Becoming a Ditch Rider

By Hope Robertson

When the Sterling Mine Ditch was actively in use during the heyday of gold mining at the Sterling Mine, “Ditch Riders” would ride along the ditch – on what is now called the Sterling Mine Ditch Trail (SMDT) – to  monitor and maintain the ditch.  Thanks to the efforts of the Medford BLM and Siskiyou Upland Trails Association (SUTA) volunteers, you can once again ride a horse almost the full length of the SMDT.  Let your mind wander as you ride, imagining what the life of a Ditch Rider might have been like. With 20 miles of trail, you can plan rides for the day or a few hours.  For those equestrians who have not yet ridden the SMDT, you are in for a treat.  It is level for most of its length, offers great views, cool shade or full sun depending upon where you ride, and has easy horse trailer parking at four of its six trailheads.

There are wonderful loop rides using various combinations of the trailheads along Little Applegate Road.  One of my favorite rides is to park at the Tunnel Ridge Trailhead and then ride about 1.7 miles on the scenic Little Applegate Road to the Applegate Trailhead (clearly marked on your left).  This is a lovely gravel road along the Little Applegate River with very little traffic and is a great warm-up.  Join the SMDT trail system at the Little Applegate Trailhead and take a spectacular ride through lovely meadows, oak woodlands and cool shaded areas thru forests of large ponderosa pines, Doug Fir, and madrones.  This ride offers a nice variation in terrain with some gradual elevation changes.  At the Tunnel Ridge access trail, turn left and head down to your trailer completing a roughly 8 mile loop.  Another, shorter loop is from the Tunnel Ridge to Bear Gulch trailhead and back down the road to Tunnel Ridge (a 5-mile ride) – or combine the two loops for longer ride.

Other riding opportunities are from the Deming and Armstrong Gulch trailheads reached off of Sterling Creek Road. There are some lovely out-and-back rides where you can ride as far as you’d like before turning back.  If you opt to begin at the Deming trailhead, drive 0.3 miles past the trailhead to a road on the left that leads to a large parking area.  At the far end of the parking lot, pass between some large boulders blocking the road and follow it about ¼ mile and turn sharply left to join the SMDT (trail signs on the trees).  This is a lovely, deeply forested section of the SMDT with huge fir trees and maples along the way to the Deming Trailhead.  The Armstrong Gulch Trailhead is about 1.7 miles past the Deming trailhead.  You can ride all the way to any of the trailheads along Little Applegate Road.  By next year, the Wolf Gap access trail should be open to horses during the dry season, offering a terrific 12 mile loop starting from the Deming parking area and riding along the ditch to the Wolf Gap access trail, up the 1.5 mile access trail and back down the BLM road to the parking area.

Last year SUTA obtained Title II grant funds to improve the parking at all of the trailheads and added two new areas large enough for horse trailers  -  below the Armstrong Gulch Trailhead and the one described near the Deming Trailhead.  The Tunnel Ridge and Little Applegate trailheads along Little Applegate Road are also large enough to accommodate horse trailers. There is little water along the trail, so plan accordingly. There is access to the Little Applegate River for water at the Tunnel Ridge parking area, and one or two locations where there are streams that flow for at least part of the summer. For a map and directions to all of the SMDT trailheads go to:  www.sutaoregon.org   SUTA Maps & Directions

If you’re looking for even more variety and adventure, you can take advantage of miles of little used BLM roads throughout the Anderson Butte complex starting from either the Deming parking area or the Little Applegate Trailhead. You can plan your own route using a BLM map. Some of these roads will become part of the future Jack-Ash trail route.  SUTA’s plans to link the SMDT to the Jack-Ash trail will create even more wonderful riding opportunities in the near future – stay tuned.

This article was published in August, 2012 in the “JACKSONVILLE REVIEW”

A Day on Bald Mountain

Ever wonder as you are driving down I-5 in the Rogue Valley between Ashland and Medford what it would be like to be on top of the ridgeline to the west?  We can tell you – the view is spectacular in all directions. But don’t take our word for it, come up and hike along part of the route the Siskiyou Upland Trails Association (SUTA) has proposed to link the trails of Jacksonville and Ashland. The proposed Jack-Ash trail will largely follow historic trails along the ridgeline such as the old trail linking the former Wagner Butte and Anderson Butte fire look-outs – as well as existing dirt roads. While not a formally approved trail yet, you can still hike along these lovely ridges.

Our recommended “taste of the Jack-Ash” hike is the trail to Bald Mountain. Its about a 3.5 mile hike out and back depending upon where you start. It passes through deep forest and ridge top meadows with views in all directions. Thankfully at this altitude you will NOT encounter any poison oak but you will find loads of wildflowers in June and July – long after they’ve disappeared down in the valleys. This trail goes through some old Douglas Fir stands and has a wide variety of wildflowers, from orchids to false Solomon’s Seal, a wide array of succulents and wild roses tucked into rocky outcrops, and meadows covered in lupine, paintbrush, balsam root,  to name a few.

You begin hiking up a relatively shallow grade to reach the ridge leading to Bald Mountain. The trail wanders up and down and offers vistas across the entire Rogue Valley and up toward the Crater Rim (you can wave to the folks way down on I-5). There are one or two unnamed summits you will pass before reaching the highest point of Bald Mountain. The trail then descends across a rocky area and ultimately takes you out to a large meadow on the flanks of Bald Mountain with breathtaking views of the Applegate Valley, the Siskiyou Crest, Red Buttes, Grayback Mountain and more. The meadow is the perfect place to stop for a snack before returning.   This is a minimally (or maybe not at all) maintained trail but its not difficult to find and follow. Once we gain approval for incorporating this route into the Jack-Ash Trail, there will be trail signs and trail clearing work done but for now, enjoy a hike on the wild side.

There are multiple routes to get to the Day on Bald Mountain hike.  A BLM Ashland Resource Area Transportation map, or the Talent USGS Topo map is recommended. You can reach the take-off point from multiple directions – Jacksonville, Talent, Medford or the Applegate Valley. While this is not a long hike it takes a little while to drive up to the starting point because of the  winding BLM roads. One route is to take Griffin Creek Road, and then turn onto Anderson Butte Road (not to be confused with Anderson Creek Rd). Follow Anderson Butte Road to the end of the pavement, turn hard left and follow this BLM road (38-2-24).  You will pass an intersection known as Section Line Gap where Anderson Creek Road comes up on the left from Talent and Rush Creek Road comes up from Little Applegate Road – another route choice.  At this point the BLM road number becomes 39-1-18 but you do not have to make any turns. From Section Line Gap, go about another 1.5 miles until you reach a point where roads go in seemingly every direction – about 4 miles from where the pavement ended. One road heads downhill to the right, one goes downhill to the left ultimately reaching Wagner Creek Road, but don’t take either. Instead, take the middle road (#21.3) slightly uphill.  You can park and start your hike here or drive the much narrower dirt road #21.3 to where the trail leaves the road about 1 mile up, past a very large rock outcrop. Park at the wide area on the right where others have obviously parked. The trail begins on the right and leads up into the forest. Enjoy the hike, and don’t forget your camera!

This article was published in June, 2012 in the “JACKSONVILLE REVIEW”