Welcome to John Carr Outdoors! 

Please visit the blog and follow. The follow button can be found at the bottom of the page. 

If you are seeing this on Facebook, click the link to visit the blog to see all of the photos.

Hagg Lake

In early May my destination was the eastern foothills of the Coastal Mountains. A 14-mile trail (1,450 feet of cumulative elevation gain) travels around Henry Hagg Lake, the impoundment behind Scoggins Valley Dam.

It was forecast to be in the 80s, so I took lots of water. But not enough, I was still pretty dehydrated and tired by the time I finished the hike.

There are five creeks flowing into the 2 1/2 mile long reservoir, providing outstanding habitat for song birds, wildflowers and butterflies.

Most outdoor recreational sites are closed in Oregon due to the coronavirus outbreak. Hagg Lake is one of the few that stayed open. And sure enough, by the time I left there were literally hundreds of people in boats, lining the shore fishing, just laying out in the sun or kayaking.

Due to the heat and the very muddy trail in places, I only saw a few other folks on the trail. And to their credit, everyone seemed to be taking the six-foot distance request seriously.

Many stretches of the trail are muddy and sloppy

Scotch Broom, Lupine and Vine Maple

Baneberry, False Solomon’s Seal and spring blossoms