Grave Creek is a tributary, about long, of the Rogue River in southwestern

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

in the United States.

Course

The creek begins near Cedar Springs Mountain just north of the Douglas County – Jackson County border and flows generally southwest through Jackson County and Josephine County to its confluence with the Rogue. It passes through the communities of Placer, Sunny Valley, and Leland. Named tributaries from source to mouth are Panther, Swamp, Last Chance, Big Boulder, Little Boulder, Slate, and Baker, Boulder, and Clark creeks followed by Eastman and Quartz Mill gulches. Then comes Tom East Creek followed by Benjamin Gulch, Shanks Creek, Schoolhouse Gulch, and Salmon Creek. The map includes mile markers along the lowermost of the creek. Further downstream are Rat Creek, Mackin Gulch, and Dog Creek, then Flume, Brimstone, and Brushy gulches. Another Tom East Creek is next, followed by Wolf, Butte, Panther, Reservoir, Fall, Poorman, and McNabe creeks. The final three tributaries are McNair, Rock, and Reuben creeks.

Watershed

The Grave Creek watershed is about north of

Grants Pass Grants Pass is the county seat of Josephine County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on Interstate 5 in Oregon, Interstate 5, northwest of Medford, Oregon, Medford, along the Rogue River (Oregon), Rogue River. The population was 39,189 ...

in the

Klamath Mountains The Klamath Mountains are a rugged and lightly populated mountain range in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the western United States. As a mountain system within both the greater Pacific Coast Ranges and the California Coast R ...

. It covers about of which the federal

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

administers about (48 percent). Federal and non-federal lands are intermingled in a checkerboard pattern. Annual precipitation averages about . Drought is common in summer.

Recreation

Hiking trails and river runs converge at the confluence of Grave Creek and the Rogue River. Boaters sometimes run the lower of Grave Creek when its flow is . The run, rated class 3 on the International Scale of River Difficulty, has "short twisting blind drops on the section not visible from the road"Giordano, p. 117 and possible hazards that include low-hanging

footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

s as well as brush along the stream banks. A handy stopping place for this run is the

boat ramp A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving small ...

near the Grave Creek Bridge over the Rogue River, which is the intersection of at Galice Road and Lower Graves Creek Road. (This is not the same bridge as the

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

, the

Grave Creek Bridge The Grave Creek Bridge is a covered bridge in Josephine County in the U.S. state of Oregon. It carries Sunny Valley Loop Road over Grave Creek about north of Grants Pass and within sight of Interstate 5 (I-5). Built in 1920, it originally car ...

, further upstream in Sunny Valley.) The boat ramp is also popular with

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrel ...

ers and

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...

ers running the "wild" stretch of the

Wild and Scenic The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...

lower Rogue, which begins at the mouth of Grave Creek.Sullivan, pp. 187–93 It is "one of the best-known whitewater runs in the United States."Giordano, p. 120 Parallel to the wild stretch of the river, the Lower Rogue River Trail winds through the

Wild Rogue Wilderness The Wild Rogue Wilderness is a wilderness area surrounding the Wild and Scenic portion of the Rogue River in southwestern Oregon, U.S. to protect the watershed. The wilderness was established in 1987 and now comprises . Because it spans part ...

between the mouth of Grave Creek and Illahe.

References

Works cited

*Giordano, Pete (2004). ''Soggy Sneakers: A Paddler's Guide to Oregon's Rivers'', fourth edition. Seattle: The Mountaineers Books. . *Sullivan, William L. (2002). ''Exploring Oregon's Wild Areas'', third edition. Seattle: The Mountaineers Press. . {{authority control Rivers of Oregon Rivers of Jackson County, Oregon Rivers of Douglas County, Oregon Rivers of Josephine County, Oregon

Course

Watershed

Recreation

See also

References

Works cited