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 The McGrew Trail climbing out of Illinois Valley, Oregon

  The McGrew Trail climbing out of Illinois Valley, Oregon
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Southern Oregon’s First Road to the Sea

The Climb out of Illinois Valley
McGrew Trail, Oregon

The McGrew Trail climbing out of Illinois Valley, OregonOne of the longest and steepest climbs on the historic Turnpike and Puncheon Road, also known locally as the McGrew Trail, is the section from Illinois River to a ridge above O’Brien. There are many switch backs, each designed so teams of mules pulling one or two freight wagons could make the turns without the wagon going over the side of the mountain.

 

 

The McGrew trail becomes rough in many sections.Most of the road that climbs up from the Illinois River is heavily eroded and some people imagine that this is what the road looked like when freight wagons and stagecoaches used this route in the mid 1800s. During the first twenty years this road was open, the only years that it was actively used, a crew did regular repair and maintenance work to assure wagons and stagecoaches using it had a relatively smooth ride. The maintenance contract ended in 1877 and the road has fallen into increasing disrepair ever since.

 

More pictures of the climb out of Illinois Valley

Arctic Cats on the McGrew Trail of southwest Oregon's Illinois Valley.  The McGrew trail is ideal for small motorized vehicles.  ATV on the McGrew Trail as it climbs out of southwest Oregon's Illinois Valley. Arctic Cats on the McGrew trail in southwest Oregon's Illinois Valley  Erosion has exposed rocks along much of the historic road  Some sections of the road are almost entirely made up of cobbles

 

Most of the McGrew Trail passes through serpentine rock exposures that support dissipated plant communities. In some places, outcrops of diorite, a granite-looking rock, supports denser stands of trees as is seen in the middle of the picture.   The McGrew Trial briefly goes through a dense stand of trees growing on an isolated outcrop of granite-like diorite. This is very different from the dissipated plant communities growing on the serpentine rock seen along the majority of the route.

In some places along this section of the McGrew Trail you might notice distinctly contrasting plant communities such as is seen in the upper left photo. A dark, dense stand of Douglas fir is seen in the upper middle of the picture which is in stark contrast to the barren slope in the foreground, the type of plant communities you will see for most of the tour. The sparsely vegetated plant community is growing on serpentine, the type of rock that is seen along most of the old road. The denser stands grow on a type of rock called diorite, a granite-like rock from ancient volcanic activity in this region. At one point along the climb out of Illinois Valley, you will pass through one of these diorite outcrops with it's distinctly dense forest. 

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