Bigfoot Trap Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
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- Start point: Collings Mountain Trailhead
- Ending Point: Bigfoot Trap
- Hike Type: In and out
- Distance: 1.8 miles
- Elevation gain: 365 feet
- High Point: 2,415 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: No
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Hike Description
In 1974, an organization called the North American Wildlife Research Team responded to a miner’s report of 18-inch human-like footprints near Grouse Creek by building a substantial trap designed to lure in the most canny of Bigfoot. The trap was baited for six years, but only nabbed a couple of hungry bears. By 1980, with the completion of the Applegate Dam and the formation of Applegate Lake, the area was no longer remote, and the project was abandoned. The Forest Service repaired the trap in 2006, and it's a short visit from Upper Applegate Road. The caretaker's cabin which once stood below the the trap has disintegrated, but you can hike a little farther up the Collings Mountain Trail to see an old miner's adit. The mixed forest here supports a number of old-growth trees, and spring wildflowers are an added feature.
The trail descends to a junction, horses right and hikers left. You’ll switchback at a kissing gate, and then switchback again on an old road bed to cross Grouse Creek, which may only be a trickle most of the year. The trail rises past some gnarly old Douglas-firs, with Jeffrey pine, black oak, canyon live oak, madrone, and the occasional sugar pine also in the woodland mix. Note also that poison oak is everywhere along the trail. After crossing a small creek, you’ll come to an unmarked junction. Take the left trail to head up a short distance to the Bigfoot Trap, passing the pile of timbers that was once the caretaker’s cabin.
The restored Bigfoot Trap is an impressively solid structure, framed by telephone poles and solidly planked. It’s about 10 feet by 10 feet square and 8 ½ feet high. A heavy metal guillotine door, seven feet tall, is locked partially open and attached to the bait cable. Unfortunately, the contraption is also liberally besmirched with the carved and painted signatures of irresponsible visitors.
After admiring the trap, head back down to the junction, and go left up above Grouse Creek. The trail recrosses the creek where there are mossy little pools, and you’ll come to a pair of adits at a mining prospect. These don’t appear to be too deep, but the area was known to hold deposits of copper and mercury. If you want a much longer hike, continue on up the trail (see the Collings Mountain Loop Hike).
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Limited parking
- Share trail with mountain bikers and horses
- Campground, picnic area, restrooms at Hart-Tish Campground (fee area)
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Collings Mountain Trail #943 (USFS)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Rogue River National Forest
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Bigfoot Trap Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Bigfoot Trap Hike
Guidebooks that cover this destination
- Hiking Sasquatch Country by Wendy & Gary Swanson
- 100 Hikes/Travel Guide: Southern Oregon & Northern California by William L. Sullivan
- The Siskiyou Crest: Hikes, History & Ecology by Luke Ruediger
- Oregon’s Ancient Forests: A Hiking Guide by Chandra LeGue
- Where the Trails Are: Ashland – Medford and Beyond by Bill Williams
- 76 Day-Hikes Within 100 Miles of the Rogue Valley by Art Bernstein
- Pacific Northwest Hiking by Scott Leonard & Sean Patrick Hill
- Oregon Hiking by Sean Patrick Hill
More Links
- Collings Mountain Trail #943 (USFS)
- Collings Mountain (Bigfoot trap) (Oregon Wild)
- Bigfoot Trap and Collings Mountain Trail (Coast Redwood Adventures)
- Bigfoot Trap & Hiking Grouse Loop (What To Do in Southern Oregon)
- “The trail that tried to catch Bigfoot – Collings Mountain Trail” (Rogue Valley Messenger)
- This Incredible Oregon Hike Will Take You To The World’s Only Bigfoot Trap (Only In Your State)
- The Bigfoot Trap (Atlas Obscura)
Page Contributors
- bobcat (creator)