Southern Oregon Scenic Treasures
A short 2 hour drive from Medford on Highway 62, Crater Lake Hwy, is a natural phenomena not found many, if any other place on this planet. The Rogue River flows into a lava tube & makes a huge “s” curve for about 100 yards & flows out in a spectacular gush back into the river bed. The Forest Service has built a platform directly above the vortex where the river sucks into the lave tube so one can look straight down about six feet to see, hear & feel this mighty roar taking place.
There is a scenic trail of about ¼ mile from the parking lot crossing a foot bridge to the opposite side of the Rogue River where you first glimpse the rapids of the Rogue upstream & down, before viewing first the exodus of the river from the lava tube.
Heading north toward Crater Lake, 10 miles north of Prospect is a sign indicating the turnoff to this spectacular scene. The sign is misnamed “Natural Bridge” which is not what one would expect to see. Though perhaps in the truest since of the word, it may be a bridge, but it is so much more than what one would expect of “a bridge”. If it were named correctly for what it is: “River Flows thru Lava Tube”, for instance, I’m sure many more folks would take the short one mile drive to view it. Also, it makes a good rest stop as there are restrooms at the parking lot
Also in the vicinity, about 2 miles above (north) is another quite awesome scene – the Rogue Gorge, in which the Rogue River flows thru a narrow gorge as from 6 feet to about 10 feet wide for approximately 1000 yards, making it a wild rushing deep channel with a spectacular water fall at the top end.
Unfortunately, the Forest Service does not consider these awesome scenic treasures sufficiently worthy of viewing more than 6 months of the year, as about the middle of November, they close the gate baring access to the Lava Tube, until about Memorial day when all the snow is gone & they have had opportunity to open the parking lot & clear the trail from debris so one has unfettered access to the River at that point.