The Illinois Applegate Divide is a ridge system, with average elevations of 5,000 feet, beginning at the terminus of the Siskiyou Crest near the border of Oregon and California and running south. Located between the communities of Williams, Grants Pass, Murphy and Selma, the Illinois Applegate Divide features BLM-managed roadless areas with critical wildlife and rare plant habitat, and is rich with recreational opportunities. Surrounded by old-growth forests, the ridgelines also serve as an important “viewshed” for surrounding communities, and features hiking trails, rock climbing, and the region’s characteristically rich, botanical treasures. The divide can be accessed from various points in the Illinois and Applegate valleys of southwest Oregon.
View the Illinois Applegate Divide map.
View the Illinois Applegate Divide map.
Fast fact: A telephone line was constructed to Kerby Peak by the state in 1916, and by 1922 an official state fire lookout was established on top of the peak. The program remained in place until the 1960s, and the lookout was burned in 1966, at a time when fire lookouts were being dismantled or put to the torch throughout the Pacific Northwest. Some remnants of the lookout structure are still visible at the Kerby Peak summit.
Why this area is important
Photo by Justin Rohde
The Illinois Applegate Divide is an immensely beautiful mountainous region home to several unique natural areas, including the Brewer Spruce Research Natural Area, Kerby Peak and Rabbit Lake trails, and a world-class rock climbing crag known as Moquandonar. Nestled in the Siskiyou Mountains, the divide contains a vast array of endemic plant diversity and geologic wonders.
This ridgeline features spectacular panoramic views of the Illinois Valley and Siskiyou and Kalmiopsis wilderness areas. Unique botanical features include Brewer Spruce (endemic to the Siskiyou Mountains); the locally-rare Alaska Yellow Cedar; 10 other species of conifers (including Douglas fir, white fir, red fir, noble fir, sugar pine, Western White Pine, Western Juniper, Pacific Yew, Port Orford Cedar, incense-cedar); 21 species of shrubs (including rhododendron, rock spirea, mountain heather, thin-leafed huckleberry; myriad wildflowers including Columbia lewisia, Siskiyou bitteroot, creeping phlox, stonecrop, and penstemon). Geologically, the area is made up of rare serpentine soils and Triassic period andesite and basalt, both of which are visible on the landscape.
Established in 1965, the Brewer Spruce Research Natural Area encompasses 1,707 acres of ridgeline, including a vast array of endemic plant diversity and geologic wonders. A small summit cirque lake is lined with native azaleas, with stupendous views from one end of the trail to the other.
The trails, which have been documented on maps dating to 1915, are rugged and varied, with amazing views and lookout points and a vast array of botanical interest. “It’s a neat trail that goes to a beautiful, beautiful area, and it’s a historic area,” says Jeanne Klein, recreation planner for the Bureau of Land Management’s Grants Pass Resource Area.
Klein says her agency plans on extending the trail another three miles from Forest Service land to a second trailhead near Grayback Mountain. According to the Medford Mail-Tribune, teens in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s hiked the steep trail up Kerby Peak and back each morning to keep their legs strong. In the 1950s, the trail was the only way in and out of Kerby Peak’s fire lookout station, until the building burned in the late 1960s.
This ridgeline features spectacular panoramic views of the Illinois Valley and Siskiyou and Kalmiopsis wilderness areas. Unique botanical features include Brewer Spruce (endemic to the Siskiyou Mountains); the locally-rare Alaska Yellow Cedar; 10 other species of conifers (including Douglas fir, white fir, red fir, noble fir, sugar pine, Western White Pine, Western Juniper, Pacific Yew, Port Orford Cedar, incense-cedar); 21 species of shrubs (including rhododendron, rock spirea, mountain heather, thin-leafed huckleberry; myriad wildflowers including Columbia lewisia, Siskiyou bitteroot, creeping phlox, stonecrop, and penstemon). Geologically, the area is made up of rare serpentine soils and Triassic period andesite and basalt, both of which are visible on the landscape.
Established in 1965, the Brewer Spruce Research Natural Area encompasses 1,707 acres of ridgeline, including a vast array of endemic plant diversity and geologic wonders. A small summit cirque lake is lined with native azaleas, with stupendous views from one end of the trail to the other.
The trails, which have been documented on maps dating to 1915, are rugged and varied, with amazing views and lookout points and a vast array of botanical interest. “It’s a neat trail that goes to a beautiful, beautiful area, and it’s a historic area,” says Jeanne Klein, recreation planner for the Bureau of Land Management’s Grants Pass Resource Area.
Klein says her agency plans on extending the trail another three miles from Forest Service land to a second trailhead near Grayback Mountain. According to the Medford Mail-Tribune, teens in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s hiked the steep trail up Kerby Peak and back each morning to keep their legs strong. In the 1950s, the trail was the only way in and out of Kerby Peak’s fire lookout station, until the building burned in the late 1960s.
Photo by Justin Rohde
Recreational opportunities
Photo by Justin Rohde
Extending the Kerby Peak trail is critical to non-motorized recreation development in the Illinois Valley and surrounding communities, as well as connecting Kerby Peak with Little Greyback Mountain, and Selma to Caves Highway. While hiking and other non-motorized recreational opportunities are somewhat undeveloped at the moment, the potential exists in the region for a greater volume of non-motorized use. In particular, the Kerby Peak trail system and Moquandonar rock climbing cliff (and Hangman’s rock) complex are used by hikers and climbers seeking scenic, rugged locales to enjoy rock climbing and cross country travel. The various jeep and logging roads along the Murphy/Roundtop area of the divide are excellent for long and medium-distance mountain bike riding, and are accessible from much of the Applegate, Illinois and Rogue Valleys.
Current threats
Photo by Justin Rohde
Logging of the remaining BLM-managed forests remains the primary threat to the region, though mining and ORV use also pose a threat, especially to sensitive plant communities.
A destructive level of trapping also threatens martens, fishers, wolverines and other wildlife.
A destructive level of trapping also threatens martens, fishers, wolverines and other wildlife.
“I just wanna go to the mountain up there” - Three-year old Tao Rohde, pointing to the most dominant feature in the Illinois Valley.
Photo by Justin Rohde