TJ Howell Botanical Drive

A road trip through one of the region's most botanically diverse landscapes.

Photo Tour of the TJ Howel Botanical Drive Download Road Guide pdf 355 kb

The TJ Howell Botanical Drive is a 15 mile route beginning at Highway 199 and ending at trailheads into the Kalmiopsis wilderness, Babyfoot Lake Botanical Area and the road to Fiddler Mountain. The first three miles of the drive goes through the wild and scenic Illinois River corridor and next to the Eight Dollar Botanical Area.

NOTE: About 12 miles of this tour takes you on gravel roads maintained by the Forest Service. A Forest Service map and sturdy tires are recommended for this trip. The lower six miles of the road usually remain snow free most of the year with upper part of the road usually closed by snow during the winter and early spring.

Directions

The TJ Howell Botanical drive (Eight Dollar Mountain Road), begins near Highway 199 mile marker 24 about four and a half miles from Cave Junction.

TJ Howell Botanical Drive Map and Road Guide

Map of the TJ Howell Botanical Drive, Kalmiopsis Wilderness, Redwood Highway 199, Cave Junction, southwest Oregon Siskiyou Mountains

Tour Directions

Turn on to Eight Dollar Mountain Road and drive one mile. Zero your odometer at the cattle guard. All mileage for the tour will be given from this point. Mileage is indicated by the number at the beginning of each paragraph.

0.0 Cattle Guard: Set your odometer to zero..

1.0 Salmon Falls Trail

1.9 Green Bridge over the Illinois River

2.1 A small cave excavated in ancient river gravel is seen on the right..

2.3 Pavement ends. If you want to walk to see where Josephine Creek runs into the Illinois River, park in the open area to the left just before the pavement ends. Josephine Creek may have been the first gold claims in Oregon history and for this reason, this site carries the same significance in Oregon's gold rush history as Sutter's Mill carries in California history. The creek was named after the miners daughter, Josephine.

2.7 Jeffrey pine savannah: Jeffrey pine is the most common pine tree growing on serpentine soils.

3.5 Days Gulch spring: Park off the road at the sharp pin turn and walk along the slope away from the road for about 500 feet to a spring with a large population of the insectivorous darlingtonia pitcher plants. This is a typical sight for springs that flow over serpentine rock in this region. Another spring at mile 7.5 flows over a different type of rock and supports a completely different plant community from what is seen here. As you continue from this stop, serpentine rock can be seen in road cuts for the next three miles.

4.5 Vista of the Wild and Scenic Illinois River corridor: This is a nice place to get out and enjoy the view. See the road guide for the Wild and Scenic River corridor if you want to explore further down the river.

5.4 Vista into Mikes Gulch: Right after going through the road cut into the Mikes Gulch drainage, look for an open area about a mile away to the right and on the other side of the ravine. This is a natural boundary between two plant communities growing on different types of rock. The plant community that makes up the open field is growing on serpentine while the heavily forested slopes above are growing on rock from an ancient ocean basin. You will get a closer look at these ocean basin rocks when the road crosses this same boundary at mile 11.4.

6.6 Note how plant communities change from incense cedar and Jeffrey pine to predominantly Douglas-fir as the road crosses from serpentine rock to the rock of an ancient ocean basin.

7.4 Forest Service road 065 on the right. Continue straight ahead.

7.5 Spring: A small spring on the right supports a community of alder trees and other vegetation that is much different than the darlingtonia plant community seen at mile 4.5. The geology of this region has dramatic influence on plant communities seen along this drive. As driving from this stop the forest will make a transition from Douglas fir forest to a south facing slope with mostly scrub brush.

8.1 Vista point: The first of several opportunities to see a vista of the Siskiyou wilderness and the mountains near Oregon Caves. Several knobcone pine can be seen on the lower side of the road.

9.0 Intersection of USFS 090. Stay left. The next mile was heavily burned in the Biscuit Fire of 2002.

10.2 The road enters an area that was previously clear-cut and replanted. Note how the fire burned the plantation but not the surrounding forest of older trees. Fire is a one of the challenges that forest managers must consider in the establishment of tree farms.

10.6 The road enters a segment of forest not damaged in the 2002 Biscuit Fire.

11.0 Several large sugar pine and ponderosa pine trees are seen on both sides of the road.

11.4 Ancient ocean floor: The flat slabs of rock seen in the road cut on the right are sediments that piled up on the floor of an ancient ocean basin. These rocks were pushed up to become the mountain you see on the right. Look and see if you can determine where the ocean sediments end and the volcanic rock of the ocean crust begin. This contact is vertical due to tilting of the rocks during uplift.

13.0 The road leaves the green forest behind and enters some of the most heavily burned areas along the route.

13.3 The black rock in the road cut is serpentine and is a good example of how this slippery rock can be squeezed for miles between layers of other rocks. The serpentine rocks slide past one another on a natural coating of talc.

13.8 Junction USFS 140 to Babyfoot Lake and USFS 141 to Onion Camp. Turn right to the Whetstone Butte Trail and Pearsoll Peak Trail. The road to Fiddler Mountain is a few yards from the intersection in this same direction. The trail to Babyfoot Lake is about a half mile straight ahead.

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Disclaimer: All information in Highway199.org is accurate to the best knowledge of the author. However, conditions in outdoor settings can change dramatically after storms or fires. For this reason, travelers are advised to check current road conditions before traveling through the area, drive responsibly and take measures to understand safety issues in the region. When participating in outdoor activities, always plan and prepare for safe hiking, swimming or any other activities mentioned in the Highway 199 website. More on disclaimer and copyright...