The Wild Rivers Coast is conifer country. The towering firs and monumental redwoods define the Southern Oregon and Northern California coasts. But a very important tree to the area's history is often overlooked, and it's got a few names: Oregon Myrtle, California laurel, bay. Check out one of the only preserves of Umbellularia californica at Alfred Loeb State Park, spitting distance from Brookings, Ore.
Some immature myrtle trees hovering over a swollen Chetco River
This park in the deep southwest pocket of Oregon was originally purchased by The Board of Forestry and Save The Myrtle Woods from Alfred Loeb in 1958 to preserve one of the last native virgin myrtle groves in the United States. Save The Myrtle Woods was ran by Lilla Leach, who also championed the first protections of the nearby Kalmiopsis wilderness as a wild area.
Go see her legacy on this easy 1.5 mile round trip hike through the massive myrtle groves she saved on the banks of the lower Chetco River.
From Highway 101 in Brookings, head east on North Bank Road for 8 miles to the park. Alfred Loeb Park has campsites, a few cabins, easy river access, and a free day use area. Park on the property's east side near the River View Trailhead.
On soggy days you'll catch a waft of myrtle as you step from your car outside. The evergreen endemic to Oregon and California smells spicy, similar to a cracked bay leaf. Myrtle is also the only species in the Umbellularia genus. It grows very slowly, and its wood is harder than black walnut, oak, or alder. Its waxy, narrow leaves are oval and look like a bay leaf.
A myrtle swooning over the River View Trail
The myrtle starts as a woody shrub and multiple trunks congeal to form original wood patterns cherished by highend craft carpenters who shape it.
As the trunks grow into each other and into a mature tree, the trunk forms a single, straight growing log suitable for milling. As you hike, notice the different stages of myrtle as you wind along the banks of the wild running Chetco.
The water here is quite pristine, and the Chetco is a unique watershed because its headwaters are completely encompassed by federal wilderness. Leach knew this country well, from here all the way up to the high ridges that divide three watersheds: The Illinois/Rogue, Smith and Chetco.
A swollen Chetco River during the December storms
You'd have to take a long, arduous hike to reach the Chetco's upper canyons. But this is low fruit, and is prime beachside real estate in summer. During winter it can be blustery, and quite a show when the Chetco's at its higher stages.
This is one of the best and last myrtle groves left in the world, and the trail will connect you back to North Bank Road at the Rogue RiverSiskiyou National Forest's Redwood Nature Trailhead, a 1.1mile loop extension that goes through one of the northernmost stands of redwoods.
With the loop, it's an easy 2.6 mile hike through myrtles, firs, redwoods, along a world class river with legendary fisheries, five star camping and swimming, and a rugged headwaters far from the reach of civilization.