Rogers Peak (OR)

Overview

Rogers Peak, elevation 3706, hides in the coastal mountains of western Oregon and is the county highpoint for Tillamook county. This is where the importance of Rogers Peak comes in for some of us, it is a county highpoint and as such must be tracked down and summitted, even if it isn't overly exciting. BUT, there's more, Rogers Peak is also important to those who are interested in the prominence peaks of Oregon. With 3034 feet of prominence, Rogers Peak comes in at #21 on the Oregon Prominence Peak list. So, when you find your way to the summit of Rogers Peak, you get a two for one deal. A county highpoint (one of 36 in Oregon) and a prominence peak, 1 of the 73 listed.

There is a negative on this one that needs to be mentioned. The VIEW is minimal. The summit itself is a large rock surrounded by trees. In a state that has fantastic county highpoints like Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson, to name a couple, there are also those that earn equal billing due to the fact that they are a county highpoint. So, if you want to complete all of Oregon's county highpoints, you need to go make your way to the top of Rogers Peak. Check out the pics posted by Bob Bolton who made the climb on Mar 22 when a fresh snow made everything look like a Christmas card.

For those who are county highpointers, this county highpoint could be done along with Washington County highpoint, Saddle Mountain. Both can be done on the same day.



Boulder summit of Rogers Peak attracts a crowd

Getting There

To get there, from Portland (about 50 miles overall to the turnoff listed below), take US 26 until the 4 lanes end, quickly taking the exit for Highway 6 (to Tillamook) Stay on this road past the town of Glenwood and places like Rogers Camp and the Fern Rock Rest area. Once past the rest area, start watching for Lees Camp. Just a bit beyond Lees Camp, and between mileposts 22 and 23 watch for the road also known as the North Fork Road going north to Jones Creek Park (day use area). Turn right, go across a bridge and you'll pass the Jones Creek Park on your left. From that point, see the route description for the remainder of the information as getting to the gate is a good part of the route effort. Click here for the route description

See the caution at the bottom of this page.
Avoid doing this during weekdays as logging trucks will make you wish you had stayed at home. During weekends, expect a lot of motorcycles and ORV's on the lower roads.


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SP'er Dennis Poulin added this information
Comments Dennis: I've added the topo map with waypoints marked for the Gate (RgrsGT) and for the branch road (RgrPK1) to the summit. The branch road is not easy to find. You have to be alert to recognize this old 4WD road to the summit. The 4WD road is very overgrown and hasn't had a vehicle on it in 50 years.

Note: Sometimes the North Fork access road is closed during fire season to all vehicles. I climbed the peak on 25 October 2003 and the road had just openned for vehicles.


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Route Description will be forthcoming.

Stay tuned. It is about a 3 mile round trip road and trail hike with about a thousand feet of gain.

Red Tape

Rogers Peak is located within the Tillamook State Forest. A state forest is exactly that, owned and managed by the state of Oregon, not the US forest service. Here is a link to the management districts.

Forest Grove District Office
801 Gales Creek Road
Forest Grove, OR 97116
Phone: 503-357-2191
24 hr Recorded Info Line: (503) 359-7401
Monday- Friday
8:00– 5:00

As far as I know, there is no fee to park near the gate.

Camping

There are seven developed fee-site campgrounds, managed on a first-come, first-served basis.See this Map Campgrounds are set in a variety of forest and river environments. Most are open from Memorial Day through October. In addition, numerous dispersed camping opportunities exist across the forest. Please note fire restrictions that may be in effect.

Here is theare two of the most promising ones in relation to Rogers Peak:

Gales Creek Campground is located just off the Wilson River Highway (Hwy 6) 20 miles west of Forest Grove, Oregon. The campground is usually open from May through October. It is a rustic site, situated near Gales Creek, within a young forest of Douglas-fir, alder, and maple trees.

The campground has 23 campsites, including four walk-in sites and a day-use picnic area with a trailhead for hiking and mountain biking access. Other facilities include vault toilets, drinking water from a hand pump. The overnight occupancy limit for each campsite is eight people and two vehicles.Each site offers a picnic table and a fire grate.
All campsites are first-come, first-serve; no reservations.

Camping fees (as of 2006):
Drive-in campsite:$10.00/night Walk-in campsite:$5.00/night
Extra vehicle:$2.00/night

Elk Creek Campground is located just off the Wilson River Highway, 27 miles west of Forest Grove, Oregon. It is a rustic site, located along the Wilson River. The campground has 15 walk-in campsites, vault toilets, drinking water from a hand pump, and is adjacent to a trailhead for Elk Mountain and Wilson River trails. Each site offers a picnic table and a fire grate. The overnight occupancy limit for each campsite is eight people and two vehicles.
Open May thru October
The fees for campsites are (2006):

Walk-in Tent site: $5.00/night (first-come, first-serve; no reservations)
Extra vehicle: $2.00/night

Weather

It rains alot in this area but when it stops raining, the forest can get extremely dry and can be closed down due to fire danger. A call to the above phone number listed in the red tape section might be wise at certain times of the year.

Trivia and other good stuff

I'll be adding a lot of additional information today and tomorrow.



One negative that I found out just a bit ago. All my pictures, save a couple that were posted elsewhere on the net, were lost when I had a computer meltdown in 2004. Almost everything was backed up but not the pics I had taken on this November trip. I am hopeful that others will have some more pics to post and many thanks to Dennis for his pics and Bob will be posting his snow trip pics in a couple days. An example of his snow trip effort can be seen presently at the top of this page.
Bob's trip report can be found HERE.

Third person to complete all of oregon's county highpoints

SP'er Bob Bolton was the third person to complete all of Oregon's county highpoints and he did several like Roger's Peak when it was loaded with snow. There is at least five feet of snow present.

Fellow SP'er Dennis Poulin was the 6th person to complete all of Oregon's county highpoints and was also the first to complete all of the 73 Oregon
Prominence peaks.

I have Mt Jefferson left before I can claim to being the next person to
do all of Oregon's county highponts.

For more information on county highpointing, click HERE

Warning

Do not attempt to do this one during the week as the area is still actively logged. On weekends however, you will need to watch out for motorcyclists and ATV users. This forest is a very popular area.

Tillamook County

It is only fitting that a section be created on this page for Tillamook County. So heres a few tidbits:

The county was named for the Native American people, the Tillamook, who lived in this area in the early 19th century.

As of 2000, the population is 24,262. Its county seat is Tillamook, homr of some of the best cheese in the country. There are probably more dairy cows in Tillamook County than people. The Tillamook Cheese company is one of the county's biggest employer.

As you might guess with this being Oregon, Timber is a big item. Interestingly enough, the state of Oregon owns 44% of the land inside the county boundaries, mostly as part of the Tillamook State Forest. The State Forest was created as a result of the 355,000 acre Tillamook Burn. The reforested burn is rapidly maturing, and there is one of the reasons in the recovery of the local timber industry. Three lumber mills currently operate in Tillamook County, one at Garibaldi, one in Tillamook, and one south of Tillamook at the former Naval Air Station. Due to active logging, it is best to avoid logging roads on the weekdays.

Of course, the Oregon coastline is a great attraction for tourists so after you are done chasing down the peaks of your dreams, you can head west for highway 101, the famous Oregon Coast Highway. U.S. Route 101, traveling the length of the Oregon Coast, brings many travelers through the county by car and bike.

Tillamook County is the first in the continental United States to be declared ready for a tsunami. This designation was given by the Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration after the county paid $15,000 for 27 warning sirens and an emergency radio system. Tsunami? No wonder I like the mountains.

A touch of History:

Tillamook County, the twelfth county in Oregon to be organized, was established on December 15, 1853, when the Territorial Legislature approved an act to create the new county out of an area previously included in Clatsop, Yamhill and Polk Counties. Boundary changes were enacted with Clatsop County (1855, 1870, and 1893), with Lincoln County in 1893, Washington County (1893, 1898), and with Yamhill County in 1887.

The Coast Range behind Tillamook was the scene of a repeated series of forest fires called the Tillamook Burn between 1933 and 1951. In 1948, a state ballot approved the sale of bonds to buy the burned-over areas and have the state rehabilitate the lands. The state lands were renamed the Tillamook State Forest by governor Tom McCall on July 18, 1973. By the end of the twentieth century, the replanted growth was considered mature enough to be commercially harvested.

The Tillamook airbase for blimps was commissioned on December 1, 1942, as U.S. Naval Air Station Tillamook. The two hangars were closed after World War II and sold. One of the hangars was destroyed by a fire in 1992 and only two posts now remain. The surviving blimp hangar is a local landmark and the location of the Tillamook Air Museum.

The U.S. Mt. Hebo Air Force Station was a Cold War air defense installation from 1956 to 1980. Located south of Tillamook, at the top of 3154 foot high Mount Hebo, Air Force radars operated by the 689th Radar Squadron and the 14th Missile Warning Squadron were essential parts of the nation's integrated air defenses. The large radomes protecting the radars from adverse weather effects could be seen silhouetted against the sky from most of Tillamook County.

Development along U.S. Route 101 to the north of Tillamook during the last part of the 20th century has blocked part of the flood plain of the Wilson River, contributing to repeated winter flooding in the city. The most recent flooding occurred in 2005 and threatened many of the dairy herds.

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Images

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