Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / Oregon / Southwest Oregon

Illinois River Trail (Kalmiopsis Wilderness)

Kalmiopsis Wilderness, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest (Briggs Creek near Selma to Oak Flat near Agness)

The Illinois River Trail (#1161) crosses the northern Kalmiopsis Wilderness in southwest Oregon’s Klamath Mountains, from Briggs Creek on the east to Oak Flat near Agness on the west. Oregon Hikers rates it difficult, with a high point of 3,975 feet on Bald Mountain.

For about 20 years after the 2002 Biscuit Fire, the trail was close to impassable. The Siskiyou Mountain Club reopened it in 2022 after crews spent years clearing fire-killed logs and brush, and the club describes a remote, self-reliant route that it says isn’t for everyone.

The hike

The east trailhead is reached from Selma on Highway 199 via the Illinois River Road (Forest Road 4103). The Forest Service says the road is gravel or dirt for most of the way, with narrow, rugged final miles, and suggests high clearance. Oregon Hikers says a through-hike needs a shuttle of about 95 miles.

Oregon Hikers’ mileages from Briggs Creek: a small camp at Clear Creek (4.1), the junction to Pine Flat (5.0), with good campsites and water from Pine Creek a short way off, and Pine Creek itself at 6.7. The trail then climbs to the Bald Mountain junction at 11.8 miles, where a spur climbs to the old lookout site. A spring and campsites at 12.2 miles mark the last reliable water before Silver Creek. Oregon Hikers says the climb over Bald Mountain is more gradual from the east.

Hiking Project’s 2016 trip report describes a hot, exposed, rocky stretch around mile 9, a cooler spring-fed section on the back of the ridge, and a night at Bald Mountain camp. West of the summit, the Siskiyou Mountain Club reported an overgrown section and user-made trails that can cause wrong turns.

Silver Creek, at mile 20, has good campsites, but getting water means a careful scramble down to the creek. Connors Place (20.7) has what Oregon Hikers calls excellent campsites, with water only from small springs. At Indigo Creek (24.9) a bridge crosses to an old jeep road and the Indian Flat campsites. Buzzards Roost, a viewpoint about 3 miles from the western end, comes next, and the trail drops to Oak Flat at about 240 feet.

Oregon Hikers suggests two nights, such as Bald Mountain and then Silver Creek or Connors Place. The club warns of minimal signage and advises downloading its free topo map. Hazards include poison oak, rattlesnakes, ticks (especially in winter and spring), summer heat, snags, and dense ceanothus and tan oak brush that the Mail Tribune said can grow chest high.

Oak Flat sits near Agness on the lower Rogue. For a backpack along that river, see the Rogue River Trail.

Tips

Camping

Camping is dispersed in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, where the Forest Service says wilderness regulations apply. Hiking Project lists a maximum overnight group size of 12. Oregon Hikers advises a bear canister or a hang, noting bears are present but less of a nuisance than on the Rogue. Under the current Stage 2 order, campfires are banned; pressurized gas or liquid-fuel stoves are allowed.

The Forest Service says the East Trailhead has no potable water; treat all surface water.

Inside Intel: Oregon Hikers’ guide singles out Connors Place, about 20.7 miles from Briggs Creek, for “excellent campsites,” though water there comes only from small springs. Hiking Project’s 2016 trip report camped at Bald Mountain camp after a 12-mile first day, and Yonder Journal’s 2014 trip camped at the Silver Creek confluence.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

A night on Bald Mountain in the Kalmiopsis:

The trail tops out near 4,000 feet over Bald Mountain, where Oregon Hikers notes winter snow is possible. See which sleeping bags testers recommend for three-season trips.

See the picks →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.