Another West Side Mystery Photo

cwh · 12-29-2005, 01:29 PM

Ok, this one may be a little tricky, but someone could get it just from the question.

What town once stood here?

lor · 12-29-2005, 01:46 PM

Just a guess, I don't know the name of the mountain.
But could it be the town of Valsetz, which means your near the Siletz.

cwh · 12-29-2005, 02:05 PM

I was afraid someone would get it on the first guess. You're right lor, it is Valsetz.

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/or/valsetz.html

It's kind of an interesting bit of trivia. Unfortunately the land is privately owned, and you can't go in to see the remains of the town.

lor · 12-29-2005, 02:35 PM

I use to fish that area back when they allowed access on weekends. Once they closed it, I moved to new areas.

bigamefisher2 · 12-29-2005, 02:42 PM

Yes, the land is privately owned, however, the owners opened it up this year. The main road going through is the only road that you can drive. It goes right past the buildings you can see from where your pic was taken. All of the other roads off of the main one are walk in only. I went through there during second season elk. I heard there were quite a few bulls killed in there this year. One monster 6x6 bull that I did see in the back of a rig.

scubaseth · 12-29-2005, 05:32 PM

That ghost town website is neat.

Scuba

sliverpicker · 12-29-2005, 05:38 PM

Geeez, I didn't even get to look at it before it was solved!You snooze, you looze

skein · 12-29-2005, 06:19 PM

Yes, it's opened back up, but with serious restrictions. There is NO CAMPING in the area, no campfires, and lots of active logging going on - so if you go in there watch for log trucks and support rigs.

I say serious, because THEY are serious about enforcement, and could close it back down if it gets abused.

Skein

cwh · 12-29-2005, 07:09 PM

Here's another Valsetz site with some cool pictures.

http://www.homestead.com/valsetz/bvalsetz.html

BrianMaguire · 12-29-2005, 08:46 PM

Isn't it just a big swamp anyway?

Lucky one · 12-29-2005, 09:37 PM

There's lots more there then swamp. My buddies and I would head up there after classes to look for elk. It wasn't uncommon to see multiple herds just driving down the roads. Tons of elk and lots of closed roads to walk out. If they are still logging heavily, I'm not sure if there is any cover left though.

Steelie28 · 12-29-2005, 09:55 PM

You see the size of that tree with the 5 guys sitting in front of it

. Damn, no wonder they built a town there. Imagine the amount of fish that were in the North Fork Siletz back in the day. Always wanted to check that old town out. Very cool websites.