Enjoy a peaceful escape into the Jacksonville Woodlands of southern Oregon

The morning air was heat and nonetheless, a summer-like haze nonetheless lingering over the Siskiyou Mountains within the first few weeks of fall. Pink bark peeled slowly from the trunk of a Pacific madrone tree; greater up in its branches, a woodpecker patiently rapped away.

Up within the Jacksonville Woodlands, it’s straightforward to let the surface world vanish: busy Interstate 5 simply 5 miles away, even the bustling small city beneath. A peaceable silence settles over the southern Oregon forest, a spot designed for wandering and disappearing into nature.

Discovered on the sting of downtown Jacksonville, a small city simply west of Medford, the woodlands comprise 320 acres and have greater than 16 miles of trails. The primary swath of woodlands known as Britt Woods, which runs from Britt Gardens (house of the Britt Music & Arts Pageant) to a parcel of forest run by the Bureau of Land Administration, in addition to the smaller Beebe Woods.

A number of trailheads serve the woodlands, giving easy accessibility to a community of snaking trails that department off into the forest, main guests uphill towards a number of viewpoints searching into the mountains. The perfect viewpoint, a spot known as Panorama Level, offers a view of Mount McLoughlin far off to the east, and affords benches in addition to shade beneath the branches of an outdated madrone.

Like a lot of the land round Jacksonville, the woodlands have been former gold mining claims. Simply previous Panorama Level, hikers will discover a variety of trails named for mining operations: Frenchman Mine Loop, Chinese language Diggings Path and Petard Ditch Loop, which takes hikers round an outdated ditch that was as soon as used as a reservoir, stuffed by Jackson Creek and launched to spray gulch partitions to (hopefully) reveal flakes of gold.

Today, the land is basically left alone, save the common tromping of mountaineering boots, the occasional mountain bike tread or the paws of a four-legged good friend (who should stay on-leash on these trails).

Those that wander far sufficient could discover the farthest-flung journey within the Jacksonville Woodlands, a two-mile hike often called Liz’s Loop that occupies the southernmost part of the expansive path community. With the identical terrain and no different thrilling viewpoints to talk of, it’s extra of an additional tour for devoted wanderers, relatively than a vacation spot all its personal.

Regardless of how a lot you discover the Jacksonville Woodlands, you’re positive to seek out some slice of peaceable nature, the place the peeling bushes, flitting birds and nonetheless air invite you to decelerate, let go and soften into nature.

Maps of trailheads and trails within the Jacksonville Woodlands can be found on-line at jvwoodlands.org/maps-trails.

— Jamie Hale

503-294-4077; jhale@oregonian.com; @HaleJamesB

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