About a dozen miles out of Grants Pass whether you cross Robertson and take Lower River Road or follow Redwood Highway, the town has a market with a gas pump, a cafe, and a church.  Otherwise it's pretty much rural residential and almost everyone has 2-1/2 acres or better.

There have been a lot of wonderful things said about Indian Mary Park on the Merlin-Galice road, and it's just over the hill, but we also have Griffin Park right up the street from here! 

 
  A very short stretch of the beach at Griffin Park as seen from across the river (at the end of Ferry Road, off of Lower River Road)

The true jewel of the Josephine County Parks system, Griffin Park has every bit as nice of facilities as Indian Mary, including RV hookups and hot showers, and it has a beach that is about a mile long!  The really nice thing is that it hasn't been "discovered" the way Indian Mary has, so it's never as crowded, plus I think the lawns are better tended at Griffin.  Last but not least, the boatnik hydroplanes race by Griffin Park every Memorial Day and there's plenty of parking along the waterfront for tailgate parties!

 Looking upriver from the point above Griffin Park

 Closeup of racing jetboats taken from the same point, during the Annual Boatnik Race on Memorial Day Weekend.

Also within less than a mile of the Shan Creek community is Finley Bend, justifiably famous as one of the best salmon fishing spots in the world.  If you drive downriver, cross Robertson Bridge, then come back upriver along and then off of Lower River Road, you can find Matson Park which sits on the inside of the bend.  This park isn't very developed, but it's popular in the summer for its beach; Finley Bend is also a good place to swim and sunbathe!  Indian artifacts have been found in the area dating to 11,000 years ago, so just think about that:  with the entire continent virtually uninhabited, people who could have lived anywhere they wanted to were choosing to live here!

 Fourth of July Weekend at Finley Bend

 Finley Bend at High Tide!  The Floodwaters of 2005 (the morning after)

Back on the Riverbanks Road side, Limpy Creek joins the Rogue at Finley Bend, and up the road a few miles is the Limpy Creek Botanical Interpretive Trail, which runs either a mile and a half or two and a half miles, depending on which loop you take.  Along these trails are about a dozen of the most fantastic waterfalls you've ever seen, and benches have been set up at nearly all of them.  Several signs along the trail provide information about the plants, animals and geology of the area.

If you drive up Shan Creek Road you'll run out of pavement after about a half mile, though the road is very well gravelled all the way over the mountain until you reach civilization and asphalt again.  But just a few hundred yards after the gravel starts there's a pullout, and a trail that leads down to Shan Creek and the neighborhood swimming hole (below). 

If you're looking for a home and a lifestyle something along the lines of what you might see in a Disney movie, then a summertime visit to this community cooling and gathering place ought to convince you that yes, it IS possible, and indeed you've found it!  Look a little deeper and you might find some gold nuggets, and maybe even a couple of arrowheads!

The Shan Creek Trail continues up onto Onion Mountain on the opposite side of the Shan Creek Gorge from the road, but the trail has to be traveled on foot or horseback.  Either way you go, you'll be heading into the heart of the Siskiyou National Forest and the lands between here and the coast are almost entirely public and the US Forest Service maintains dozens of fine campgrounds and trails virtually within (y)our backyard!