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  Black Butte Road to the Siskiyou Wilderness overlooks Oregon's Illinois Valley.

Black Butte Road Guide, Oregon

The Black Butte Road climbs to the boundary of the Siskiyou Wilderness and the Black Butte Trail that offers connections to the open meadows of Twin Valley and Youngs Valley with connections to Raspberry Lake, Rattlesnake Meadows, Devil's Punchbowl and the Clear Creek National Recreation Trail.

The total driving distance from Cave Junction to the trailhead is about 23 miles with half of that drive on gravel surfaced roads. Some sections of the road are rough and fist-sized rocks that have fallen from road cuts are common. In many cases you can drive around these rocks but there are places where going over them is unavoidable. High clearance vehicles with tires that are suitable for driving on gravel roads are recommended but people with experience driving on back country, gravel surfaced road can make the drive with a car that has two wheel drive and standard clearance. 

Directions

Drive south out of Cave Junction on Highway 199 for 0.6 miles and TURN LEFT on Rockydale Road immediately after the bridge. Follow Rockydale for seven miles to where it ends at Waldo Road. TURN LEFT on Waldo Road and drive one and a half miles to the stop sign at Takilma Road. TURN RIGHT on Takilma Road and drive 3.6 miles to the fork in the road. SET YOUR ODOMETER TO ZERO and GO LEFT at the fork. The road log below begins from this point.    

NOTE: The distance from the Fork in the road to the Black Butte trailhead is about 11.5 miles of gravel road.

0.0       Fork in the Road - Go left

0.6       Old growth Douglas fir trees can be seen above the road with burn marks from the Silverwood Fire that burned through this area in the 1970s. This section of forest experienced a relatively low intensity fire that burned the understory but did not kill the larger trees. As you continue you will enter a section where the larger trees were killed. Many of the larger trees are still standing as snags and the understory has regrown to become the dominant forest plants of mostly madrone and oak trees.

1.7       Road Forks GO RIGHT over the bridge. This is the approximate location of the Oregon and California state line. The rest of the tour will be in California.

1.9       Road forks GO RIGHT - you are now on USFS 4906

2.2       Tree thinning. During the summer of 2007, brush was removed from around the Douglas fir trees on both sides of the road. The removal of excess vegetation is a forest practice that reduces the risk of catastrophic fire, although the overall effect is short term and repeated thinning is necessary about every ten years to keep thickets of brush from becoming a fire hazard. In this region, brush is suppressed by shade but when the larger trees are removed, brush grows quickly. During the early logging history of this region, when clear-cutting was practiced, much of the region was taken over by dense brush rather than managed to be a productive forest of future wood supply. A good example of this “take over” was seen in the first part of this tour where dense brush is growing under the snags of the forest killed during the Silversood Fire.

2.8       Serpentine rock - The road will go through a series of geologic exposures, the most distinct of which are those made up of serpentine, a type of rock that was uplifted directly from the mantle of the earth. Vegetation on these outcrops are typically sparse and can be easily spotted from a distance such as the outcrops that are seen on the mountain slopes across the small valley below. Note how the plants on this type of rock sharply contrast with those seen at mile 3.7.

3.5       Road forks GO RIGHT to stay on USFS 4906

3.7       Lush understory - Another type of rock common in this region are ancient ocean sediments that produce rich soils. These outcrops of rocks typically support dense growth of vegetation.

4.5       Wet area with five-finger ferns - It is interesting to note how geology can influence the types of plants that grow around springs. At this point, a spring comes out of the rocks of ancient ocean sediments and supports lush vegetation. At mile 5.6 you will enter a serpentine outcrop again and at mile 5.9, another spring in this type of rock supports a much different plant community even though the two springs are approximately the same elevation.

5.6       Enter an outcrop of heavily fractured serpentine. If you get some of the fine rock debris at the base of the road cut, you may be able to feel the greasy, talc-like texture that typifies serpentine rock.

5.9       Continue straight ahead at the intersection with the road from the right.

            After the intersection you will see a wet area on the right with colonies of Darlingtonia (California pitcher plant) growing in the seeps. The Darlingtonia is also known at the Cobra Lily because of it’s bulbous head and two leaflets that come from the base of the head like a forked tongue. This plant is typically found only in wet areas on serpentine rock outcrops because there is less competition from other plants. Plants do not grow well on serpentine rock because of low levels of essential nutrients for plant growth. The Darlingtonia is able to provide its own nutrients by capturing and consuming insects.

6.5       Intersection - Go to the right up the switchback

7.3       Intersection - Go left.

7.5       Vista of Illinois Valley

7.9       Haystack and Sanger Peak right - note the tall tree line ahead. Compare this dense stand of trees with the ones seen on either side of the road in this location.

8.1       The dramatic vegetation change seen at this point may be due to an outcrop of diorite, a type of rock associated with ancient volcanic activity in this region. This rock has a salt-and-pepper appearance like granite.

8.3       Sugar pines above road on left

8.4       Vista up East Fork River Canyon - Look across the canyon to see the contrast of plant communities growing on serpentine rock and other types of rock. Serpentine rock tends to be unstable and natural landslides are common. One of these landslides can be seen near the bottom of the canyon below.

8.9       Road narrows into two track for a short distance then opens back to a wider, graded road again.

9.0       Vista toward Page Mountain

9.6       Serpentine outcrop ends abruptly with distinct vegetation changes

9.9       TO with vista toward Page Mountain

10.5     Vista toward Black Butte

11.4     Saddle Chicago Peak right

11.8     Black Butte Trailhead

11.9     Gate.

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