Southern Oregon’s Historical Steamboat Inn Has Reopened Now That the Jack Fire Is No Longer a Threat

Guests were evacuated July 5, the same day the blaze was reported approximately 2 miles east.

Steamboat Inn Melinda and Travis Woodward, owners of the Steamboat Inn on the North Umpqua River. Cascade Mountains, Oregon. (courtesy of Steamboat Inn)
By Andi Prewitt

Steamboat Inn, the historical resort nestled in the heart of the Umpqua National Forest, has reopened following its abrupt closure earlier this month due to the Jack Fire.

Guests were evacuated on Monday, July 5, the same day that a blaze was reported approximately 2 miles east off of Highway 138 in Douglas County. The surrounding steep, rugged terrain allowed flames to grow and spread quickly.

In addition to the closure of the inn, the fire forced the Oregon Department of Transportation to bar access to 17 miles of highway between Steamboat and Slide Creek. That route has since reopened. As of today, the Jack Fire is 60 percent contained, according to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group.

This isn’t the resort’s only recent close call with a wildfire. Last September, Steamboat was spared from the Archie Creek Fire, which claimed more than 131,000 acres before it was fully contained two months later. That disaster knocked out phone, water and septic services for both the inn and its owners’ home for five months.

Perched atop a bluff overlooking the North Umpqua River, some 40 miles east of Roseburg, there’s a good reason the resort attracts outdoor enthusiasts—particularly anglers. It is located at one of the former camps favored by bestselling Western fiction author and fly-fishing legend Zane Grey, who sought out the location once the Rogue River became too crowded for his liking.

You can put a line in exactly where he would have, along the wild and scenic channel just steps away from Steamboat. But now, after a long day of casting and reeling, the inn’s luxury suites await rather than a tent.

Related: 36 Hours of Rugged River Recreation in the Umpqua National Forest

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