Popular Shellburg Falls recreation area reopens in Santiam State Forest after 2020 wildfire reconstruction

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) -- One of the most popular Santiam State Forest recreation areas, Shellburg Falls, reopened Friday after after years of work, having been closed in the aftermath of the destructive 2020 Labor Day wildfires.

“It’s almost unbelievable how wildfire can impact the landscape,” said Joe Offer, Oregon Department of Forestry’s Recreation Manager.  “At Shellburg, we lost bridges, wooden signs and even the timbers on the ground used for steps burned up.  Yet our picnic pavilion with a metal roof survived.  It shows how wildfire burns at different rates, different severity, and skips around the landscape.  You can see that here at Shellburg.”

ODF estimates up to 75 percent of trees in the area were burned or partially burned. This made the department’s responsibility to manage state forests to provide economic, environmental and social benefits to Oregonians challenging.

A salvage harvest sale was conducted to get valuable timber out before it became unusable and to remove hazardous trees near roads, recreation areas and other infrastructure for the safety of the public.

“During those operations, it gave the recreation staff time to evaluate and then reimagine the area to improve safety, access, and the overall experience in the forest for Shellburg users,” said Offer.

The big challenge was that the department did not get any more funds or positions to address the severe loss of recreation infrastructure.

“We have 1.5 full-time recreation positions for the entire Santiam State Forest,” said Offer.  “That’s a challenge to carry out normal operations, let alone rebuilding several recreation areas after fires. We also did not get any additional funds to replace lost infrastructure.”

With limited staff and budget, ODF relied on a unique partnership with South Fork Forest Camp (a joint Department of Corrections and ODF facility in the Tillamook State Forest) and local nonprofit groups to get much of the rebuilding and maintenance work done.

“The adults in custody from South Fork make and install all our signage,” said Offer. 

They also do trail work and provide labor outside of fire season when they contribute crews to fight wildfires.

“For Shellburg, the Salem Area Trail Alliance, Cascade Trail Crew and Trailkeepers of Oregon are key partners,” Offer said.  “Without their help, I’m not sure when we would have reopened.”

Some of the major changes to Shellburg included the closure of the old trailhead and the conversion of the small campground to the new main trailhead.  The new one is approximately six miles, mostly on gravel forest roads, from the old one.

“We had safety issues with people parking on the paved county road on busy days and access issues across private land with the old trail,” said Offer.  “The new trail head eliminates both those issues.”

There are two trails to the falls now, the first is Upper Shellburg Falls Trail, which is approximately 1.5 miles round-trip. This gives hikers a view from above or parallel to the falls. The second is the Lower Shellburg Falls Trail, which is four miles round-trip and ends up at the base of the falls. 

“In the future, we plan to build a bridge below the falls to connect the trails,” said Offer. 

The other big change is that the trail no longer goes behind the falls.

“There are loose rocks and gravel—so it is unstable and not safe.  We had to close that,” said Offer. 

There are barriers and signs warning people not to go behind the falls.

In addition to the trails to the falls, there are other hiking and mountain biking trails in the newly opened area that people can explore. 

“Our hope is people see this as an outdoor destination and not just one trail,” said Offer. “The falls are beautiful, but the other area trails will be interesting for people to see, especially as the different impacted areas of the forest recover from those 2020 fires.”

In addition to Shellburg, all other campgrounds in the Clatsop, Santiam and Tillamook State Forests opened for the season Friday. To see a complete list, go to ODF’s website.  

The one major exception is the Butte Creek Falls Recreation Area in the Santiam State Forest. Salvage logging operations are ongoing there from the 2020 fires, but it should reopen later this summer, once hazard trees are removed from the access roads.