Mecca and fly fishing

Mecca is a little place that used to be used by the railroad people. When the railroad closed down the little town wayside went away and laid vacant for years. Then a man and his wife moved in and lived in the old way in the little house raising their own food for years.  Then the people from Portland discovered it and word spread to all fly fishermen that some of the best steelhead fishing to be had was here and it once again became a popular hub of people every summer.

They put in a campground that can become really full and even a overflow when the rafters and fisherman come for the weekend or longer.

 You can barely see the old house in this photo and the campground is empty in winter. During the summer this whole little flat area you see will be covered with campers.

It is located off highway 26. You turn left between the bridge that crosses the Deschtues River and the Rainbow Market on a small gravel road. It first splits three ways and you take the middle road, you can see the railroad tunnel on your right that my last post was about.  The next "Y" you stay to the right and you will pass the other end of the tunnel, continue down that dirt road and it ends right at the campground shown here.  There is a walking trail that you can walk the river down to Trout Creek and back or have someone pick you up at Trout Creek.  To get to Trout Creek you need to go back to highway 26 and turn East. At the top of the grade you turn left on Gumwood, then left on Columbia Drive, go several miles and turn right on Juniper and follow it through the farming area and down the grade into a little ghost town called Gateway. When you get to gateway take the gravel road to the left and follow it about 10 miles to Trout Creek. This is a rough road after you get through the farm ground but a beautiful drive.  You will find several pictures in my blog or my lindawarrenlarson.smugmug.com web stie of photos taken on this drive.  This is my old stomping grounds as you will pass right by where I grew up.