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TUESDAY November 25, 2003 - Subscribe - Contact Us Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels November 20, 2003 Ramblin' On By Robert Casserly Clay's Creek is secret waterfall. You won't find it marked on any maps, but sequestered away on the southeastern edge of Siskiyou Mountain Park is one of Ashland's natural treasures. While not as magnificent as the mighty waterfalls of the Rogue River, Clay Creek's waterfall is nonetheless a lovely cascade, well worth the easy 15 minute hike to reach it. Framed in ferns and mossy oaks, it makes a pretty picture, and a nice spot to take visiting friends and family who want to sample our local woodlands on a safe, easy trail. The waterfall is found on the Oredson-Todd Woods Trail. To reach the trailhead, travel south on Siskiyou Boulevard, turn right on Tolman Creek Road, right on Greenmeadows Way, then left on Lupine Drive. Park your car, and hike up the blacktopped path curving up the hill. Take a minute to look behind you as you walk up the road for panoramic vistas of eastern Ashland, with Grizzly Peak, Pompadour Bluff, Dunn Butte and many more identifiable landmarks rising up out of the Rogue Valley. After a few minutes, you'll see a large sign on the right marking the spot where you'll leave the road and veer off into the woods on an earthen hiking trail. Native flora and fauna As the Oredson-Todd trail delves down into a thickly wooded ravine, the faint voice of babbling Clay Creek resonates in the canopy of pines, firs, cedars, madrones and bigleaf maples. Sparked by recent frosty nights, the maples are blazing yellow, a pleasing contrast against the dark green conifers. Soon after you start your descent on the trail, you'll come to a fork on the right side of the trail. Pass it by - it only leads away from the creek and into someone's backyard. As you continue down the gently graded trail, explore the woods alongside the trail, but keep a sharp eye out for poison oak, vigorous patches of which lie in ambush for the unsuspecting hiker. If you are not confident you know how to identify western poison oak, in its bush and climbing vine varieties, the safe bet is to look, but don't touch. Bring an Oregon botany field guide and you can challenge yourself to distinguish between Himalayan and trailing blackberries. Or, for a real stumper, try to identify the different lichens and mosses growing in abundance. If you're really lucky, you might stumble upon a lung liverwort or a horsetail. Depending on how much you dawdle, following the trail downhill to Clay Creek can take between 10 minutes and all day. It's hard to hurry, especially during the cool, foggy days of autumn, which are prime time to watch banana slugs inching their way along the trail. Another fun distraction from forward progress is investigating under the thick leaf detritus on the forest floor, or under rotting logs, both of which are home to an unbelievable variety of beetles, pillbugs, earwigs, and spiders. Lest you spend all day looking down, take time to bring out your Sibley's and practice identifying finches from sparrows. It's not easy, especially when they refuse to perch long enough to focus binoculars. Hummingbird aficionados will delight in the mad twittering of rufous engaged in serious, if diminutive, avian combat. Riparian Wonders When the Oredson-Todd trail reaches the creek, take a left and follow it upstream toward the waterfall. The trail zigzags across the creek a few times on wooden bridges. On the opposite side of the ravine, you'll see trails leading up to the heart of Siskiyou Mountain Park via the White Rabbit network of trails. For an adventurous escapade, wander up those trails and you'll eventually reach Lithia Park, a few miles distant, or, a good day's hike uphill via National Forest trails, venerable Mt. Ashland. Clay Creek can be a glorified trickle during drought months, or it can be a respectable torrent during seasons of heavy rain and snowmelt. The water is clear and cold, and makes merry music as it tumbles downstream over a rocky bed. A few minutes of hiking upstream leads you to your reward. The waterfall embodies more grace than grandeur, but this is its charm. It makes a more peaceful place to repose because it lacks the violent turbulence of larger waterfalls. Tracing your steps back to your car, don't be surprised if you find yourself more refreshed than when you started out. Easy hikes in pristine forests often have that effect. Robert Casserly can be reached at [email protected] DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved .:Advertisements:. What do you think of the new site? Let us know!