Devil's Staircase Wilderness, Protected wilderness area in Douglas County, Oregon.
Devil's Staircase Wilderness is a forested wilderness area beside the Umpqua River in the Southern Oregon Coast Range of Douglas County, Oregon. It was officially designated in March 2019 and is one of the few federally protected old-growth forest stands in the Oregon Coast Range, alongside the Drift Creek, Rock Creek and Cummins Creek wildernesses, all established in 1984.
The Forest Service determined in the 1970s that this land was unsuitable for timber harvesting and preserved it as untouched old-growth forest. The designation as wilderness followed efforts to permanently protect ancient forest stands from development.
The Devil's Staircase Wilderness protects one of the few old-growth forest stands in the Oregon Coast Range with federal protection, alongside Drift Creek, Rock Creek and Cummins Creek, all designated in 1984. Its name comes from the steep, stepped rock formation of Wassen Creek, and the area is managed as roadless land where natural processes proceed without logging.
There are no marked trails, so route-finding is entirely on the visitor; carry a topographic map and compass. Access roads are unpaved and require high-clearance vehicles. Cell service is unreliable throughout the area, so plan a turnaround time and tell someone your itinerary before setting out.
The name comes from a rock formation on Wassen Creek that early surveyors thought resembled a staircase, and the surrounding old-growth stand is one of only four federally protected in the Oregon Coast Range, alongside Drift Creek, Rock Creek and Cummins Creek, all designated in 1984.
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