Oregon's Avenue of the Boulders

Well, we've been talking about all the cool southern Oregon side trips one can do when you are finished rafting the Rogue River with Whitewater Warehouse. One event located near Prospect, Oregon (Prospect is located on Oregon Hwy 62--on your way to Crater Lake) is the Jamboree & Timber Carnival, one of Oregon's last three timber carnivals. We were a week late in posting the Carnival (this year the Carnival was held on August 16th) but mark your calendars for the third week of August 2009--August 15, 2009--for next year's event.

While you are checking out the Jamboree, don't forget to discover other cool Prospect sites. Pearsony, Mill Creek, and Barr Creek falls are located near Prospect. As is the "Avenue of the Boulders" where boulders the size of houses threaten to upstage these beautiful waterfalls.

You can stay at the Prospect Hotel and even eat dinner there! Another local Cafe is the Prospect Cafe--where you can meet the locals and kibitz about the area's beauty and history.


Photo Credit for the stunning Pearsony Falls photo goes to Joe McCarthy.

Oregon Getaway: The Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway

"Two of Oregon's most beautiful and renowned rivers bookend this breathtaking tour through the thickly forested southern Cascades." And so these words in the official Oregon Tourism "driving guide" describe the incredible Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway. Also known as the "highway of waterfalls" this Scenic Byway is a 172-mile, partial loop route. There are impressive waterfalls that can be viewed along the backroads of this route. Susan Creek Falls, Toketee Falls, and Watson Falls are three favorites. Watson Falls, tumbling 272 feet, is the third highest waterfall in Oregon.

Driving along this stunning Byway takes a minimum of 5 - 7 hours and is best enjoyed over a couple days.

Call our offices at 1-800-214-0579 and we can supply you with maps and information about this incredible National Scenic Byway. It is simply the perfect Oregon Getaway when paired with an incredible Rogue River rafting and kayaking trip.

America's Finest Scenic ByWays

We know that high gas prices have recently given driving tours a bum rap. Nevertheless, southern Oregon boasts some of the most unique scenic byways in the nation. So if you are willing to spend a bit on petro, you will be rewarded with remote, beautiful scenery, abundant wildlife viewing, and even an out-of-the-way living museum or two.

There's the "Volcanic Legacy" scenic byway--designated nationally by America's All-American Road organization as one of the nation's finest. This road route takes riders past Crater Lake, Fort Klamath, upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, Klamath Fall's Favell Museum's impressive collection of Indian artifacts, and the Bear Valley National Wildlife Refuge. The tour ends at the Francis S. Landrum Historic Wayside, which commemorates the Applegate Emigrant Trail--the southern arm of the Oregon Trail.

Look for upcoming blogs that detail two other famous southern Oregon national scenic byways: the Rogue-Umpqua and the Outback.

You can secure a FREE touring map for these three unique southern Oregon jewels by calling our office at 1-800-214-0579 or emailing us at: fun@whitewaterwarehouse.com

Native American Petroglyph: Rogue River Rock Art

Looked closely at this photo. Early Rogue River Native American's carved out this sacred turtle petroglyph on a giant boulder that faces the Rogue River. These Native Americans existed peacefully along the Rogue River, fishing and gathering nuts for food until about the 1850s.

Mining and the settlement of the area by white men, pushed the Rogue River Indians (really a collection of several different bands of Indians that lived in the Rogue River area) out of their homelands.

As with many others, the Indians lived and traded with the fur trappers and mountain men with no problem, due to mutual respect. What caused the conflict here was the influx of miners to the area. They chopped down the trees that the Indians depended upon for acorns. They plowed up their fields full of camas bulbs. They ruined streams with mining operations. It is no wonder the Rogue River Native Americans felt forced to retaliate.

For more details on the cultural and ecological consequences of the white man's push to mine the Rogue River canyon for gold in the 1850s, check out Stephen Dow Beckham's book, Requiem for a People: The Rogue Indians and the Frontiersmen (1996)