Reopening for popular Shellburg Falls is delayed again. Here's when it might open

The reopening of a popular waterfall hike east of Salem has been delayed yet again.

Shellburg Falls, a 100-foot cascade near Stayton and Mehama with a family-friendly hiking system, was burned in the 2020 Beachie Creek Fire and has been closed ever since.

State forest officials originally hoped to open it by autumn of 2022. Then it was spring 2023. Now, they say it won't be open until September at the earliest. It may not reopen until 2024.

Shellburg Falls is the last major outdoor destination still closed by the 2020 Labor Day fires in the Santiam Canyon. All U.S. Forest Service land is open, although many roads, including North Fork Road and other forest roads, are also still closed heading into high recreation season, but are expected to reopen on a rolling basis this summer.

More:Little North Santiam Canyon to stay closed through summer, may reopen in fall

At Shellburg, officials said they still have work to complete, the Oregon Department of Forestry said in a news release.

"ODF originally anticipated that the Shellburg Falls area would reopen by now. However, the process has taken longer, largely due to the limited resources available to conduct operations across the entire affected landscape," the agency said in the news release.

The state agency manages the 192,000-acre Santiam State Forest. It noted that it has reopened other recreation sites including the Monument Peak Trail System, Santiam Horse Camp, Rock Creek Campground and the Natural Arch and Rocky Top Trails.

Shellburg is by far the most popular, however.

“In the falls area the fire destroyed bridges, trail erosion protections, stairs, and other wooden infrastructure critical for the safety of trail users and protection of the environment,” Mike Wilson, ODF's state forests division chief, said in a news release.

“Unfortunately, with fire season already here and special requirements to protect sensitive areas during reconstruction we are hopeful that the area will be open later this year,” Wilson said. “September would be the most optimistic date, but it very well could reopen later — even some time in 2024. It just depends on how fast the work gets done and if we run into unexpected issues.”

Wilson said the agency had a budget estimated at $100,000 for the project.

“We are able to realize lower costs due to labor and work crews from the South Fork Forest Camp and the generous efforts of local area volunteer groups,” Wilson said.

South Fork Forest Camp is run jointly by the Department of Corrections and ODF to provide adults in custody work skills and improve public services like firefighting and forest trail construction. 

Once the area does reopen, hikers will need to take a different route to the falls than most remember. The trailhead off Fern Ridge Road was officially closed just before the wildfires hit, meaning that people will no longer take the road through the farmland pasture to the falls. Instead, they'll head up Wagner Road and park at an area that used to be a small campground, but is being converted into a full day-use area and trailhead.

The small overnight camping area with seven sites will not be reconstructed, mainly due to fire safety concerns for the remaining trees, but there will be a day use picnic area with vault toilets. The entire area will be for day-use only with four separate parking areas.

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or 503-399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.