After doing a casual survey of folks coming into the Northwest Nature Shop in downtown Ashland, I got a pretty good picture of which local hikes get the most love. In my questionnaire, I asked people what their favorite local hike is, and allowed them to choose three favorite hikes: one within a 30 minute drive of Ashland (like the Watershed), a second category allowed people to choose a hike 30-60 minutes away, and a third category beyond that. To be clear, not everyone chose a hike for each category. As you can imagine, the third category was all over the place, and there was only one hike gaining more than one vote (Union Creek Trail near Crater Lake), so we won’t bother talking about those far away hikes in this article. Well which local hikes were the most popular?

Here’s a breakdown of the most popular local hikes…

Oredson Todd! (#1 hiking area in first category; within 30 minute drive of Ashland)

For clarification, no trail was specified for Oredson Todd which includes multiple trails (Waterfall trail, Mike Uhtoff, White Rabbit). There were specific votes for White Rabbit and Mike Uhtoff trails but not sure if their starting point was Oredson Todd or White Rabbit Trailhead). But I still find this surprising. Oredson Todd with 17 votes was not that far off of the total votes for the entire Ashland Watershed at 27. What can be concluded, however, is that Oredson Todd seems to be the most popular starting point for a hike within a 30 minute drive of Ashland. 

Grizzly Peak! (#1 hike in the 2nd Category; 30-60 minute drive out of town)

If you want to get outside of the Watershed, Grizzly Peak is unequivocally the most popular hike according to Ashlanders. Out of the 56 people that had a response in this middle category, 25% of people said Grizzly Peak was their favorite. This doesn’t come as a surprise at all – the Grizzly Peak hike hits all the high marks of a classic hike. 

1. It’s a loop, which can be hard to find.
2. The elevation gain is minimal.
3. The scenery has good variation between forest, meadows, and vistas.
4. The distance at around 5 miles is accessible yet still an adventure.
5. The views of the Valley, Mt Shasta, Mt McLoughlin, and Mt Ashland are stunning,
6. The wildflowers in early summer are top of the line. 

The only dings against it are that it can be busy on the weekends, and there is no water along the trail (some people enjoy hiking along creeks, rivers, lakes, etc). 

Here are some other interesting Observations…

• 32 out of 56 (57%) of people’s favorite hike for the 2nd category was in the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument. (Nice alternatives that were not chosen as much were hikes around Jacksonville, Table Rocks, Siskiyou Crest/Mt Ashland, Applegate Ridge Trail etc). 
• Loops performed better on average than out and backs. For the 2nd category – out of the 17 different hikes mentioned, you can only create loops on 4 of them, and two are at the top (Grizzly and Greensprings). Others mentioned were Jacksonville Woodlands and Forest Park. 
• Nobody voted for a hike around Emigrant Lake, even though it was provided as an example of what would fit in the first category of hikes (within a 30 minute drive). Personally, I think Emigrant is the best spot for Winter Hiking near Ashland – there’s no snow, plenty of sun because of the lack of conifer canopy, and a nice maze of trails. 

Well, that’s it for the breakdown of Ashlander’s favorite hikes. I recognize my sample size is not massive and that no results of my survey are conclusive. Let me know if you have any questions or comments. Hope you enjoyed reading,

Nolan Richard