Applegater Summer 2020
13
Enjoy lakes and conifers on the way to Steve’s Peak
BY EVELYN ROETHER
There is much to enjoy on this
hike—a swimmable lake, a pleasant
hike up to a ridge overlooking the
peaks of the Red Buttes Wilderness,
and some notable botanical wonders.
When Oliver Mathews (a self-taught
dendrologist with a passion for
Oregon’s trees) got here in 1931, he
found half of Oregon’s 35 conifer
species within a six-mile radius
of the lake.
Trail to Miller Lake
and Steve’s Peak
• Difficulty: To Miller Lake—Easy.
To Steve’s Peak Ridge—Moderately
difficult.
• Distance: To Miller Lake—1.4
miles round-trip. To Steve’s
Peak Ridge—3.9 mile (loop).
• E l e v a t i o n g a i n : To M i l l e r
L a k e — 3 9 0 f e e t . To St e ve’s
Peak Ridge—795 feet.
• Access: June - October.
• Map: Grayback Mountain
USGS quad.
Directions
Take Highway 238 to the town of
Applegate. Go south on Thompson
Creek Road for 11.9 miles until
the pavement ends at a four-way
intersection. Continue straight on
Road 1020, paralleling Sturgis Fork
Creek for 4.5 miles. Then go straight/
left at the junction on Road 400 for
3.5 miles until it ends at the trailhead.
A high clearance 4WD vehicle is
required due to a rugged low water
crossing on Road 400, 3.8 miles
from the trailhead. This crossing is
impassable during high flows.
Trail description
From the parking area follow the
rhododendron-lined trail as it ascends
to Miller Lake. Located in a deep
glacial cirque, Miller Lake is about
three acres in size. Although it was
modified with an earthen dam in the
early 1900s to provide irrigation to
the downstream Thompson Creek
water users, the lake retains its
natural characteristics. It is especially
beautiful when the lake water is high
in early summer and wildflowers are
at their peak.
To continue on the loop trail up to
the ridge, turn right when you reach
the lake. Soon you will encounter the
first of several botanical curiosities:
a stand of large “weeping” Brewer’s
spruce. Recognizable by its droopy
branches, this tree is one of the
rarest spruces on the continent. It is
found only in the Klamath-Siskiyou
Mountains of southwest Oregon and
northwest California.
Continuing uphill through
magnificent stands of old-growth fir
trees and wildflower-strewn meadows,
keep an eye out below for the crescent
shaped Upper Miller Lake. More a
pond than a lake, it is surrounded
Miller Lake is about three acres in size. Photo: Evelyn Roether.
by yellow flowering sneezeweed and
covered with water lilies that flower
in mid July.
As the trail switchbacks up to
the ridge, the vegetation changes:
the understor y is now comprised
of two rare oak species: Sadler
and oracle. The oracle oak is a
rare hybridization of the interior
live oak and California black oak.
The Sadler oak is endemic to this
ecoregion. Overhead, red fir and
mountain hemlock dominate the
canopy while white-flowering Sitka
valerian dot the forest floor.
When you reach the Steve’s Peak
ridgeline, expansive views to the
s o u t h p u t yo u f a c e t o f a c e w i t h
Mount Shasta in the distance, the
Red Buttes Wilderness in front of
it, and in the foreground the Sturgis
Fork drainage. Northward are the
burnt flanks of Grayback Mountain,
which at 7,048 feet is the highest
peak in Josephine County. Mountain
mahogany, green-leaved manzanita,
sedums, orange flowering scarlet
g i l i a , a n d In d i a n p a i n t b r u s h a re
among the few plant species that
thrive on the exposed, sun baked,
and windblown peak.
The trail then descends back down
into the shady, cooler forest amid
clusters of arnica, fleabane, wood
rose, penstemon, vanilla leaf, bleeding
hear ts, columbine and woodland
phlox. About three-quarters of the
way down, near a rock outcrop at the
top of a series of switchbacks, in an
off-trail basin to the east of the lake,
Map by Ann Gunter.
lies the greatest botanical wonder of
the area: a stand of Baker’s cypress. A
super rare conifer, it’s found only in
northern California and southwestern
Oregon, with eleven known locations.
The stand at Miller Lake contains the
largest Baker’s cypress in the world,
measuring 45 inches in diameter
and growing.
Back on the trail, the final part of
the loop switchbacks down through
lush conifer forests, returning you to
the shores of Miller Lake. Continue
d ow n t o yo u r c a r, re t u r n i n g t h e
way you came.
Hiking Trails of the Lower Applegate,
a trail guide describing 20 trails in the
Lower Applegate area, is available for
purchase at the Williams General Store,
Takubeh Natural Market (Williams),
Provolt Store, Whistling Duck Farm
Store (Provolt), Rebel Heart Books
( Jacksonville), Oregon Books and
Ga m e s ( Gr a n t s Pa s s ) , No r t h we s t
Nature Shop, and Bloomsbury Books
(Ashland). Trail guides can also be
purchased directly from the author
at lowerapplegatetrails@gmail.com.
Evelyn Roether
Evelynkr@gmail.com
How you doing?
Shockwaves of the COVID-19 crisis have rolled through the Applegate. People have
holed up at home, schools and businesses have closed, and employees have been laid off.
To get a handle on how Applegate residents have been impacted—with the hope it
can show where help is needed and how we can be better equipped to handle the next
emergency—A Greater Applegate created a survey included in mailed copies of this paper.
We hope you’ll fill it out and return it, either by mail or to the AGA office in Sunshine
Plaza in Ruch. Better yet, complete the survey online at agreaterapplegate.org.
Thank you. We hope you’re doing well—and stay well.
