Oregon - Valsetz Road - 1/27/13

Bill Beers

Explorer
I recently checked out Oregon Byways from my local library. In it are 75 scenic drives, from all over the state, and all are primarily gravel/dirt roads. Most of the drives that I could do as a day trip are snowed in at this point, with the exception of the drive up to the site of Valsetz, so my wife and I loaded up the girls and headed southwest from PDX.

Since we Oregonians are blessed with still having some ferries across the Willamette and Columbia, I try and cross them when I can. We head to the Wheatland Ferry. When we get there, it's on the other side of the Willamette, so we have a minute to relax. No one who's in a hurry should be taking a ferry, (at least not over the Willamette.)

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My wife gets some quick pictures of the crossing:

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Less than a mile up the road on the west side of the Willamette, we encounter the local EMS crews removing a downed tree from the road:

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We continue south and west, and were soon passing through Falls City, and once we crossed the Little Luckiamute river, we were on Valsetz Road.

Valsetz was a company logging town that operated under various owners until it was shut down and razed by Boise Cascade in '86. The site was planted with Douglas Fir, and it looks like the rest of the forest now. Some more pictures and info here: http://valsetz.homestead.com/

Valsetz Road is still pretty well traveled: we passed a Prius heading down on our way up.

The road starts out on private land, with a big warning sign next to the open gate. After few miles, it enters public land, and then back onto private land, again with the big sign.

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As we started to climb, the rain, which was just drizzling before, really started to come down. Soon, my wife and I noticed that the "rain" had chunks of snow in it.

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It wasn't long until pure snow was falling.

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We stopped for snowballs and picture. My girls and I:

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Wife and kiddos:

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We pressed on to the 10 mile mark, (or so,) of Valsetz road, but could see no evidence of the old town site, and only learned later, (after getting on the computer here at home,) about the site being planted over.

We headed East through Monmouth, and ate lunch in Independence. We'd planned on taking the Buena Vista Ferry back to the other side of the Willamette, but it was closed, so we had to use a boring old bridge!

The girls had a good day. My oldest confessed to me, after we got back in the car from playing in the snow, "Dad, I thought this would be boring, but it's really fun."

As we headed back to PDX on the super slab, the girls nodded off:

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We got the Cruiser pretty dirty, but the rain/roadspray on I-5 cleaned most of the grime off.

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Someday, I'd like to pick our way through the Coast Range over to 101, but today was not the day. We turned around, and headed back for Falls City.

I'm really looking forward to going on some of the other drives in Oregon Byways.
 

mhiscox

Expedition Leader
Thanks for the nice report of the trip and the route. Very much appreciated. At this time of year, it's nice to see someone brave the snow and mud to get out even for a day trip.

P.S.: Keep track of the pictures of those sleeping girls. I'm sure they'll want you to show them to their boyfriends in a decade or so. ;)
 

esh

Explorer
I first went up there about 20 years ago after seeing the lake still marked as a lake on a DeLorme atlas. Surprising to find no lake and later learning the dam was blown many years ago. Even then the town site (which had some buildings standing then) was well gated.

If you keep going you can get to Valley of the Giants. It is a stand of never logged old growth in a little creek valley with a path circling through. Fun for the family. To get there you follow the North Fork of the Siletz river until it ends at a primitive parking area. The road ends shortly after at a huge timbered bridge that has broken into the creek. You can get bearings on google maps (turn pics on, zoom in, and you'll see a little cluster of them around the head of the N Fork Siletz river).

Access gets tricky in that area. It is generally difficult to get there from Hwy 22 until you get near the coast to Rose Lodge and head south into the forest. Then it is an exercise in navigation.

I have never run into gates coming from the south. You head toward Logsden off Hwy 20 from either Blodgett, Eddyville, or Siletz. Then follow the Siletz river north past Moonshine Park to get up into the forest. It is a pretty drive following the river. You will eventually come to intersections close to the North Fork of the Siletz. It is pretty close to Valsetz from there.
 

Bill Beers

Explorer
Thanks for the kind words guys!

I mentioned the trip to my mom, who told me a story how she and my dad headed up there on a date back in '70 or '71. Apparently, the road was rough enough, and combined with no seatbelt in my dad's 1940s flatbed pickup, that my mom ended up bouncing up to the roof a few times!
 

Eeyore

New member
Nice Cruiser! I live in that area and make frequent trips up there and play in those woods alot. It's true that access can be hit or miss, the gates are usually locked up in the summer. I've never tried to go the back way from Logsden, but I second that Valley of the Giants is worth the hunt. Looks like you had fun!
 

Jerry

Adventurer
I enjoyed the write-up and pictures. Have heard a lot about Valsetz over the years, but never made the trip. Would also like to take the ferry boats across the Willamette before they disappear. Thanks for some great winter entertainment!
 

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