10 – Birch Creek Ranch
From the BLM Website:
Nestled among cream and chocolate colored hills, barren red cliffs, and towering rock spires lays a secret oasis: the Birch Creek Historic Ranch. Established in the early 1900s, the ingenuity and determination of a Basque sheepherder and a West Virginia cattle rancher are still evident at the site today. Stone walls built in the Basque tradition still ascend the mesa. Remnants of a waterwheel hint at the lush alfalfa fields fed through the gravity irrigation system. Nineteen buildings and structures at the ranch contribute to the property’s designation as a historical rural landscape on the Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places.
More Information
Coordinates: 43.21518, -117.50297
Elevation: 2722 ft
Difficulty: 3
What to Expect: No info
Check In
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Probably my favorite so far. I’ll be going back with a mtn. bike at some point.
It was a neat ride with a lot more water crossings than I was expecting and some really big washouts.
Super fun ride down and back up with several water crossings and cows. Awesome views.
Edit: I forgot to add the picture, so I put it below in the replies.
The ride down the canyon will keep you on your toes or off on the ground.
Ow this is an awesome ride. Definitely more technical than the other rides I have done out here so far. Expect steep loos grades. A couple of sections of deep,ruts. A few water crossings.definitely glad I was on a mid weigh ADV bike
Rode in with Dan’s group on a beautiful and dry day. I’ve been riding my Tenere 700 for about a year and a strong background riding a mountain bike. The last 3 miles or so I thought got pretty technical for a new rider on a big adventure bike. Nothing I was not able to get through, but definitely had to remind myself to control my speed coming down the last hill. Had I dropped the bike on my own in the steep section it would have been an ordeal to get it back up. Overall though, great challenge for someone with some riding experience looking to push their riding past flat two track roads! Take your time, bring a friend!
I added a picture coming down the aforementioned hill!
Edit1: I also wanted to add that if you aren’t sure about your ability to access Birch Creek, head to the Teapot Crater (this check in) beforehand. I would say the access road is also a 3 due to some off camber sections of gravel road and some rocky bits. It is however, shorter and less steep. If you breeze through that then Birch Creek should be no problem. If it gives you issues, just know that I found Birch Creek access to be a higher difficulty level!
Birch creek is a cool spot. Hit it with Dan, Alex and a few others. Coming down always seems harder than up. Lots of UTV and rafters coming out.
Lots of history here and worth the effort. You’ll want to ride on past the check-in point to the end of the road to see the waterwheel, raft takeout point, and river ford.
This may be one of my favorite locations yet.
We hit this one next after Leslie Gulch on Dan’s ride. The drop into the canyon is beautiful. Once we got to the site we continued on another mile or so past to see a cool water wheel and more cabins.
We came down Cutoff Road to Mahogany Gap Road. The roads were very rutty and not well maintained at all. The main road into the site, Blowout Reservoir Road is a mixed bag, with much of it being a 2 and some parts being a 2.5 to 3. The drop at the end is a solid 3 where you go from about 4500 feet to 2700 feet in about 4 miles. Keep in mind this could be a lot more difficult if everything was wet from a big rain. There was a moderate amount of traffic coming to and from this location on a Wed afternoon.
There are steep sections, loose gravel, rattlesnakes, and many water crossings. I made it on my large adventure bike, and I’m an intermediate rider. But it was a challenge. Still, this was easily my favorite spot of the ride.
GPX File attached.
you loose a lot of elevation quick dripping down in there. the flowers were in bloom and everything was green. great little hidden gem of a place. make sure to take the road to the end.
This was my favorite spot so far by a big margin. After riding succor creek/leslie gulch etc most of our first day of a two day trip, this was the first road/trails that offered some technical riding. Many water crossings on the way in, we fortunately just put on our rain gear due to the impending doom of thunderstorms all around us (none of which hit us!) so we were nice and dry when we reached the ranch for camp. The decent towards the river is awesome. Rocky, a little steep for a beginner, watery and stunningly beautiful. We camped on the grass and checked out the site were gone in the morning.
One of my favorite sites so far on the journey. There is quite a winding descent down to the ranch. Getting here involved a lot of water crossings, some ruts, and a section of rocks & water towards the bottom. I would rate it a 3.5 and would not recommend it for beginners. There is a campground 1 mile away from the ranch if you keep going down the trail as you pass it. We did see some vehicle traffic with trucks / trailers going down to the campsite to pick up rafters at a takeout. The grass may look inviting to lay down in but beware there are some goat heads. Incredible rock formations and the soothing sound of the river flowing by. Very peaceful!
A series of thunder storms with lightning were passing through on this evening 4/12 so we made camp there and headed out in the morning.