Rooster Rock Burn
Seasons
Checklists
Location
From Sisters, travel south on Elm Street and leave the city. This road will become 3 Creeks Road or Forest Road 16. Go about 5 miles south of Sisters and you will see where the burn crossed 3 Creeks Road. When you get to burned trees, look for a wooden fence on the left. Just past (south of) the wooden fence is an unmarked Forest Service Road. Turn left (east) here. Travel a couple of miles to a “T” and the burn starts here. Turn right (east) at the “T” and enter the burn. The road will dip into a gully. This is a good place to start. Just after the gully, the road splits. Both left and right are good and you should cover both if you have time. Take the left fork first and periodically stop to check for woodpeckers for a couple of miles until you hit live trees. Then back-track and take the right fork and do the same.
DirectionsHabitat and Birds
The 1634 acre Rooster Rock fire occurred in August of 2010 and was a terrific woodpecker location for about 10 years, especially for Black-backed Woodpecker. Now, it is older and less attractive to woodpeckers. That said, woodpeckers can still be found there. The occasional Black-backed is joined by Downy, Hairy, and Williamson’s Sapsucker. In late summer and fall, this burn fills with juvenile Chipping Sparrows, bluebirds, nuthatches, and Pine Siskins.
Discussion