Camas Prairie

Location

This area is located about 20 miles SE of Government Camp off of Hwy 216. From the junction of Hwy 26 and 216, travel east two miles and look for a paved road on your left (north). This road is called Frog Creek Road or NFD 2130. Travel north on the 2131 road for about 0.4 miles and you will come to an intersection of three different roads. Stay on Frog Creek Road and continue north for another 0.4 miles. Find a wide spot in the road and park. The prairie is about 300 yards to the NE. There is no established trail here so you will be hiking through dense forest. Be careful to keep your bearings in the forest. It is very helpful to find this location on Google Maps and use the “Satellite” view to get an idea of the lay of the land on this west side.

To access the east side of the prairie, go back to Hwy 216 and continue east for another 1.6 miles to Keep’s Mill Road. Look for a sign that says Keep’s Mill. Go across Clear Creek Ditch, down a hill and turn left, across a very noisy cattle guard. Continue to the old corral. That is the first overlook of the Prairie. There is a creek going W-E. Caution: if you go across the creek into the meadow be careful. There are concealed “ponds” that get covered over by the grass. Craig Corder tried it once and came back, saying it was dangerous. Moving west of the corral, you will find a good trail that offers a much safer point of access to the prairie.