Last weekend we went hiking on Dunlop Trail, a pretty path
(about 3 miles roundtrip) in the Cascades up Dead Indian Memorial Road.
The track winds through a shady forest, passing by a side
trail to Dunlop Meadow.
As the interpretive national forest sign says:
These two meadows resulted from massive earthflow landslides
thousands of years ago. The cliff which rises to the south of the meadows was
formed when a large portion of the mountainside slid into the South Fork Canyon
of Little Butte Creek. The landslide deposits at the base of the cliff created
an irregular ground surface and trapped enough water to form two small lakes.
As they filled with decaying vegetation and sediment, the lakes gradually
transformed into the grassy meadows seen here today. In prehistoric times, the
Takelma Indians camped here during the summer to hunt and to gather the camas
bulbs that grow in the moist parts of the meadows.
Here, on the east edge of the upper meadow is the “Dunlop
Ranch.” Very little is known about this old homestead’s history. “Old man
Dunlop” is thought to have been a settler from the Eagle Point area who
“squatted” here sometime in the 1920s (long before any roads accessed this
area); some stories state that he was a moonshiner. During the 1930s, the
Nickerson family lived here briefly, raising Angora
goats. The goat hides were sold for mohair upholstery in automobiles.
The Dunlop Ranch has been abandoned for many years and time
has taken its toll on the log cabin, barn and the small shed. The shed remains
in the best condition; with its double-log walls, insulated with sawdust, the
north half of the shed was used to keep meat and other food cool.
We explored the meadow and the remnants of the ranch,
pondering what it would be like to live up there without electricity, before
roads were put in — the winters must have been hard.
Back on the path, we gradually descended on a switchback
through the trees and over and past several small steams to the banks of
roaring Little Butte Creek. The dogs enjoyed cooling off in the water and we enjoyed
poking along the shore before heading back up the hill.
To see a photo gallery of our hike, click here.
To get there: Take Dead
Indian Memorial Road out of Ashland
about 18 miles to Shell Peak Road
(opposite the horse campground just past the turnoff to Howard Prairie
Lake). Take a left onto Shell Peak Road and
drive about seven miles on the dirt road to the trailhead on the right.
