Welcome to Dave & Marie's WildWinds Wild Horse Refuge

400 Acres in Siskiyou County, California, in the Klamath River Basin, with Jenny Creek running though the middle of it, at the 18 Mile marker on Copco Road, east of Interstate 5 at the Hornbrook exit.
Click here for a map with the property outlined.
Click here for an interactive map at topozone.com.
(Click on the pictures and larger versions will open in a new window.)
Box Canyon in late summer. There are many different types of terrain, from meadows to boulder fields to forest canopy to sheer cliffs of black volcanic rock. This is part of the Cascade Range, formed by volcanoes from Mt Ranier in the north down to Mt Shasta to the south, in a unique area of lower elevation carved out by the Klamath River and its tributaries.

My favorite spot, so far in my limited explorations, is this Box Canyon, about an acre of meadow and woods surrounded on three sides by volcanic outcrops.


Jenny Creek from the ridge line;

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looking west, downstream, towards the lake

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looking east upstream

Devon at Jenny Creek.
Jenny Creek comes down from Oregon, and joins the Klamath River at Iron Gate Lake. It is used for whitewater rafting - Click here for some kayakers' adventures on, with several photos of, Jenny Creek.

Jenny Creek forms the eastern boundary of the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument, which is two miles north of the property on the other side of the Oregon border. Click here for the CSNM web site.

Dave with Iron Gate Lake behind. The lake is part of the Klamath River, which has been dammed up behind Iron Gate Dam, which Pacific Power uses to generate 20 megawatts of hydroelectric power for the region. Around this 1000 acre lake, Pacific Power has developed picnic areas and boat launches, and people are starting to discover it for water skiing as well as fishing for its famous tasty yellow perch. Click here for the California Department of Water Resources page about the lake.
Hillside, springtime. You can see some of the cattle fencing that crosses the property. Under previous ownership there were large herds of livestock grazing on this and adjacent parcels. Livestock remains the largest agricultural product of Siskiyou County, but I believe that about 100 acres of the property could be planted in apples or grapes, for which volcanic soils are particilarly suited.

Wood stove set up in boulder field by the jeep road along the eastern edge. There is a cache of water and jerky inside!

Another view of Iron Gate Lake, late summer, at the southern edge of the property.
Volcanic outcrop, springtime. On the right, you can see part of Pacific Power's electric transmission lines which cross the property. There are several of Pacific Power jeep roads which traverse the land, providing access to these transmission lines.
Devon enjoying the shade; it was close to 100 degrees that day, which turned out to be the hottest day of the year!
(Ponderosa?) pine tree. Most of the trees are live oak and juniper, which on hot days scents the air with a spicy aroma.
Stone wall on the southeastern boundary. Someone put a great deal of effort into this structure! There is plenty of stone for projects like this; most of it is tufa (a spongy lava rock) but there are some outcrops of shale and pink granite as well.

Line of stones defining the western boundary line.

Pink granite boulders on the property by the eastern boundary road. These rocks are older than the volcanic rock, and were pushed up and out by the volcanic activity. They would be pretty easy to quarry.
The Falls. This waterfall, which provided the name for Fall Creek, is about 100 feet high, and less than a quarter mile to the east of the property line. It is at the end of a canyon that opens up onto the northeastern corner, so that it can pretty much only be seen from the property.

Even in late August, after several months of no rain, its roar can be heard from a great distance. Fall Creek powers a 2.2 megawatt hydroelectric dam about two miles downstream from the falls.

I'm looking forward to re-taking this picture during the rainy season!

The Horseshoe Ranch Wildlife Area, a couple of square miles of BLM and California Fish & Game lands, are about a mile due west of our "WildWinds Wild Horse Refuge".

(There is at least one wild horse living there; I bring her carrots whenever I visit!~)

- (c)Dave Surber, October, 2003.