I recently had the opportunity to spend a day of adventure on the Rogue River out of Gold Beach Oregon. Gold Beach is a 30 minute drive north of Brookings and is where you can JET BOAT on the Rogue River. What fun!! You have several different rides to select from, but we decided to go for the longest ride of 104 miles round trip on JERRY'S ROGUE JETS.
We started our ride at the Port of Gold Beach and after everyone was loaded on the Jet Boat we started up river. It was a very chilly morning and everyone had jackets and/or sweaters on to keep warm. It was a bright sunny day and I knew it would get more than just a little warm once we were up river just a few miles. Our pilot, Tom Biggs, was well informed about the local area and specifically about the Rogue River. He has piloted a Jet Boat since 1975 and he is accomplished at spinning tall tales and relating local folklore, which makes the already beautiful trip more informative. He took the time to point out various wildlife living on the banks of the river, and even stopped so that we could take pictures. We saw three Bald Eagle nests and several of the young eagles that had been born this year. They were fabulous, and much bigger than I had believed them to be.
We powered thru white water, riffles and eddies and long pools of beautiful slack water. As our trip progressed we could feel the pristine rhythm of the river as we sliced through thundering rapids and coasted through gentle shallows where our pilot, Tom, would stop so we could enjoy the natural inhabitants of the Rogue ecosystem - bear, deer, otter, and eagles. We also saw blue heron, osprey, and turtles that were taking in the sunshine on the river rocks. And of course, we saw fish. Our river pilot, Tom, informed us that although there are two major runs for the salmon and steelhead there are fish in the Rogue all year round. He said that you can catch Chinook and Coho salmon, steelhead, brown trout, cutthroat, golden trout, catfish and in the lower part of the river there are still sturgeon. The Chinook and steelhead run in the fall and spring to spawn upriver, and there is also a Coho run in the fall. Since the Rogue is one of eight rivers in the United States designated as wild and scenic it will always be a protected area.
We were not the only adventurers on the river, there were several groups of rafters that we saw during our trip. There are several guided rafting trips that can be taken on the Rogue River. Everyone that was rafting seemed to be having a wonderful time and we experienced water fights with many of them. It sure helped to cool us off, since it became very hot upriver.
We stopped for lunch at a wonderful river lodge, Singing Springs Resort, and had time to enjoy the excellent food that we were served. We ate our lunch on the resort's outside dining deck that overlooks the river.
The Rogue's combination of fun and exciting rapids, hiking trails that parallel the river, spectacular scenery, historic settler sites and the chance to glimpse wildlife, make this one of the best trips on the Southern Oregon Coast. We had a WONDERFUL time!!
COME TO BROOKINGS AND EXPERIENCE YOUR OWN ROGUE RIVER ADVENTURE!!!!
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