Quartzville Creek

This is an incredibly fun canyon filled with exciting jumping opportunities and a couple short rappels. Without the rappels, every local person within 50 miles would be coming here on weekends to do this amazing stretch of canyon. It has spectacular sustained narrows and fantastic rock formations with crystal clear (but cold) water. There are a lots of swimming pools, jumping from logs into pools, and jumping from cliffs into pools. While it does not have thrilling rappels, it's another Oregon gem and makes for a fun, relaxing day out. Excellent for beginners and really fun for experts as well. Be aware: Quartzville Creek is a big drainage and sees high flow in the early season. Once into the gorge, the creek narrows up significantly and could be quite dangerous in high water. Use caution before entering. The flow becomes more moderate later in the season and should be beginner-friendly in July-September.

From Marion Forks, head south on Hwy 22 for 2.9mi. Turn off right/west onto Straight Creek Road, aka NF-11, aka Quartzville Scenic Byway. Follow this for ~18mi to where it crosses Minniece Creek and continue south to a large pullout at a curve in the road above the confluence of Minniece and Quartzville Creek. If you reach the bridge crossing Quartzville Creek, you've gone too far (athough this can also be your exit, adding about 0.5mi of enjoyable pool splashing). A GPS is handy for identifying the correct location. You can shuttle or hike the road. It's recommended to put on wetsuits and harnesses on the road, as the approach to the water is less than five minutes. This way you will not even need to bring backpacks on the descent, except for the person who carries the rope, and another person with water/snacks for the group.

When the creek narrows up, you know you're entering the actual gorge. The rappels are all right near the start of the gorge. Evaluate flow conditions prior to entry as this area could be dangerous in high water conditions, and it's your last chance to escape upstream. Below R3: Swim out through the narrows. This is a fantastic place to swim and play, as well as stop for lunch! There is also a fun opportunity for a slide here into a pool, and climbing up on the cliffs DCL and jumping into the deep pools in the narrows. After R3, all other rappels are optional, but keep an eye out for good jumping spots... there are quite a few. Folks who are not into jumping may still want to rappel from the occasional log jam. Continue downstream through the narrows with all manner of interesting rock formations, pools, and downclimbs. There are at least three places where you can walk out on large logs and jump into pools. A giant undercut carved out by extreme flooding (almost a cave) on DCL is a signal that the end is drawing near. When you reach an obvious tributary entering DCR via a large bedrock ramp, this is Minniece Creek and your exit.

Head up Minniece Creek for about 50ft and exit on a faint use trail on climber's left. This leads directly up to the road and your parked car. The exit hike takes all of two minutes. Alternately, you can continue downstream for another 0.5mi of enjoyable easy pools to the bridge crossing Quartzville Creek. If you accidentally pass Minniece Creek, just exit at the bridge. From here, there are many campsites downstream along the creek.