Applegater Fall 2021
21
Kerby Peak, a haven
of botanical intrigue
BY EVELYN ROETHER
Greetings, fellow hikers! There’s still
time to get up high before snow arrives.
Kerby Peak will not disappoint. The
views from there are stupendous, and the
botanical diversity is superb. Go! Go! Go!
Kerby Peak
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 6.7 miles round trip
Elevation gain: 2,700 feet
Access: April - November
Map: Kerby Peak USGS quad
Directions
Seasonal access: From “downtown”
Williams, follow (paved) Cedar Flat Road
for 21.4 miles, down into the Deer Creek
drainage. Turn left onto the partially paved
White Creek Road (38-6-18). After 0.5
mile, take the second left on East White
Creek Road (38-7-13.4). Follow this gravel
road 2.7 miles to the signed trailhead,
which is located at the junction of roads
38-7-13.4 and 39-7-25. (This route is
generally not passable from November to
late May, due to snow on the ridge.)
Year-round access: In Selma, turn left
(east) at the traffic light onto Deer Creek
Road. Follow this paved road east for
about nine miles until you get to White
Creek Road (38-6-18). Turn right. After
a half mile, take the second left on East
White Creek Road (38-7-13.4). Follow
this gravel road 2.7 miles to the signed
trailhead, which is located at the junction
of roads 38-7-13.4 and 39-7-25.
The spectacular Kerby Peak ridgeline is
in a de facto (unprotected) Roadless Area
containing a lot of botanical intrigue. The
trail is documented on maps dating back
as far as 1915. For 44 years it provided
access to a fire lookout on the top of
Kerby Peak, which was decommissioned
and destroyed in 1966. The old-growth fir
forests and open ridgeline habitats provide
Map by Ann Gunter
Hikers earn magnificent views on the
Kerby Peak Trail. Photo: Evelyn Roether.
many different plant communities to study
along the trail.
From the parking area the single-
track trail begins its steep climb. It is
generously switch-backed, however, and
well shaded on a north-facing slope. The
initial towering Douglas fir forest is lush
and cool, with an understory of Oregon
grape, vanilla leaf, deciduous huckleberry,
twinflower, and some very photogenic
rock outcrops. Farther up the trail, note
the sugar pine and chinquapin trees and,
later, the Brewer’s weeping spruce and
knobcone pine. Brewer’s spruce is endemic
to the Klamath Mountains and is found
primarily on high, rugged ridgetops such
as those around you here.
After about two miles the forest gives
way to the sparsely vegetated rocky
ridgeline, resplendent with wildflowers
and vistas. In the rock gardens along the
way look for the pink-striped lewisia,
purple penstemon, yellow lupine, orange
tiger lilies, pink Washington lilies, and
many other colorful forbs.
As the trail traverses and climbs
the east flanks of the mountain, the
dramatic red, iron-rich peridotite rock
of the Kerby Peak ridge becomes visible.
Peridotite is metavolcanic in origin and
was formed as part of a 425-million-year-
old baked seafloor. As it was uplifted and
is continually weathered by the elements,
it turns from its natural green (serpentine)
color to bright red and orange.
Expansive views unfold, looking down
into the Deer Creek drainage to the north
and across to the Rabbit Lake area and
the giant Moquandinar rock face to the
south. The final ascent to the summit is
lined with mats of low-growing manzanita,
huckleberry oak, and kinnikinnick with
just enough shade from the occasional
Brewer’s spruce or knobcone pine to keep
you from overheating.
Finally, you reach Kerby Peak, towering
mightily above the Illinois Valley to
the west. At the summit (5,555 feet),
panoramic views open in all directions.
To the north is the Deer Creek watershed
and Lake Selmac, with the Kalmiopsis
Wilderness looming on the horizon. To
the northeast, Murphy and Grants Pass
are visible. Towards the east, beyond the
clear-cuts, the ridge in the foreground
forms a divide between the Applegate
and Illinois River watersheds, with pointy
Mt. McLoughlin in the distance. On
the southeastern horizon lie Grayback
Mountain (farthest to the east), then Lake
Mountain and Swan Mountain. To the
south is Little Grayback Peak (elevation
5,638 feet), with a lookout tower on top,
and, beyond that, the high peaks of the
Siskiyou Wilderness above Takilma. What
a sight to behold! Enjoy, and return the
way you came.
Evelyn Roether
evelynkr@gmail.com
Serving Josephine &
Jackson Counties
