Mill Creek Drive

Before I get into our Mill Creek Drive, I want to show you some photos from the hiking/walking trail that was located right behind our campground--Crater Lake RV Park.  Not very far into the trail you ended up at the Rogue River.  It was a beautifully forested trail with a lot of fauna and flora.

Gary and Sadie, on the trail.

Me, on the trail.

Now, on to Mill Creek Road.  Our first stop was ...

The first photo below was just a little "falls" on the creek that was on our way to the actual falls.

Personey Falls is a small cascade that falls about 12' where the creek splits around a small island--the majority of the volume of the creek staying to the far side of the island (the smaller channel may run dry in the late summer, but it was doing just fine when we were there).  Pearsoney Falls was named for a pair of families who settled in the Prospect area--the Pearsons and Mooneys.

Next stop?  Two more beautiful Oregon waterfalls.  The first stop on this hike was Mill Creek Falls which is a multi-stepped waterfall in the Rogue River Canyon.  Mill Creek Falls is the centerpiece behind the Mill Creek Falls Scenic Area developed by Boise Cascade just outside the small town of Prospect. The falls hurtle 173' into the Rogue River Gorge in an explosive manner, luring eagerly approaching visitors like a siren in the distance.  Though Mill Creek does exhibit somewhat of a seasonal fluctuation of flow, the falls don't change their appearance much at all, making this a good destination anytime of the year.

It was very difficult to get a good photo of Barr Creek Falls because it was a little hazy, but who cares!  A photo is a photo and it is still a beautiful fall.  I cheated and added an Internet photo so you could see just how beautiful it really is.  Barr Creek bisects the southern end of the Prospect Airfield then drops over a 60' fall which is mostly obscured by trees, then cascades 30' and finally plunges 150' to the canyon floor.  According to Oregon Geographic Names, Barr Creek was named for the presence of a cattle bar to prevent cattle from straying out of a ranch that runs along the creek.  Thus the falls were named after the creek.

The Internet photo ...

On the same hiking trail, we backtracked in the other direction to Avenue of the Giant Boulders.

It's at this location the Rogue River drops some 75' and creates truly spectacular water scenery as the water flows down and around magnificent boulders.  The Avenue can also be viewed directly from the Mill Creek Drive Bridge (you'll see that view later in the blog).  The Avenue of the Giant Boulders was created at the same time Crater Lake was formed after the collapse of an ancient volcano posthumously named Mt. Mazama.  This volcano erupted with a blast 42 times as powerful as the 1980 Mount St. Helen's eruption.  When Mt. Mazama blew, it deposited ash in what would later be eight states and two Canadian provinces. It blew huge, room-sized boulders 20-some miles to present day Prospect, OR.

For your viewing enjoyment I've loaded two short videos on my FB page.  One is of Pearsoney Falls and the other is of the Avenue of the Giant Boulders.  Enjoy!

Continuing down the road, we came to the Mill Creek Bridge crossing over the Rogue River.  Built in 1920, the Mill Creek Bridge is an early example of a deck girder bridge.  It is 124' long with four arched curtain walls disguising it as an arch bridge.  The curtain wall features triangular pebble-dashed panels.  The ornate urn-shaped balustrades and the reinforced concrete lampposts that are mounted on top of the posts in the railing are a noteworthy aspect of the design.  This bridge was one of the final structures that completed the Columbia River Highway between Troutdale and The Dalles.

I love this feature of the bridge.

View from below looking back toward the bridge.

Not only did I like the light fixtures on the bridge, but the view of the Rogue was also quite spectacular both sides of the bridge.  I mentioned earlier that you'd see the Avenue of the Giant Boulders again, and here it is.  The first two photos were taken from the right side of the bridge.

These next photos are looking to our left and really epitomize the Avenue of the Giant Boulders.

Finally, I'll "leaf" you with this one last photo!

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is in the Lord.  For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.