Parsons Creek Road, and its many offshoots, including: Pioch Ln., Rose Rd., Pentilla Rd., Regal Ln., Jones Acres Rd., Trestle Dr., Boiler Creek Rd., and Ewing Rd., are beautiful places to live in the scenic Mohawk Valley in Lane County, Oregon.  The area has a secluded feel to it, and reminds me of Lane County from days gone by.  Country properties are interspersed with timber properties and the area seems like you are up in the woods.

The Mohawk Valley is east northeast of Springfield and generally follows Marcola Road.  Parsons Creek Road starts from Marcola Road, less than a mile from the town of Marcola, which is about 10 miles from Springfield.  Parsons Creek Road is about 3 miles long, and eventually turns into logging road to the west.  Parsons Creek Road and its offshoot roads, which I’m considering the Parsons Creek Road area, comprise an area of some 1,500 acres, lending to its enclave feel.  There are around 375 properties with undeveloped timber property comprising more than half of the total.  Parsons Creek was named after Richard Henry Parsons.  He came to Oregon in 1853, and is known for establishing the Marcola post office and other civic works.

Houses in the Parsons Creek area date from 1900 with most of the development occurring after 1970.  Developed property sizes range from under an acre to over 15 acres, with 4 acres and under being especially common.  Undeveloped timber property is as large as 640 acres, a whole section or 1 mile by 1 mile, but small wood lots, under 5 acres are surprisingly common.  Property information is below.

Developed property values, according to the County, range from minimal to over 680K, so there’s quite a range. Sales data from RMLS, over the last 24 months, reveal 1 active, 0 pendings and 4 solds; information was current at the time of this posting.  Prices ranged from about 130K to 475K.

Zoning designations common along the Parsons Creek Road area are:  RR, F, and EFU.  The area is not within any UGB designation, so land development and building permits are controlled by Lane County.  The Parsons Creek Road area is in the Mohawk School District, and schools are Marcola and Mohawk.  Not much of the Parsons Creek Road area is within the 100 year flood plain.  Wells and septic tanks are the norm in the Parsons Creek area.

Many would like to take an undeveloped piece of timber property and turn it into their dream country estate.  This is possible, but can be difficult.  Underlying forestry zoning, especially F2, can be a good candidate for this.  There are County rules for the development process, but if the ground is poor for growing trees, or if there’s substantial neighboring development, or if the property is a long standing legal lot, then the development chances are increased.  Land that is zoned EFU has a different development path, and showing a plan for annual crop income may help for this method of development.  A safer bet is buying an existing house or mobile home cheaply, then turning this into your dream home.  Development of country property is, unfortunately, its own esoteric and arcane field and there are experts that do nothing but this in Lane County.

The Parsons Creek area was settled after the rest of the Mohawk Valley.  Not until the1880s did Parsons Creek get any settlement.  For the early pioneers subsistence farming was their primary activity, and beginning in about 1850 they chose arable bottom land in the Mohawk Valley, rather than the heavily wooded, upland areas, like Parsons Creek.  From the 1890s onward, the timber industry made tree growing land much more valuable, and interest in it picked up.

Settlement and development of the Parsons Creek area was initially due to logging and lumber.  The Fischer mill had a camp for its workers on Parsons Creek, and in the 1920s there was a mill located near the creek mouth.  An overhead flume ran from Parsons Creek to the Town of Marcola from 1906 until 1916.  Railroads were also used to get the logs out of the woods, down to the mill in Marcola.  The Fischer Mill in Marcola remained the major economic force in the area until 1956 when it was liquidated; it no longer was economically viable without the nearby source of big timber.

Parsons Creek is a major tributary to the Mohawk River.  It is fish bearing most of its length with native cutthroat trout.  Tributaries to Parsons Creek include Whiskey, Drake, Wendy and Small Creeks.  The Parsons Creek watershed is said be less flashy (flood prone) than other Creeks in the Mohawk Valley.

Parsons Creek Road, Pioch Ln., Rose Rd., Pentilla Rd., Regal Ln., Jones Acres Rd., Trestle Dr., Boiler Creek Rd., and Ewing Rd. are beautiful spots to own real estate.  Buying or selling country property in Lane County can be a challenge, but a good realtor who is familiar with the area can be a great aid to you. If you are interested in real estate along Parsons Creek Road or other country properties in Lane County, Oregon, please contact me.  Or you can search listings here.