Valley of the Giants
About the Valley of the Giants
The Valley of the Giants is a 51 acre natural area that contains a stand of old-growth Douglas Firs and Western Hemlocks, many of which are over 200 feet tall and 400 to 500 years old. It is owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It is in a very remote part of the Coast Range about 35 miles northwest of Corvallis as the crow flies. From downtown Corvallis it is a 50 mile drive that takes about 2 hours. The best times to visit are in the Spring and Fall. In Summer the roads may be closed due to fire season and in the Winter the days are too short. Weekends are recommended to avoid log trucks.
Several routes to Valley of the Giants are presented below.
Bureau of Land Management information
BLM has a webpage (Valley of the Giants Outstanding Natural Area) and an informational brochure [PDF] that includes a map and driving directions from Falls City. You can call the Northwest Oregon District Office (in Salem) for more information at 503-375-5646. I find the BLM map to be lacking. It is hand-drawn, is not to scale, and the mileage estimates are questionable. Using their directions, I created this Ride with GPS route map (it is 30 miles, with 3396' of climbing). My route from Falls City (see below) goes through Valsetz, whereas the BLM route goes around Valsetz Lake instead. Three other routes are described below.
All of the routes use roads owned by private timber companies that are subject to limits on public access and fire season restrictions and closures (which can occur between July and September). This area is most likely to be open between Mid-September and early July. These routes are within the Stott Mountain - North Alsea Travel Management Area and are subject to specified limits on public access. Private lands are closed to the public 1 hour after sunset to 1 hour before sunrise. In addition, the following activities are prohibited: Camping, fires, electric bikes, motorcycles, ATVs, target shooting, and trapping.
Before visiting, I recommend that you call the Salem office of the BLM at 503-375-5646. Hancock Forests controls the gate at the south end of the Old Railroad Grade and I believe they may control the Road 500 Gate (near the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Siletz River). The number of their office in Independence is 503-838-1610. Weyerhaeuser controls the gate on Valsetz Road (aka Valsetz Mainline) just west of Falls City and gates to the north of the Valley of the Giants. Their recreational hotline is 888-741-5403. Press 2 to hear a recorded message for the the Willamette Valley Region.
Weyerhaeuser's Black Rock Permit Area prohibits access to the Valley of the Giants from Grand Ronde via Fire Hall Road.
Additional navigation notes
There is contradictory information about the name of the road that parallels the North Fork of the Siletz River. BLM refers to it as Road 100 but other maps say Road 500.
Do not rely on Google Maps! It does not show the North Fork road (100/500) at all. The route that Google suggests heads further west, involves nearly 700' more of climbing, and completely misses the beautiful North Fork. Google Maps is often inaccurate in the backcountry and is unreliable for offline navigation. See better options for offline navigation.
Routes to Valley of the Giants
Four routes are presented below. The routes from Valsetz and the Steel Bridge are essentially shorter versions of the route from Fort Hoskins. All of the routes converge near Valsetz. From Valsetz to Valley of the Giants all of the routes share the same two roads. All of the distances listed are round trip. You can also access Valley of the Giants from Moonshine Park and Lincoln City (see map below). The road from the north is likely to be blocked by Weyerhaeuser's Black Rock Permit Area. There may be a route from Rose Lodge beginning on Bear Creek Road.
59 miles; +3540'; 86% unpaved
23 miles, +1900'; 100% unpaved
49 miles, +3350'; 100% unpaved
55 miles; +5300'; 97% unpaved
More information
Valley of the Giants (Grant’s Getaways) (video)
Oregon Field Guide (video)
Valley of the Giants (The MTB Project)
The Valley of the Giants (Dianne Roth)
Valley of the Giants (OregonLive)
Valley of the Giants Photo-essay (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
Valley of the Giants (Oregon Travel Experience)
Odyssey of the VOG (Valley of the Giants)
The Odyssey of the VOG is a challenging multi-day bikepacking race that began in 2021. The routes linked below were linked to this site in January 2023. Refer to the official website for any updates.