Elk Creek (Rogue)

Overview:

Located just a half hour from I-5, Elk Creek offers an idyllic escape from the bustle of nearby Medford. This Rogue River tributary drains a moderate-elevation watershed along the Rogue-Umpqua Divide, emptying into the Rogue five miles upstream of Shady Cove. Elk Creek winds through a gentle and remarkably pristine valley where lush stands of alder and cottonwood shelter abundant wildlife. In fact, it'’s one of the best-preserved lowland valleys in the region. The area is undeveloped because years ago the Army Corps of Engineers, with plans to dam the creek for a flood control project, bought up all the private property and condemned the creekside ranches. They also routed the new Elk Creek Road up above the high-water level of the proposed reservoir, diverting vehicle traffic up out of the valley bottom. Thus, although the valley floor is popular when it is open seasonally for day use (May through October), during the winter paddling season it offers near-total solitude.

The Army Corps began building Elk Creek Dam in 1986, and if completed the dam would have flooded the entire run described here. However, in 1988 when the dam was only a third finished, construction was stopped by litigation and additional studies that demonstrated the dam did not make economic sense and would significantly impact salmon. At present salmon are trucked around the dam site, but this expensive method had limited success, leading the Army Corps to propose notching the dam in 2008 to provide unhindered fish passage.

In addition to impeding salmon headed upstream, the partially constructed dam blocked boaters headed down, forcing them to take out a half mile above the dam site. Once the dam was notched, paddlers were able to continue an additional 2.5 miles to the Rogue River confluence. The paved spur road that descends to the access above the dam is blocked by a gate that is locked seasonally from Nov 15 to April 30. This closure is part of an agreement be

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