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HIKING Frances Shrader Old Growth Trail provides glimpse into the past This coastal trail near Gold Beach winds through a many-layered primeval forest Comment By Gabriel Howe for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Gabriel Howe for the Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 19, 2016 at 12:01 AM By Gabriel Howe for the Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 19, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Social News You can get a taste of what Southern Oregon's coastal forests looked like before Lewis & Clark with an easy one-mile hike on the Frances Shrader Old Growth Trail 1172. To get there from Gold Beach, head east on Jerry's Flat Road (County Road 595). After about 10 miles, you'll enter the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and see Lobster Creek Campground on the road's north side. From there head south on FSR 090, following signs to the Frances Shrader Old Growth Trail. The two-mile drive is steep, and about half of it is on gravel suitable for a low-clearance vehicle with two-wheel drive. At the trailhead, there is a box with brochures that are also available at Gold Beach Ranger Station, 29279 Ellensburg Ave. Numbered posts along the trail coincide with an explanation in the pamphlet that tells more about the area's natural history. At the junction, head left, putting yourself onto the loop clockwise. It doesn't take long before the massive Douglas firs will have you bending your neck to see how far up they reach. Their trunks shoot skyward hundreds of feet, and are three, four, five and six feet in diameter. As the wide path winds down into the bottom of a drainage, cedars start to fill in the forest, many of them dead snags. This forest is what Southern Oregon's Coast Range used to look like. Mature trees 200-plus years in age are widely spaced, providing coverage, but there are also canopy breaks so sun can penetrate to the forest floor and make way for early successional growth. Woody shrubs such as rhododendron and azaleas fill the midstory and give way to ferns, moss, lichens and fibrous shrubs such as salal that populate the forest bottom. Primeval forests like this have character. They have structure and layers, with species playing off one another in a kind of a dance. For most hikers, the firs and the microcosms they host will take the spotlight on this hike. But I'm drawn to the tanoaks growing up to three feet in diameter. Tanoaks can be millennia old, the root systems surviving generations of disturbance. They regenerate quickly after fires, filling the understory of new forests, and their leaf litter is some of the first organic matter to start rebuilding topsoils vacuumed away by the draft of the hottest fires. The trail crosses a series of bridges before ascending to an especially grandiose Douglas fir near the trailhead named Ladie Gale Tall Fir. It dwarfs everything around it and will make you feel tiny. But it's tough snapping pictures that capture its scale. So just stand there and let time sink in before you head back to the trailhead, a short jaunt from the massive Douglas fir. This is not a barrier-free trail, but it is well graded and suitable for anyone who can walk on easy to moderate terrain for a mile. There is a picnic table situated beneath a beautiful tree next to the small creek, and a number of wooden benches. So bring the whole family and step back in time a couple hundred years. Gabriel Howe is executive director of the Siskiyou Mountain Club. Contact him at [email protected]. By Gabriel Howe for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Gabriel Howe for the Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 19, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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