Payette Trail

The Payette Trail is a 9 mile out and back along the eastern shore of Applegate Lake.

Driving

– The Payette Trail is a 50 minute drive from the I-5 Phoenix exit. That is exit 24 so head towards Phoenix and 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 grey real estate/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.
Turn left onto the road on top of the dam. French Gulch Road. Make the hairpin turn to your right just as you leave Applegate Lake and in about 1 uphill mile you will see the Dagelma Trailhead Parking to your right. KEEP GOING!

The asphalt quickly becomes gravel and starts going downhill. In less than 1 mile there is a small dirt road off to your right with a small forest service sign – FS100. Take that for a couple hundred yards and there is a significant parking circle with a trailhead sign.

Parking

– Plenty of spaces (room for 12 at least). Also be aware that the road continues off to the right and it either heads straight into the lake, or all along it for another mile.

Hiking

– The Payette Trail might technically start over at the French Gulch trailhead however this trailhead is more remote and has a cool bridge to start on and honestly, a 9 mile out and back is a perfect distance for an afternoon day hike. So….. walk past the picnic table and across the bridge.

This trail is all along the shoreline of the Applegate Lake so there are no real tricky directions. Just stroll along and whenever you see a path towards the lake, go check that out! There are two old trail signs for two old trails and I dare you to take ’em. I dare you! Only an idiot would try them! Three, two, one, okay I tried them. They brush over completely pretty quickly.

Some highlights: at 1/2 mile in, there is a pretty cool old campground. The single pit toilet is stocked and well maintained. This is the Harr Point campground and 1 mile further down the trail is the Tipsu Tyee campground. Same thing, pit toilets, lots of picnic tables. Feels like a weird camping spot for hikers (unless you have small kids and the lake is high enough for swimming and fishing) but probably more fun for boaters.

At the 4 mile spot the trail begins to leave the lakeshore. You hit an intersection where an old road heads to your left. Totally overgrown. Only an idiot would try it! Three, two, one, okay we tried it. So many big tree falls and giant patches of blackberries and brushy overgrowth. We did maybe 1.5 miles and finally admitted defeat. However, this is a fine place to turn around for a nice 8 mile out and back.

But that doesn’t really scratch my itch. Continue another 1/2 mile uphill until you reach the parking area and trailhead at the south end of the lake. You could start here I suppose but it’s a lot of extra driving around the lake and it’s not better in any way really. So don’t. Only an idiot would try it! Three, two, one, so we tried it and… pointless wast of time. So turn around and back to your car. The Payette Trail. 9 miles. Boom!