Eight Dollar Botanical Boardwalk

Location
42.233151, -123.660880 (trailhead)

Directions
From Highway 46 in Cave Junction, drive 5 miles north on Highway 199 (towards Grants Pass) to Eight Dollar Mountain Road on your left near mile marker 24. Follow this road for 0.9 miles and park in the large turnout on the left. Cross the road and walk up the narrow, paved road to the trailhead. There is accessible parking available at the trailhead next to the wheelchair accessible restroom.

Description
The Eight Dollar Mountain Botanical Boardwalk is a short walk to a viewing platform overlooking a colony of insectivorous pitcher plants located at the base of Eight Dollar Mountain. Both the mountain and the boardwalk area are part of a large exposure of mantle rock, one of the largest exposures of this type of rock in North America. These rocks have a low level of essential plant nutrients and this results in a dissipated stand of plants you would expect to see in regions with more arid conditions. In areas of the surrounding valley that have better soils, springs and wetlands are generally choked with water loving plants such as alder and blackberry. However, springs that emerge from the mantle rocks of this region have poor soil conditions that do not support alder and blackberry. This allows other plants to survive and one of the plants that is best adapted for growing in areas with low levels of nutrients are the insectivorous pitcher plants. A good example of the geologic influence on the types of plants growing around springs can be seen on the TJ Howell Botanical Drive.

A large colony of darlingtonia (California pitcher plant) is seen from the observation deck at the end of the Eight Dollar Mountain Botanical Boardwalk, Cave Junction, Oregon