Boundary Springs Waterfall
@BLMOregon @TravelOregon
I went back to finish what I started back in January, reach Boundary Springs. This time I didn’t start in the Mazama Viewpoint parking lot. Instead, I followed Google maps which sent me down a forest road for several miles. The road is called “Old Diamond Lake Road” or NF-281. The road gets really sketchy after a couple miles. You probably don’t want to be on this road in a normal winter. Even in summer it probably isn’t smart to take this road without 4WD. I stopped a hundred yards or so before crossing Mazama Creek as the snow started getting pretty deep. I walked from there.
After passing West Lake (which was completely frozen in the morning, but mostly not frozen when I passed it on my way back in the afternoon) I saw a trail sign for Boundary Springs. A couple hundred feet before reaching the springs I took today’s photo.
Once I got to the springs (which is where the Rogue River begins, straight out of the ground) I saw a trail of sorts on the other side of the Rogue River. I started to take it, but it soon disappeared. I don’t really like out and backs as much as loop trails so I continued (mostly bushwhacking my way north on the east side of the Rogue River) hoping the trail would appear again. Big mistake. There is no trail (that I could find) on the east side of the river. A couple hours, bloodied hands, and torn clothes later I made it back to Old Diamond Lake Road which crosses the Rogue River so I could get back to my car.
Despite the blood, it was an awesome adventure. I didn’t see a single person the entire time. In a normal winter you will definitely want snow shoes. I could have used them in several places, but for the most part I was on dry ground or only an inch or two of snow.