A Thursday on Tallowbox Mountain

From the TallowboxTrailhead to the top of Tallowbox Mountain is 1.6 miles (3.2 miles round trip) with 1,000 feet of elevation gain. Tallowbox Mountain is 5,023 feet and 10 miles southwest of Ruch high above the Applegate Valley.

Time is built into this hike to allow to rest and take in the views up and down Tallowbox Mountain. Dogs could be difficult to manage on the steep terrain. There are no restrooms available.

We’ll meet at the Jacksonville Library at 9:45am, and shuttle ourselves in several cars to a second meetup location at the Ruch Country Store (arriving shortly after 10am). This is an opportunity to pick up extra snacks and water if needed.

From there, we’ll carpool to Cantrall Buckley County Park and continue on Cantrall Road for 7 miles. After 5.1 miles, the pavement ends. The last 1.9 miles is on a well-maintained gravel road. The Tallowbox Trailhead is a pullout on the left.

The Tallowbox trail begins as an easy trail, a gentle descent through Buckbrush, and some white flowered Death Camas. At 0.4 miles begins a 1.2 mile, 1,000 foot climb to the summit of Tallowbox Mountain.

The beginning of the steep climb is rocky. Consider bringing walking poles to distribute your weight and keep your balance. We walk through a beautiful green grass slope of Tallowbox Mountain with purple Ookow flowers (also known as Bue Dicks), and California Golden Poppies. This picturesque area has a panoramic view of the Siskiyou Mountains.

At 0.7 miles, we enter a lush, shady forest, and the Tallowbox Trail isn’t quite so steep. At 1.0 mile, we turn right and head up an unpaved road that we follow the last 0.6 miles to the top of Tallowbox Mountain. Keep left at 2 junctions, and walk past a yellow gate. At 0.2 miles from the summit, we hike above the forest to the 100 foot telecommunications tower at the top of Tallowbox Mountain.

We will plan a lunch break at the top with time to wander around and look at the views in all directions including the Applegate Valley, the Rogue Valley, RoxyAnn, Mt. McGloughlin, Wagner Butte, the Red Buttes, and Grayback.

We’ll take it slow and easy on our way down, watching for loose rocks and using walking poles to distribute our weight and keep our balance. We walk down the same way we came.