The vision of the Row River Trail began in 1992 when a multi-agency/private citizen working group was organized to foster a Rails-to-Trails project for the abandoned Oregon Pacific & Eastern (OP&E) rail line.
The OP&E line was owned and operated by the Bohemia Mining Company and utilized to haul ore, logs, supplies and passengers between Disston and Cottage Grove. The Northwest Oregon District Bureau of Land Management (BLM) acquired 14 miles of the abandoned railway in 993 for settlement of a debt from a timber sale default. The BLM began planning for the rail-trail conversion with the completion of the Row River Trail Master Plan (1993).
In 1998, the BLM officially opened the multiple-use paved trail from the Mosby Creek Covered Bridge to Culp Creek. In 1994, the City of Cottage Grove acquired the remaining 3-mile segment of the OP&E rail line that extended from Mosby Creek into the historic downtown district.
The Row River Trail is now 15.6 miles and connects the city of Cottage Grove to Dorena Lake, Culp Creek and the nearby Umpqua National Forest. The trail traverses a variety of landscapes that include: urban lands; pasture and farmland; timber lands; Dorena Lake shoreline; and the Row River.
