The Elliott's Scenic Ridgetop Drive

To start the Ridgetop Drive turn south of Coos Bay on US 101, then fork left at a traffic light with a signpost to Allegany. Continue to follow signs to Allegany as you cross the Coos River on a handsome old steel truss bridge, then follow it upstream on its right (northern) bank, then finally turning sharply northward to follow the Millacoma River — a very scenic drive in itself. When you pass a small country church at an intersection on your left you've reached Allegany Community. Your turn onto the Ridgetop Drive is just 3/4th of a mile further, on your left (shown opposite).When you are done you'll rejoin this road at the church.

Put your tripmeter on zero. I'll give you mileages for all all the turns, starting from here.

The Ridgetop Drive ascends the ridge by following Marlowe Creek. It spends its first five miles alongside the creek in an increasingly narrow ravine. At 5.0 miles it reaches the head of the valley and goes steeply uphill. Here it crosses into land owned by Weyerhaeuser as part of its mammoth Millacoma Tree Farm. At 170,000 acres the Millacoma is nearly double the size of the Elliott, and except for this section of road is closed to the public. Not surprisingly these privately owned lands are heavily logged. The road tops out at 6.6 miles at an elevation of 1,400 feet, onto an unnamed ridge.

The drive re-enters the state forest at 7.1 miles, and from here on forests predominate. The Elliott is a patchwork of single-age forests mixed with scattered recent clearcuts, with the oldest patches dating to an 1868 fire that burned out almost all of the area.

After going through a patch of 150 year old forest you'll briefly touch Weyerhaeuser land again at 9.0 miles. At 9.8 miles the important cross-connector SFR 2300 leads right to reach the West Fork Millacoma in 2.0 miles and rejoin the Ridgetop Drive in 5.2 miles, meeting it at its milepost 36.7. The intersection is signposted; the Ridgetop Drive go straight.

At 10.2 miles the road passes through Weyerhaeuser lands one final time, regaining the state forest at 11.1 miles. Here the road follows the top of a large clearcut with wide views over the heavily cut Millacoma Tree Farm.

At 16.4 miles the drive's other cross-connector, FSR 8000, heads off to the left. While the intersection is sign-posted it is easy to blunder down this side road by accident; be sure to turn right instead of heading straight. This side road is poorly maintained and is slated for abandonment. I cannot recommend it for passenger vehicles, although it is very scenic. If you do take it you'll reach the West Fork Millacoma River in 2.5 miles, follow it for five miles, and rejoin the Ridgetop Loop in 10.2 miles at its milepost 33.6.

As the route approaches its eighteen mile mark it makes two confusing turns and changes its number. At 17.8 miles. at an unmarked intersection in a clearcut, the Ridgetop Drive turns abruptly left onto a side road while the main road heads right downhill to exit the forest. The Ridgetop Drive is still numbered FSR 1000 although you can't prove it by any signage, while the road out of the forest is FSR 1850.

If you are thinking about bailing be advised that you've already driven on the Ridgetop Drive's best quality roads, so now's your chance. If you go right you'll descend on an excellent gravel road to reach paved Loon Lake Road in 4.2 miles. From here it's 13.5 miles on a good (and scenic) county road to State Route 38, a major highway.

Back to the main route, at 18.2 miles (in another clearcut) the Ridgetop Drive forks left steeply uphill on another apparant side road, while what appears to be the main road goes left, leaving the forest on an excellent gravel road to emerge on Loon Lake Road. The Ridgetop Drive is now following SFR 7000.

You have now gained the crest of Umpcoos Ridge, separating the watersheds of the Umpqua River (to your right) and the Coos River (to your left — the Millacoma River is a tributary of the Coos). For the next 3.6 miles you'll be traveling due north through alternating forests and cuts. For the first mile you'll be in another stand of 150 year old trees, veterans of the 1868 fire. After that a clearcut on your right gives fine views over Loon Lake, formed around 700 AD when a large sandstone formation collapsed into Mill Creek. It's now home to a private resort and a large BLM recreation site.

This long westward stretch ends at 30.1 miles, at a Y-intersection with SFR 2000. The Ridgetop Drive follows FSR 2000 to the left — its third and last number change. The right fork (also SFR 2000) drops to State road 38 at the Umpqua River, but was not particularly well maintained when inspected and cannot be recommended.

Another mile ahead an unnamed side road leads off to the right. When inspected this turned out to be a good quality road, probably because of active logging sites along it. It takes 7.1 miles to leave the forest and another two miles to reach a good county road (at which point you go left to reach State Road 38).

For the final ten miles you'll be heading south on SFR 2000 on an unnamed ridge. Scenery continues to alternate between clearcuts and forests, with most of the cuts on the east (left) giving views over the West Fork Millacoma River. There's one notable exception: a small outcrop at the end of this stretch (at Trail Butte) that gives wide views towards the Pacific Ocean.

You'll pass five intersections on this stretch.

• The first intersection, at 32.6 miles, is SFR 4000, another easy place to blunder down the wrong direction; the Ridgtop Drive, as usual, goes left. SFR 4000 is another connection to the outside world, good in quality although not remarkably scenic, leading 7.8 miles to a good paved road and another 5.3 miles to US 101 and the village of Lakeside, north of Coos Bay.
• The second intersection is SFR 4900 which simply heads a a mile or so back to SFR 4000. Short roads like this allow long lumber trucks to turn into the intersection no matter what way they are coming from.
• The third intersection is cross-connector SFR 8000, described above, at 33.6 miles,
• The fourth is the other cross-connector SFR 2300 at 36.7 miles, also described above.
• The fifth connector is FSR 3000, described next, at 41.5 miles.

The fifth and final intersection is SFR 3000, an unmarked and confusing fork. To complete the Ridgetop Loop you go left, staying on SFR 1000. You'll reach paved county maintained West Fork Millacoma Road at 44.1 miles, and this takes you back to where you started at 49.3 miles.

The right fork (SFR 3000), however, is an excellent road and very scenic; it leaves the forest after 7.7 miles, reaching US 101 just north of Coos Bay in another 6.1 miles. Mostly it passes through very attractive forests, but there are a couple of good clearcut views south over the farmed valley of the West Fork Millacoma River. Once you reach the end of the forest road, return to US 101 north of Coos Bay by turning left at each of the three paved intersections.