Bohemia Mountain & Ghost Town

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Difficulty: Easy
Length: 3.9 miles / 6.3 km
Duration: 1-3 hours

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Overview: The Bohemia Mountain Trail leads up a steep grade to the rocky summit of Bohemia Mountain, the highest point on the Cottage Grove District. On a clear day, view the peaks of the Cascade Range from Mt. Hood to Mt. Shasta. Wildflowers bloom along rock meadows and bluffs in late June.

Below the mountain is the ghost town of Bohemia City. You'll find a few old remnants of the town including several mines that have been collapsed, and which you SHOULD NOT ENTER. I've marked one old mine on the guide which is ok to take a look inside.

You'll also find huge piles of tailings with lots of cool mineral deposits including quartz, pyrite and small bits of gold.

Tips: The trailhead is 40 miles southeast of Cottage Grove. From Interstate 5, take the Cottage Grove Exit #174, turning left on Row River Road, #2400, and follow signs toward Dorena Lake. Continue on Row River Road for 20 miles to the end where it junctions with Brice Creek and Layng Creek Road. Stay to your right following Brice Creek County Road #2470 for 12 miles. Staying on Brice Creek Road, just past milepost 12, turn right onto graveled Noonday Road, #2212 following the signs to Fairview Peak and travel for 6.7 miles to the ridgeline junction of Roads #2212 and 2212-767. Stay to your right on #2212 for another 2.1 miles to Champion Saddle. From here stay to your left, entering #2460, and continue 1.1 miles to Bohemia Saddle where the road junctions with Fairview Peak Road. The trail is located at Bohemia Saddle.

Bring good hiking shoes, and it's a good idea to have hiking poles or a stick, as the trail down to the Ghost Town is steep with loose rock.

Bring a flashlight to explore the mine/cave located on this map.

Remember that there is a great deal of private property (patented mining claims) and valid mineral claims being worked. Miners’ and property owners’ rights must be respected.

Points of Interest

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Bohemia Mountain Trailhead

This is a good place to park if you are going to hike up to Bohemia Mountain, if you just want to see the Ghost Town drive a bit further to POI 3 in this guide. There is one outhouse stationed here.

The trailhead to Bohemia Mountain is located just beyond the pile of rocks directly in front of you.

Behind you is a road that goes up to Fairview Peak.

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Bohemia Mountain Summit

This rocky top features great views of the Cascades range from Mount Hood to Mt Shasta.

Look across to the fire tower atop Fairview Peak, and look down to see the ghost town of Bohemia City Below.

This is a great place to have a snack, but keep a close eye on young children as there are some sheer cliff drops all around the summit.

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Bohemia City Trailhead

There are a couple of outhouses located here. This is a great place to park if you want to skip the Bohemia Mountain hike, and just hike down to the Ghost Town.

There are two trails that will take you down. When looking at the rocks in front of you one is to the left and the other is far to the right.

The trail to the right is a little bit easier.

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Fork

Turn left at the bottom of this large pile of tailings to continue down to Bohemia City.

Go right across the front of the trailings and follow this path for about a mile to explore one of the mine caverns that hasn't been collapsed.

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Bohemia City Ghost Town

The Ghost town of Bohemia was once a small booming mining town from the 1800's. The area was and is rich in gold. And the rivers and streams always leave color in your pan. And people still mine there to this day for the gold ore. And its also known inside the Bohemia Mining Community that its not uncommon to find good size gold nuggets dredging the river beds.

The largest building still standing is the old store.

Look through the large piles of trailings to see interesting rock minerals like quartz, iron, and pyrite. You might even spot a few small bits of gold.

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Old Gold Mine

This is a great mine to look at because it doesn't go very far back, and there are no downward shafts to fall into.

Bring along a flashlight, because even though this old mine doesn't go very far back, it goes just far enough that the back is out of the sunlight.

You may want to make some noise before venturing inside to make sure no animals have taken shelter inside.

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Fairview Peak Lookout

This 53-foot tall Fairview Peak Lookout Tower sports an awe-inspiring 360 degree view with a vista of the Cascade Range. On a clear day, visitors can see north to Mount Hood, south to Crater Lake and Mt. McLaughlin, and east to many prominent peaks in the Cascade Range.

Fairview Peak Lookout is available for rent from mid-June or early July through October. The lookout is in snow country and access is limited. The lookout is typically unavailable during peak fire season, usually the months of August and September.

$50 per night per group, with a maximum of four occupants. Fees are used directly for the maintenance and preservation of the lookout.

There is additional room for tent camping, but the area is rocky.

Reservations must be made at least two days in advance. The maximum-length stay is three consecutive nights.

For reservations call 1-877-444-6777 or the website linked in this guide

Pictures in this guide taken by: JMilesMiller

How does this work?

We attempted this trip. Hit snow just after the turn-off from 22. About 10 miles from the starting point. Looking forward to trying it again when snow has melted.
Visited on Apr 14, 2012

by huntingoxen on Apr 19, 2012