Grouse Loop Trail

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The Grouse Loop Trail is a 3 mile loop and a great run if you are going to hang at the Hart-Tish recreation area at Applegate Lake. Don’t make a special trip or anything but it’s surprisingly cool once you dip away from the highway.

Driving

– Go to the bathroom, it’s an hour drive. Head north on the 5… just get there. Then get off on the Phoenix exit (before Medford) and turn left. Then, turn right on Highway 99 for less than a mile and turn left on South Stage Road towards Jacksonville. There’s a quick jog right and then left on Griffin Creek Road and then South Stage turns into California Road(?) as you drive through Jacksonville.
As you emerge from Jacksonville you are on Route 238 heading to Applegate. It’s rural. It’s nice. Keep an eye out for Upper Applegate Road in about 10 minutes. You’ll turn left at a city called Ruch, but you aren’t going to see a city, you’ll just see a yellow church/school building. So turn left and you have 20 minutes on Upper Applegate Road driving along the Applegate River. Some roads split off, but head toward Applegate Lake and Applegate Dam. When you pass the dam and the lake to your left, keep looking left for the Hart-Tish campsite and store and parking and lake access and….there is a surprising amount of things happening right there.

Parking

– During the summer season there is plenty of $5 parking to purchase at the Hart-Tish camping store. The other 8 months of the year… you really gotta take your chances on some “moderately legal” parking spots. The Forest Service needs to step up and help out here.

The Adventure

– Assuming you parked in the upper Hart-Tish lot (god I hate the name Hart-Tish. Hartish! Right?) there is a little trail back out to the main Applegate Road. It splits before the road so take the fork to the right. Now you cross the main road and there is a sign saying “Grouse Loop Trail.” Basic stuff. 100 yards up you will hit an intersection that is the neck of this lollipop loop. Turn right and it’s a half mile of sunny uphill above the loud road with occasional decent views of the lake and finally, the trail turns away from the lake and road and becomes a decent, Madrone and pine, rolling open hillside trail. 2.5 miles more of this is a wonderful run or hike. First half uphill, second half downhill. Like God intended trails to be. Enjoy.