South Slough Reserve – Friends of the Umpqua Hiking Group

South Slough Estuary – November 23, 2024

Hike Coordinator: Rheo Wheeler

Narration by Rheo Wheeler

Hiking in the rain is not our favorite thing, but it’s always invigorating to be outdoors on a dreary day. However, this was not the case though on our South Slough Estuary hike. The hiking gods were quite kind.

We had a group of 9 folks from the Roseburg area join up with 8 from the South Coast Striders group for this “old lady distance” hike through the beautiful South Slough Estuary just outside of Charleston. The tide was mostly out which exposed a lot of the tide flats. Not a lot of wildlife viewing, but still a beautiful backdrop.

The South Slough was a 3’ish mile loop, so to get our miles in, we (the Roseburg 9) finished our hiking over near Shore Acres. We hiked along the ocean from the lighthouse viewpoint to Shore Acres and strolled the gardens where the Christmas lights are almost ready for our holiday viewing. This added about 2 extra miles here, a more respectable distance for the day.

Pictures by Rheo Wheeler

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South Slough – February 4, 2023

Hike Coordinator: Rheo Wheeler

Narration by Rheo Wheeler

With a nicer weather forecast for our hike day, we had a good turnout for our trek through the South Slough Estuary. Eleven F.O.U. members plus 3 from the South Coast Striders out of Coos Bay joined up at the information center.

With no information on the Slough’s website, we were surprised to see the parking lot nearly full, and the bathrooms were under construction. They had a class in chainsaw handling, which drew in a few people. Most important though, they had brought in port-a-potties, since the bathrooms were out of commission.

We headed downhill through the forest to the water area where there was an 8+ foot tide covering all the mudflats. This is a very easy 3+ mile hike over boardwalks and forest trail, with the hardest part at the end where it’s uphill back to the start.

After our leisurely stroll at the slough, the group split up, with some opting for clam chowder in Charleston, others heading to the beach at Seven Devil’s, and others just wanting to head home. It was a very pleasant day in a beautiful area.

Pictures below by Rheo Wheeler

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South Slough – August 20, 2022

Hike Coordinator: Rheo Wheeler

Narration by Rheo Wheeler

We had 8 participants on the hike at south slough. Weather was amazing for the 4-mile loop through the estuary. The wildlife was clearly absent for this hike, but the side trip to the beach was our reward. Truly a short sleeve weather day at the beach near Whiskey Run.

Pictures below by Rheo Wheeler

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South Slough Reserve – November 27, 2021

Hike coordinator: Rheo Wheeler

Narration by Rheo Wheeler

What does one do on Thanksgiving weekend? On Saturday, there were only 5 of us who decided hiking was the answer. Liz, Cleve and I met at the courthouse and met Shannon and Jan at South Slough.

There was no sunshine, but just a drizzle here and there with gray cloud cover, not very picturesque. We enjoyed the downhill side and the various viewpoints along the water, and then made the trek uphill to the cars. The tide was out so there was no wildlife to speak of. We just took our time and enjoyed each other’s company. All told, we only hiked about 3-4 miles.

Pictures below by Rheo Wheeler

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South Slough Reserve – August 26, 2017

Hike Coordinator – Edwin Case

It was a smoky morning in Roseburg and destined to get even smokier as the week progressed. Eleven people turned out in spite of the smoke and heat and drove in a three car caravan to the South Slough Reserve close to Charleston over on the coast. Two of the group were new hikers who seemed to enjoy the experience.

They hiked the loops at the Reserve, up the old defunct railroad track, past the deserted farm holdings and around the big swamp which because it was low tide, was more grass than water. Lunch was eaten on the big deck on the south edge of the Reserve. Covering all the loops, it ended up to be about a five mile hike with balmy 64 to 70 degree temperatures. Wildlife was in the form of a “Racer” garden snake which was not invited to lunch.

After the hike, the group went off in several directions. Some hiked the Bastendorff Beach and others hit their favorite tide pools elsewhere. It was hard to leave the gorgeous weather and clear air of the coast for what was sure to be the hot smoky Umpqua Valley air. Edwin did his usual great job as hike leader.