Rogue River Southern Oregon June 2009

The Wild and Scenic Rogue River. This video highlights the Wild and Scenic section of the Rogue River below the community of Merlin, Oregon. It is a easy drive. From Grants Pass, head north on Interstate 5 for a few miles to Merlin Exit 61. At the end of the off ramp turn left towards Merlin and stay straight through the light and you will be on the Merlin-Galice road. In a few miles you will arrive in the community of Merlin. Great place for snacks and to top off the car gas tank! Continue down the Merlin-Galice road and in about 15 miles you will end up at the Graves Creek Bridge. You can stay on the road, which is well signed, and loop back to Interstate 5 at Wolf Creek. Enjoy. Scott Walter Reports. The Rogue River National Forest (until 1932 called the Crater National Forest) was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908. The name Rogue River commemorates the Takelma Indians, whose defense of their homeland let early day French-Canadian trappers to call them les Coquins, "the Rogues". The Rogue River-Siskiyou is the most floristically diverse National Forest in the country with some extraordinary botanical resources. The unique character of the landscape has led to the designation of 324,000 acres of the Forest as wilderness, and over 200 miles of streams as National Wild and Scenic Rivers. Wilderness areas managed all or in part by the Forest include: Sky Lakes, Rogue-Umpqua Divide, Red Buttes, Kalmiopsis, Siskiyou, Wild Rogue, and Grassy Knob. National Wild and Scenic Rivers include: Upper Rogue, Illinois, North Fork Smith, Chetco, Elk, and Rogue. The National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was an outgrowth of the recommendations of a Presidential commission, the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (ORRRC). Among other things, the commission recommended that the nation protect wild rivers and scenic rivers from development that would substantially change their wild or scenic nature. The act was sponsored by Sen. Frank Church (D-Idaho) and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on October 2, 1968. A river or river section may be designated by the U.S. Congress or the Secretary of the Interior. As of 2004[update], a total of 156 rivers have wild and scenic status. Selected rivers in the United States are preserved for possessing outstandingly, remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural, or other similar values. Rivers, or sections of rivers, so designated are preserved in their free-flowing condition and are not dammed or otherwise impeded. The Rogue River in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Oregon flows from the Cascade Range to the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the original eight rivers included in the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, which included 84 miles (135 km) of the Rogue, from 7 miles (11.3 km) west of Grants Pass to 11 miles (18 km) east of Gold Beach. In addition, roughly 40 miles (64 km) of the Rogue between Crater Lake National Park and the unincorporated community of Prospect was named Wild and Scenic in 1988. The Rogue River begins in the Cascade Range at Boundary Springs within Crater Lake National Park. It flows south and west through the Rogue RiverSiskiyou National Forest, collecting tributaries from the RogueUmpqua Divide Wilderness to the west and the Sky Lakes Wilderness to the southeast. Below the confluence of the South Fork, the Rogue River is impounded by William L Jess Dam, creating Lost Creek Lake. Below the dam the Rogue River collects more tributaries, including Elk Creek and Bear Creek, the latter of which flows through nearby Medford. The river then flows west through the mountains to the city of Grants Pass. A few miles below the city, the Rogue River is joined by the Applegate River and then Wolf Creek, after which the Rogue winds north, then west, then southwest through the Klamath Mountains and the Wild Rogue Wilderness. Along the way it is joined by the Illinois River. The Rogue River reaches the Pacific Ocean at the city of Gold Beach.[9] The river flows for 215 miles (346 km), of which 124 miles (200 km) in two separate sections bear the designation of National Wild and Scenic River.