Canton Creek (32110367905)

Travelers crossing the Cascade Mountainss on Oregon’s North Umpqua Highway 138 – also known as the Rogue-Umpqua National Scenic Byway – might easily miss Canton Creek, a tributary of Steamboat Creek and the North Umpqua River.
A visit to Canton Creek is well worth the effort, though - and just a short drive north of the community of Steamboat, known for its world-famous fly fishing.
To get there from Steamboat – just 16 miles east of Idleyld Park on Highway 138 - follow Steamboat Creek Road (Forest Service Road 3803) east from Highway 138 and then turn west onto the Canton Creek Road (BLM Road 25-1E-31), just past the U.S. Forest Service’s Canton Creek Recreation Site.
This steep winding road, created when the area was first logged in the 1940s and 50s, parallels Canton Creek and takes visitors across several bridges to the Scaredman Recreation Site, scheduled to reopen in 2017.
Turnouts along the road provide views of the creek’s crystal-clear emerald green pools, popular with locals for swimming and wading, and also popular as habitat for fish – including summer and winter steelhead and cutthroat trout.
Recent projects aim to improve fish habitat along the creek. The addition of large woody material to the creek and the growth of trees along its bank help to lower the water temperature, thus making the creek’s habitat more inviting to fish favoring colder water, like trout and salmon.
For more information about Canton Creek, the Scaredman Recreation Site, or the North Umpqua River, please contact our Roseburg District Office at (541) 440-4930.

Photos and videos by Greg Shine, BLM