This is hike number 68 from William L. Sullivan’s book 100 Hikes in Southern Oregon & N. Cal. I’ve be going through the hikes in this book for about a year now. It is a good resource for finding hikes in southern Oregon.

Sturgis Fork Trail is approximately 4.8 miles round trip with about 1350 feet of elevation gain. I did this hike for the first time in October of 2019. My GPS track showed 5.1 miles with 1279 feet of elevation gain. I enjoyed this trail a lot. Its a nice short half day hike including travel from Medford. The road is in good shape up to about the last half mile. The last short stretch of road to trail head was a little ruff. I’d recommend a 4×4 with good clearance. That being said there was also a 2 wheel drive pick-up at the trail head as well. There’s a small camping area at the trail head and plenty of room for a few cars to park.

I found the trail very easy to follow. The first mile follows along a nice creek that I think runs all year long. After the creek you travel through a nice open area and through a few tree lines then up to a 6420 foot view point. If my map skills are accurate you can see Mount McLoughlin and Mount Shasta from the viewpoint. The viewpoint is a short bushwhack off trail.

I think next time I go into this area I’ll combine this trail with Grayback mountain trail to create a shuttle hike or just a nice long out and back. Next time I will also go in spring when things are in bloom.