Rogue River Valley, Oregon - Southern Oregon is divided into three main river basins; the Umpqua River, the Rogue River, and the Klamath Basin. The Umpqua meets the Pacific at Reedsport, the Rogue mouth is near Gold Beach, and the Klamath empties at the Redwoods National Park in Northern California. All three rivers have their headwaters in the Cascade Mountains on the slopes of Crater Lake, Oregon's only national park. The Rogue River is a designated National Scenic River, and formed much of the backdrop for the Meryl Streep movie "The River Wild." Jet boat trips and white water rafting are very popular.

Rogue River Valley

Rogue River Valley, Oregon - A beautiful place to visit, a wonderful place to live. Come and find a place to call your own. Southern Oregon is a great place to own a home and grow your family.

Rogue River Valley

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Pack Trains
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Caveman Bridge
Caveman Bridge II
Josephine Platinum

Rogue River Valley - Oregon Travel Guide

More Oregon Historical Society Articles - Josephine County


  • Pack Trains - 1/2

  • Many of the old pack trails are still in existence although greatly fragmented and in disrepair. They are used more today for ...

  • Josephine County as a Hydraulic Region

  • Every stream and gulch contains gold. Even in the valleys, where the soil is rich, there is gold ...

  • The Floating Dredges of Southern Oregon

  • One of the first financially successful dredges to operate in southern Oregon was the ...

  • Quartz Mining in Josephine County - 1/2

  • Both pick and pan method as well as placer uncovered most of the great producing quartz mines of Josephine County ...

  • The Completion of the Caveman Bridge - 1/2

  • The moment in time was the completion of the Caveman Bridge in 1931 and the removal of the three span 1909 steel bridge. The steel bridge was ...

  • Platinum in Josephine County, Oregon - 1/1

  • In my roll as a historian for the Josephine County Historical Society, I have been asked to tell what I have discovered about the metal called Platinum, or white gold.
    The following is an article extracted from a mining publication called "The Mining World" and reveals an accurate story of recovering the metal and the attitudes in general concerning it from the early miners of Josephine County.

Check back often for NEW Articles and Stories


When in Grants Pass, be sure to stop in and visit US at:
Josephine County Historical Society Research Library
512 SW Fifth Street
Phone 541-479-7827 Fax 541-472-8928
E-Mail is JCHS@terragon.com

Our hours are from 10 am to 4 pm Tuesdays through Fridays.

You will find over 6,000 photos of interest to the history of Josephine County, microfilm of all the early newspapers, Book sales, maps, abstracts (many, but not complete)
Many of the pioneers family histories are located in our files.

Be sure to mention that you found us at Rogue River Valley .com

The Josephine County Historical Society has a copy of the Oregon Metal Handbook for Josephine County that lists the names of over 400 plus mines.
These mines of all the various mining districts of our county include placer, Copper, quartz as well as Chromium and Nickel.

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Rogue River Valley, Oregon - The Siskiyou Mountains stretch between the Cascade Mountains and the Coast Range at the California border. The entire area is more vertical than most other parts of the state, which leads to numerous waterfalls, lots of whitewater rapids, and some spectacular scenery. Rogue River Valley is outside the main population centers of the state and the area has a very rural flavor. Major industries are tourism, wood products and agriculture. The climate is generally milder and more Mediterranean than North Western Oregon. Average rainfallis about 20 % lower and the temperatures are a bit higher.