-172022-01-30Posted in Hiking, Oregon Wilderness Areas, Southern Oregon, U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged BLM, Box O Ranch, Bureau of Land Management, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Day Hiking, Green Springs Inn Oregon, Hiking, Jenny Creek Oregon, Oregon, Oregon Gulch Research Natural Area (RNA), Rosebud Mountain Oregon, Soda Mountain Wilderness, Southern Oregon

Rosebud Mountain Soda Mountain Wilderness Oregon

The Soda Mountain Wilderness, which was established in 2009, is divided by a powerline corridor into two pieces. The larger, western piece hosts some of the best known hikes in both this wilderness and in Southern Oregon: the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), the Lone Pilot Trail, the Pilot Rock Trail, and the Boccard Point Trail. The eastern piece, where oak and pine forests transition into the state’s eastern desert, has no formal trails and is less well known. Jenny Creek, which has been suggested for Wild & Scenic River status, and the former Box O Ranch are perhaps the best known of the eastern area’s offerings. Having hiked extensively in the western piece, we decided to take advantage of our no-snow-yet-December to do a short reconn hike in the eastern piece, to the summit of Rosebud Mountain on the edge of the Oregon Gulch Research Natural Area, which is within the wilderness.

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