Umpqua National Forest

The Brice Creek roadless area is located in the Cottage Grove Ranger District, 25 miles southeast of Cottage Grove. It contains some of the last old growth forests remaining in this heavily logged watershed.

Although the area is highly fragmented by industrial logging, and many stands of remaining old growth have been degraded by yew poaching, the forests of Brice Creek are still beautiful. Some forests have had recent understory burns, and unique plants like the Candystick abound. Other stands have thick understories of rhododendrons and chinquapins.

Old growth stands of Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock and even a few pockets of Sugar Pine provide the overstory. Sedum, monkey flower, colt’s foot and other herbaceous plants grow on numerous rock outcroppings.

The real treasure of the area is the creek itself. The creekbed is made from connected sections of basalt formations, carved out by incredible waterfalls. In one section of the stream, massive boulders sprout vine maple umbrellas above four contiguous waterfalls. Wind eddies make the hundreds of fragile stemmed maiden ferns clinging to the falls dance.

Back