Celebrating Southwestern Oregon's Wildflowers

The US Forest Service has a wonderful section to their website entitled Celebrating Wildflowers. Here you'll find the page the organization created for the Pacific Northwest Wildflowers.

Even more local (close to the Rogue River area) is the description in the website that refers to "Eight Dollar Mountain Botanical Area/Wild and Scenic Illinois River Corridor." The Forest Service describes the area as:  Eight Dollar Mountain is one of the most significant botanical sites in Oregon, representing a major area of species endemism in the state. Since the 1880s botanists have noted the area as being an important focal point for uncommon plants. Many of the serpentine endemics found in southwest Oregon and northwest California are abundant at Eight Dollar Mountain. Many large Darlingtonia fens are present lining the base of the conical shaped mountain and unusual plants on dry serpentine sites are also well represented.



The 2,867 acre botanical area ranges in elevation from 1,200-1,400 feet and mostly lacks trails and easy access points for serpentine viewing. However, the Illinois River road (forest road 4103) provides excellent views of Eight Dollar Mountain with numerous pull-outs, trailheads, and interpretive sites encompassing serpentine habitat similar to that found on Eight Dollar Mountain. Additionally, the Illinois River road provides access to series of river related day-use and overnight camping sites. The Eight Dollar Mountain Road (forest road 4103) provides excellent access to one Darlingtonia fen with a wheel-chair accessible board-walk trail. Although the fen is on National Forest land, the interpretive site and boardwalk was developed by the Medford District BLM.



Directions: To access the Wild and Scenic Illinois River Corridor take highway 199 to the town of Selma, turn west on the Illinois River Road (forest road 4201). The roughly 11 mile drive has developed picnic sites and numerous pull-outs with trailheads. The Darlingtonia fen with boardwalk access can be visited by taking the Eight Dollar Mountain road (forest road 4201) to the west, approximately 3 miles south of the town of Selma along highway 199. Continue along forest road 4201 for about 1 mile where you will see a sign and a large paved parking area.

Information provided by the US Forest Service.

Interested in knowing more about the unique Southwestern Oregon Darlingtonia Fen? Check out Deborah A. Tolman's book: Darlingtonia Fens of Southwest Oregon