Grants Pass to Crescent City Highway 199 Road Guide - Oregon & California Redwood Highway

Oregon Gold Country

ZERO YOUR ODOMETER at the intersection of the Oregon Caves Highway (Hwy 46) and continue south on Highway 199. Note: Cave Junction and O’Brien are the last opportunities to purchase fuel for the next 40 miles.

0.0 Oregon Caves Highway (Hwy 46)

0.1 Siskiyou National Forest Ranger Station (USFS): If you are planning to take any of the backcountry drives recommended in the Highway 199 Road Guide, you can stop here and purchase Forest Service maps that cover the area where you will be traveling. The Illinois Valley Ranger District Map covers portions of northern California to include the area of the Patrick Creek Loop Drive, Knopki Creek Road to the Siskiyou Wilderness and Bear Basin Butte Road to the Siskiyou Wilderness.

0.2 Look down to the right as you approach the bridge and you can see a segment of old Highway 199 built in 1922. The original bridge that was constructed in 1921 was to the right of the present bridge and crossed the river at a lower level, which caused problems during flooding (left picture looking south during the 1955 flood). A second and higher bridge was constructed in 1956. During the construction, the structure collapsed (right). The old bridge can be seen in the background right of this picture. The present bridge was completed in 2007.

0.3 Bridge over the East Fork of the Illinois River

0.6 Forks of the Illinois River State Park (right):
The two forks of the Illinois River meet at the state park on the right. The park offers picnicking and river access. On the other side of the intersection is Rockydale Road (left).

1.6 Great Cats World Park (left) has one of the largest collections in the United States of lions, jaguars, tigers, and other large cats. Tours are offered daily.

2.4 Old Highway 199 (right): Another short segment of the old highway goes off to the right and returns back to Highway 199 about a half a mile ahead.

2.9 Old Highway returns to Highway 199 (Burch Street)

3.1 Bridge over the West Fork of the Illinois River.

3.4 Westside Road:
This intersection marks the beginning of the Rough and Ready Creek alluvial fan, a deposit of rock and gravel deposited from Rough and Ready Creek Canyon during the last ice age. Rough and Ready Creek is unusual because the entire watershed is contained within an outcrop of mantle rock. As rock and gravel is washed out of the Rough and Ready Creek Canyon, it spreads out in a fan shape over the surrounding flat lands and during the span of thousands of years has piled into sediments that rain water quickly drains through. This rapid draining creates an artificial arid environment. The combination of the artificial arid environment along with the predominance of nutrient poor mantle rock is what makes the Rough and Ready alluvial fan unique. Rough and Ready Forest State Park, located about two miles ahead, was established because of the unusual plant communities found in this unique geologic landscape.

4.2 Rough and Ready Lumber Mill: This is the last of the large mills in Josephine County that is still in operation. Watch for mill traffic crossing the road

4.5 Road opens to four lanes.

Siskiyou Smokejumper Base, 1944. All of the crew were consceientous objectors. Cave Junction, Redwood Highway 199, Oregon. 4.6 Smokejumper Way (right)
The Siskiyou Smokejumper Base was the first aerial fire fighting operation in Oregon history and one of the first four bases established when the smokejumping program began in the early 1940s and was closed in 1981. This base is the last of the original four bases in American history that is still standing in its original condition and includes the oldest smokejumper parachute loft in North America. The self guided tour takes about 20 minutes.

5.0 Rough & Ready Forest State Park:
Rough and Ready Forest State Park with Rough and Ready Creek Canyon in background left. Located near Cave Junction, Redwood Highway 199, Oregon. On the right before crossing the bridge is a parking area for a wheelchair accessible trail into the Rough and Ready Forest State Park and Bureau of Land Management Rough and Ready Botanical Area. This is a unique botanical landscape growing on an alluvial fan that is almost entirely composed of rock from the earth’s upper mantle. The gravel and cobbles are washed out of the Rough and Ready Creek Canyon in the mountains, a watershed entirely contained in one of the largest mantle rock (serpentine) in North America. When water leaves the canyon mouth it spreads out and slows down, depositing the rocks in a fan-shaped deposit. This alluvial fan has more than 40 feet of rock piled up and Rough and Ready Creek Canyon originates in one of the largest serpentine rock outcrops in North America. Cave Junction, Oregon. water drains out of these rocks quickly creating an artificially “arid” environment in a region that gets more than 50 inches of precipitation annually. The challenge of plant growth in this “arid” environment is augmented by the lack of essential plant nutrients in mantle rocks. The combination of “arid” conditions and poor nutrients result in a forest of dwarf trees and plants that are adapted to growing in these conditions. The arid-like conditions prompted the historic Siskiyou Smokejumper Base to be nicknamed the “Gobi Desert”, a name it continues to carry today. The Rough and Ready Creek alluvial fan is about five miles wide and may be the largest alluvial fan in the United States made up almost entirely of mantle rock. Rough and Ready Forest State Park was established 1937 as the result of efforts by a group of women in the Illinois Valley Garden Club, a notable accomplishment made during the Great Depression.

5.1 Four lane highway narrows to two lanes.

5.2 Rough & Ready Creek Bridge:

6.5 Waldo Road (left)
Black Butte Trail enters the north end of the Siskiyou Wilderness. Located near Cave Junction on Oregon's Redwood Highway 199. This is the beginning of the Jefferson State Scenic Byway, a route that commemorates the efforts to create a separate state from parts of northern California and southern Oregon. The byway ends in Yreka, California near Mount Shasta. The first 15 miles of the Jefferson State Scenic Byway connects to roads and trails into the Red Buttes Wilderness and the Siskiyou Wilderness. The Out and About Tree House Resort near Takilma, Oregon offers tours and family oriented activities. The Siskiyou Wilderness can be accessed by the Black Butte Trail (picture above)

The Out and About Tree House Resort near Takilma, Oregon offers tours and family oriented activities.

7.2 ZERO ODOMETER AT Flashing yellow light and the O’Brien Store

The 1857 Turnpike and Puncheon Road between Oregon and Crescent City, California crossed the road at this point. This historic road, known locally as the McGrew Trail is a popular 4x4 route.

From this intersection the old Redwood Highway Road Guide follows the Wimer and Gasquet Toll Roads, both constructed in the 1880s, offers a back country adventure on gravel surfaced roads to Crescent City. For more information about picking the tour up here, go to Old Redwood Highway Road Guide and find the link to Oregon Mountain at the bottom of the page.

The Patrick Creek Loop Drive can also be reached from here by following the Oregon Mountain section of the Old Redwood Highway Road Guide and then following the link for the Patrick Creek Loop Road Guide. Click the "NEXT" button for the next sequential page in the tour. Giant outhouse fly, O'Brien, Redwood Highway 199, Oregon.

This is the last opportunity to get fuel for the next 40 miles. If you use the restroom watch out for the giant fly.

O’Brien is named after the family that owned a ranch in this area when the main road to the coast followed the Wimer and Gasquet Toll Roads over Oregon Mountain. Highway 199 didn’t exist at that time. The family built a school near this location in the late 1800s and hired a teacher to educate their daughters and other children in the local area. In the early 1900s, a resort was established along the West Fork of the Illinois River about a mile up Lone Mountain Road. The O’Brien Store was established after Highway 199 was constructed in 1922. This was a gravel road until 1927 when the highway was paved from Grants Pass to the California border.

Elk Creek Lodge was a well-known eating place nearby. The menu had no prices. Instead, patrons put money in a box on the way out according to what they thought the meal was worth.

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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...