Wild horse viewing opportunities

Shows a lot of horses running near Big Sage Reservoir with Mount Shasta in the smokey background.

The Modoc National Forest is proud to manage the Devil’s Garden Plateau Wild Horse Territory. It offers one more reason for Americans to connect with their national forest. The Territory is 258,000 acres occupying much of the Devil’s Garden Ranger District. This page should help wild horse viewers plan and make the most of any visit. Please go prepared, let someone know where you are going and when you plan to return, take a Modoc National Forest map and recognize this is extremely wild and remote country. Most importantly, please enjoy your visit to the Devil’s Garden Plateau Wild Horse Territory.

Wild horse viewer information packet

Viewing opportunities map

This map shows 7 wild horse territory access locations and explains each to wild horse viewers

Viewing opportunities location descriptions

  1. Big Sage Reservoir: One of the best and easiest to reach destinations near the Territory, accessed by Crowder Flat Road (FR 73), this location offers a campground on the southwest corner of the lake. Parking on the east side of the dam and walking north along the east shore of the lake will offer excellent chances to view large numbers of wild horses, though the Territory boundary runs north-south a half mile east of the lake.
  2. Logan Slough: A short drive east along FR 45N06 from the well-signed junction with Crowder Flat Road leads to a rocky ford. After driving across the slough and up onto the plateau, wild horse viewers can continue an extremely rough drive another 1.5 miles into the Territory or park and explore by foot.
  3. Emigrant Spring: Accessed by Pencil Road (FR 46N02), a rough four-wheel-drive route along the far eastern boundary of the Territory, this area offers solitude for horses and viewers with lots of water holes, wild flowers, ancient juniper trees, and interpretive signs highlighting pioneer trails.
  4. Quaking Aspen: This beautiful setting is most easily accessed by FR 46N29 along the southern shore of Clear Lake. It is the closest Territory access opportunity to Hwy 139 for visitors coming from the Klamath Basin. A short cross-country hike to the south leads into the northeastern portion of the Territory.
  5. Boles Tank: This destination is near Blue Mountain and Boles Creek offering visitors panoramic views from a historic lookout and seclusion among the trees where mares and their foals can sometimes be seen enjoying the shade.
  6. Reservoir M: This is one of the more out of the way Territory access locations in the center of a very active area. With Boles Meadow to the north and numerous lakes nearby, this is a very popular area for wild horses.
  7. Drift Fence Tank: Another opportunity to look for wild horses while also following in the steps of early explorers, this location is best accessed from Davis Creek, CA along FR 73 just west of Goose Lake. Parking near the tank and/or traveling south will lead to historic markers and some of the best wild horse viewing on the Devil’s Garden Plateau Wild Horse Territory.

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