In our last post we wrote about our ambitious (possibly overly so) goal of completing 500 “featured” hikes in William L. Sullivan’s guidebooks. The topic of this post is another one of our goals, visiting all 45 of Oregon’s accessible designated wilderness areas (Three Arch Rocks and Oregon Islands are off limits to all visitors). This goal should be quite a bit easier to accomplish given the much smaller number of needed hikes and the fact that the wilderness areas aren’t changing every few years. (There is legislation pending that would create the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness in the coast range between Reedsport and Eugene.)
The inspiration for this goal came from a fellow hiker and blogger over at Boots on the Trail. This smaller goal fit well into our 500 featured hikes goal too as thirty nine of the wilderness areas are destinations of at least one of the featured hikes. The remaining six: Copper-Salmon, Lower White River, Rock Creek, Cummins Creek, Bridge Creek, and Grassy Knob were still included in the books but as additional hikes in the back. Between the hike descriptions in the guidebooks and Boots on the Trail’s trip reports we’ve had plenty of information to work with.
This was an appealing goal too. Wilderness areas are dear to our hearts and home to many of our favorite places. These areas are the least affected by humans and we feel best reflect God’s work as Creator. To me they are akin to a museum showcasing His finest artistry. Just as we would in a museum we admire and enjoy the wilderness but we do our best not to affect it meaning adhering whenever possible to Leave No Trace principles.
We have made pretty good progress on this goal so far and as of 12/31/18 we had visited 38 of the 45 accessible areas (and seen the other two from the beach). We’re currently on track to have visited them all by the end of 2020.
Below is a chronological list of the wilderness areas we’ve been to (or seen) as well as any subsequent year(s) we’ve visited with some links to selected trip reports.
Opal Creek – 2009, 10, 11, 12, 14, 18
Battle Ax Creek – 2014
Mt. Jefferson – 2010, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18
Mt. Jefferson from Russell Lake – 2016
Drift Creek – 2010
Drift Creek – 2010
Mt. Washington – 2011, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17
Mt. Washington from the Pacific Crest Trail – 2015
Three Sisters – 2011, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
The Three Sisters – 2014
Three Arch Rocks – 2011, 18
Three Arch Rocks from Cape Meares – 2018
Mark O. Hatfield – 2012, 14, 15, 16
Triple Falls – 2012
Mt. Hood – 2012, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
Mt. Hood – 2015
Oregon Islands – 2012, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
Bandon Islands – 2018
Mill Creek – 2012
Twin Pillars – 2011
Howlock Mountain and Mt. Thielsen – 2014
Table Rock – 2012, 15
Table Rock – 2015
Salmon-Huckleberry – 2013, 14, 15, 17, 18
Frustration Falls – 2018
Trapper Creek – 2014
View from Fuji Mountain – 2013
Roaring River – 2013
Serene Lake – 2013
Badger Creek – 2014
Badger Creek Wilderness – 2014
Middle Santiam – 2014
Donaca Lake – 2014
Bull of the Woods – 2014, 15, 18
Emerald Pool – 2018
View from Boccard Point – 2015
Red Buttes – 2015
Red Buttes – 2015
Oregon Badlands – 2016
Oregon Badlands Wilderness – 2016
Kalmiopsis – 2016
Vulcan Lake – 2016
Menagerie – 2016
Rooster Rock – 2016
Eagle Cap – 2016
Glacier Lake – 2016
Mountain Lakes – 2016
View from Aspen Butte – 2016
Sky Lakes – 2016
Mt. McLoughlin from Freye Lake – 2016
Lower White River – 2016
White River – 2016
Rock Creek – 2017
Rock Creek – 2017
Spring Basin – 2017
Hedgehog Cactus – 2017
Bridge Creek – 2017
Bridge Creek Wilderness – 2017
Wild-Rogue – 2017
Hanging Rock – 2017
Grassy Knob – 2017
View from Grassy Knob – 2017
Clackamas – 2017
Big Bottom – 2017
North Fork John Day – 2017, 18
Baldy Lake – 2017
Cummins Creek – 2017
Cummins Ridge Trail – 2017
Rogue-Umpqua Divide – 2018
Hummingbird Meadows – 2018
Steens Mountain – 2018
View along the Pine Creek Trail – 2018
Strawberry Mountain – 2018
Slide Lake – 2018
Copper-Salmon – 2018
Barklow Mountain Trail – 2018
The remaining areas and year of our planned visit looks like this:
2019 – Hells Canyon, North Fork Umatilla, Wenaha-Tucannon
2020 – Boulder Creek, Black Canyon, Monument Rock, Gearhart Mountain
If the Devil’s Staircase is added in the meantime we will do our best to work that in (it is currently on our list of hikes but not until 2023. For more information on Oregon’s wilderness areas visit Wilderness.net here.
Happy Trails!
wanderingyuncks 
5 replies on “Progress Report – Oregon Wilderness Areas”
Wow!
[…] We took an couple of days off for an extended Memorial Day Weekend in order to take a trip to NE Oregon in hopes of checking off a few more hikes of our to do list of Bill Sullivan’s 500 featured hikes (post). The plans included our fist visit to the Hells Canyon Wilderness which would leave us with just seven more wilderness areas to visit in Oregon (post). […]
WOW!
[…] the start of 2019 we posted about our goal of visiting each or Oregon’s legally accessible designated wilderness areas. […]
[…] us a total of 46 designated wilderness areas to visit in order to complete this goal. Staring in 2019 we began posting annual updates on our progress (2020 & 2021) and we are excited to report […]