Access to Bull of the Woods Wilderness?

Trip recommendations, current conditions, and other trail related Q&A
JBC
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Access to Bull of the Woods Wilderness?

Post by JBC » June 5th, 2021, 10:54 pm

Has anybody been in to the Bull of the Woods this spring? Tried to head in last weekend but got skunked because of all the roads closed due to last years fire damage. In addition to the FS roads that are closed we ran into roads east of the NF boundary that were closed. Anybody know how to 'get there from here' these days?

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naturallog
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Re: Access to Bull of the Woods Wilderness?

Post by naturallog » June 6th, 2021, 12:13 pm

User greenjello85 shared this post about the current closures in the area: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=29721&view=unread#unread

Notes that the road conditions on the website haven't been updated for the season yet, but it seems like access from the Timothy Lake side could be the best bet (see current closure map: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO ... 835670.pdf) EDIT: it actually appears that perhaps a portion of FR 46 on the edge of the Riverside burn could keep you from getting there?

GoogleMaps did give me a route from Gresham with a west-side approach that takes rt. 211 and then follows the Molalla River, before squiggling into the Table Rock Wilderness and onto the national forest. Is this the route you attempted?

greenjello85
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Re: Access to Bull of the Woods Wilderness?

Post by greenjello85 » June 6th, 2021, 7:37 pm

You used to be able to go in from Molalla and wind up on 70 but I haven't tried that in 15 years. Also might hit road closures up there as all of the Willamette national forest part of BOTW is still closed. The 46 closure is a mile before 63 so no direct route but looking at a map I think it's possible to get in there on 4670 or maybe over graham pass. I haven't ever tried that even before the fire but looks possible.
Dan

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Swede
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Re: Access to Bull of the Woods Wilderness?

Post by Swede » June 6th, 2021, 7:52 pm

You should be able to get to the BOTW once the last bit of deep snow melts on the road across Rhododendron Ridge. You'll have to go that way because Rd 46 is closed about one mile east of the junction with Rd 63 (about 1.5 miles downstream of Austin Hot Springs). To get to the BOTW you'll need to go to Timothy Lake, take Rd 42 south to Rd 46, then 4670 up to Graham Pass and 6350 down to Rd 63. From that point you should be able to access the BOTW. It'll be a very long drive though. That last bit of snow is located a few miles up Rd 4670 near Lowe Creek. It will probably be melted out by the end of the month if not sooner.

JBC
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Re: Access to Bull of the Woods Wilderness?

Post by JBC » June 13th, 2021, 9:31 pm

naturallog wrote:
June 6th, 2021, 12:13 pm

GoogleMaps did give me a route from Gresham with a west-side approach that takes rt. 211 and then follows the Molalla River, before squiggling into the Table Rock Wilderness and onto the national forest. Is this the route you attempted?
Yep, that what we tried, the road along the Mololla is closed and gated. Tried a couple of other ways around but could not get through. Hiway 224 is closed at least until fall. As far as I can tell FR 46, 63, and 57 are currently closed as well which I think prevents access from timothy Lake.

Everything S of the wilderness is closed as well.
Swede wrote:
June 6th, 2021, 7:52 pm
To get to the BOTW you'll need to go to Timothy Lake, take Rd 42 south to Rd 46, then 4670 up to Graham Pass and 6350 down to Rd 63. From that point you should be able to access the BOTW. It'll be a very long drive though. That last bit of snow is located a few miles up Rd 4670 near Lowe Creek. It will probably be melted out by the end of the month if not sooner.
That might work, I'll have to take another look at my FS maps.

Thanks everyone.

Jim

JBC
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Re: Access to Bull of the Woods Wilderness?

Post by JBC » June 13th, 2021, 10:38 pm

Swede wrote:
June 6th, 2021, 7:52 pm
To get to the BOTW you'll need to go to Timothy Lake, take Rd 42 south to Rd 46, then 4670 up to Graham Pass and 6350 down to Rd 63. From that point you should be able to access the BOTW. It'll be a very long drive though. That last bit of snow is located a few miles up Rd 4670 near Lowe Creek. It will probably be melted out by the end of the month if not sooner.
It appears that all of road 46 is closed along the Clackamas River, according to the FS "CLOSED due to Riverside Fire damage. All forest roads that branch off of FR46 are closed to motor vehicles. FR46 is also CLOSED at Detroit."

Jim

JBC
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Re: Access to Bull of the Woods Wilderness?

Post by JBC » June 13th, 2021, 10:39 pm

Swede wrote:
June 6th, 2021, 7:52 pm
To get to the BOTW you'll need to go to Timothy Lake, take Rd 42 south to Rd 46, then 4670 up to Graham Pass and 6350 down to Rd 63. From that point you should be able to access the BOTW. It'll be a very long drive though. That last bit of snow is located a few miles up Rd 4670 near Lowe Creek. It will probably be melted out by the end of the month if not sooner.
It appears that all of road 46 is closed along the Clackamas River, according to the FS "CLOSED due to Riverside Fire damage. All forest roads that branch off of FR46 are closed to motor vehicles. FR46 is also CLOSED at Detroit."

Jim

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RobFromRedland
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Re: Access to Bull of the Woods Wilderness?

Post by RobFromRedland » June 14th, 2021, 5:53 am

JBC wrote:
June 13th, 2021, 10:39 pm
It appears that all of road 46 is closed along the Clackamas River, according to the FS "CLOSED due to Riverside Fire damage. All forest roads that branch off of FR46 are closed to motor vehicles. FR46 is also CLOSED at Detroit."

Jim
There is a section of 46 that has reopened - there is a report here showing it:

https://www.trailadvocate.org/sf-forum/ ... e-2/#p5225

Further, if you look at the updated closure map:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO ... 835670.pdf

You will see a section of 46 on either side of where 42 intersects it is indeed open.

Be aware this route to BOTW is a VERY, VERY long detour and is miles and miles of gravel road driving. It would most likely be at least twice as far and maybe close to 3 times as far as driving up 46 thru Ripplebrook. This is the same detour that had to be used many years ago when there was a slide that closed 63 for a couple of years. The bad thing about this detour is that you have to come around from the east side which makes a long detour that much longer.

I wouldn't expect many people in BOTW this year honestly.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: WOW! What a ride! - Hunter S. Thompson

JBC
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Re: Access to Bull of the Woods Wilderness?

Post by JBC » June 14th, 2021, 12:48 pm

RobFromRedland wrote:
June 14th, 2021, 5:53 am
[

I wouldn't expect many people in BOTW this year honestly.
One reason to go this year! LOL. It does look to be a very long drive indeed. I'll have to ponder this one.

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longboard16
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Re: Access to Bull of the Woods Wilderness?

Post by longboard16 » June 11th, 2022, 9:10 am

I was reviewing the info on this post and would agree that part of 46 is open. Since you can’t access it from either Estacada or Detroit you have to go Skyline, then down 42 until you reach 46. 46 should be open from just South of the Collowash River junction to the junction of 4690, which goes up to Ollalie. Last September I reach 46, cross over the Clackamas at the Big Bottom bridge and up road 4671 for a short ways. The area I described is not on the closure maps.

Speaking of those maps they leave a lot to be desired. It would be nice if they were overlaid on a real forest map so you knew what roads were open and which were closed, so as to avoid a lot of “exploring” for a route to the Collowash, Round Lake, etc. The Lionshead closure shows a narrow, diagonal close but does not show what roads are affected. It would help if the Mt. Hood FS Offices were open as they are about the only business still closed for the pandemic. I did stop by the Zig Zag office, which is the only one open, but they were closed for lunch. It is a lot easier to go over a map rather than discuss on the phone. Obviously I want to ensure I’m in a legal area but at the same time do not want to be locked out of certain forest areas for another year. The FS cannot mitigate every single tree that might fall on a trail, road or campsite and the public always assumes some risk when using the forest.

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