Shady Cove is the closest thing to “home” we have in the US. Verna’s folks live there and they are storing what few possessions we have. So we have spent time with them on our few sojourns back to the States, enjoying the peaceful serenity of this small town on the Rogue River (right).

Shady Cove is located in southern Oregon, just north of Medford on the way to Crater Lake. It is a small town of 2,450 residents, many of them snowbirds who take to warmer climes in the winter. Not that Shady Cove gets all that cold in the winter - it may snow every third year or so - but the winters are mostly gray and rainy. 

The area was settled in the early 1870’s, shortly after the gold rush. The first families settled in the area just south of where the above picture was taken, at Indian Creek. At the time there was no road, just a wagon rut along the river. As there was no dam, the area frequently flooded with the spring snow melt. Local records indicate that prior to 1890 the river wound its way through the valley around farms and settlements. However in the spring of 1890 the heavy snow melt caused disastrous flooding, taking everything in its path and carving a new, straighter route. It wasn’t until the mid 1970’s when the dam (about 15 miles upstream) was completed that the yearly flooding was controlled. At this time a salmon hatchery was created at the base of the dam. This is also the last stop for the salmon heading upstream.

The town is located right on the Rogue River which provides fishermen and rafters with hours of entertainment. While the fishing is good year round, the rafting is limited to the summer months so the town sees a flurry of activity from June to September. The main street is home to the market, fishing shop, pizza parlor, gas stations, and just about everything else you might need. While we were there in Spring of 2004 Shady Cove business were in a growth spurt. In the 3 months of our visit, the hardware store moved to a larger location, the resale shop expanded into the old hardware store, the supermarket installed conveyor belts at their registers, the post office installed a drive-up mail box, and a new Mexican restaurant opened. Wow, that’s a lot of activity for this little town!

The area around Shady Cove is hilly grasslands, covered with the native Oregon Oak. At the water’s edge deciduous trees abound and forests of pine and fir are found in the nearby mountains. The main industries in the area are logging and farming. And the Medford area is known for its pear orchards. The area is rural with scenes like the one above around every corner. Medford is the largest metropolitan city in the area and Ashland is just south of that, home to the Shakespeare Festival and a center for the performing arts year round. 

Fishing is a great pastime for locals and visitors alike. In the spring the salmon find their way upstream to spawn, creating a mass of congestion on the Rogue. Several local businesses offer float trips where a local guide takes several fishermen floating downstream in a small aluminum boat. The guide directs the boat to the best fishing holes on the river and is quite adept at maneuvering the little boats into the eddies and around the rocks. At left is our nephew Conrad fishing from the bank while several fishermen float downstream. While not everyone may be lucky enough to catch a salmon, rainbow trout abound in the river and in the lake above the nearby dam. One day Conrad was happy enough to catch a couple of trout, while Gene was even luckier on our previous visit (2002) to have caught a salmon. Jim to date has caught absolutely nothing. But still, a bad day fishing is still better than a good day working, so he is not complaining (yet).

This last visit to Shady Cove in 2004 was for the express purpose of helping Verna’s folks demolish their house, in preparation for a major remodel (details to be published on a separate page). For that period, we rented an apartment in town in the seniors’ apartments. We did qualify for the minimum age (at least Jim did!) but were probably the youngest ones there. However, it was a nice, peaceful place and all the residents there were very friendly. Our landlords were especially nice and very accommodating to our needs. It was perfect for our stay there and it was nice to have place of our own (luckily we could use our folk’s furniture for the duration).

Because the Shady Cove area is so pristine, we are able from time to time to view Bald Eagles, an endangered species and symbol of our country. The one pictured at right was seen from our folk’s deck as it landed in a nearby treetop.

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