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| Hiking | 1.06 Miles |
231 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.06 Miles | 10 Hrs | | 0.11 mph |
| 231 ft AEG | 7 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Driving back to Phoenix from eastern Oregon, I needed a place to stay for the night after a long day of driving. Falls Canyon in the Santa Rosa Mountains about 3 miles east of HW95 and 35 miles south of the OR-NV border looked like a good place to camp for the night. HAZ_Hikebot had even posted a Guide for a hike up the Falls Canyon Trail. I had planned ahead and had plotted a driving route of about 4 miles across BLM land on a dusty rutted track from the highway to the mouth of the canyon.
I turned off HW95 on to the BLM road at about 4 pm and saw a cloud of dust headed my way behind a big white pickup so I decided to wait at the gate. The road passes through a section of private land on the way to Falls Canyon and I was concerned it might be posted "No Trespassing". The truck belonged to the BLM. The lady driving it had a not so friendly, "I'm tired and my workday is over." look on her face. She passed by without even slowing down. So I started the drive and in about a mile there was another cloud of dust coming my way behind another large white pickup. This one stopped and pulled off the road waiting for me. It was on the section of private land so I was expecting a hassle. But no, it was two smiling young women who worked for the BLM also on their way home from work. They were in a much friendlier mood than the previous BLM employee who I assume was their boss. I questioned them about the road conditions and camping at the trailhead. They gave me their official OK. 
The road to the falls has some deep ruts and can be driven with a moderate clearance vehicle but could be a muddy slippery mess if wet. And you would not want to hike or camp in that canyon if heavy rains or snow runoff were expected up in the mountains. The huge piles of driftwood in the canyon indicated it gets some nasty flash floods.
The hike to the falls was short but required some bushwhacking to get to a good location for a photo. The trail goes considerably further up the canyon but I was more interested in getting back to camp, cooking dinner, and making an early night of it. The campsite isn't what I would call the most picturesque but the surrounding brush made a good windbreak from the cold wind coming off the mountains. An OK place to camp overnight while passing through. |
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