Bear Camp Road

Bear Camp Road is a rugged mountain road traversing the Klamath Mountains in Josephine and Curry counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. Bear Camp Road is a combination of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Road 34-8-36 (also known as Galice Road) starting just south of Galice and United States Forest Service (FS) Road 23, which continues from the 12-mile (19 km) point on 34-8-36 to Agness. The road is named for a camp and viewpoint at the 4,600-foot (1,400 m) summit near the Josephine–Curry county line.

The road is a common route to recreational opportunities, including hunting and rafting, and is also the only route to the Oregon Coast between the California-Oregon border and the Rogue River. It is a paved, one-lane road with infrequent turnouts and a few gravel sections. At both ends, the road quickly climbs up to the crest of the Coast Range, and the majority of the road is at high elevation on top of a long ridge.

Bear Camp Road is a rugged, narrow, crooked road, which is not suitable for travel in the winter. Numerous motorists have been stranded for days or weeks on Bear Camp Road or one of the many gravel roads that branch off from it. Dewitt Finley and James Kim both died after being stranded on the road in winter.

Bear Camp Road came into the national spotlight in late 2006 when James Kim, his wife Kati, and their two daughters attempted to reach Gold Beach via this route. Kati claims they missed an exit on Interstate 5 to their intended route, Oregon Route 42, and decided to take Bear Camp Road instead. Late on the night of November 25, 2006, they missed signs warning of possible snow and continued up the mountain road. At the intersection of Bear Camp Road and BLM sections of the road, they decided to turn into the BLM road and eventually ended up lost 16 miles (26 km) down a side road before stopping for the night. A snowstorm trapped them at this location.

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Wikipedia