Gold Lake Bog Research Natural Area Willamette National Forest , USFS West Cascades, Oregon Ecoregion Cell(s): Mountain hemlock/big huckleberry Englemann spruce-subalpine fir forest Subalpine pond, with aquatic beds and marshy shore Few flowered spikebrush/brown moss fen, with Englemann spruce and lodgepole pine Geyer willow shrub swamp Bog birch shrub swamp Bog blueberry shrubswamp, with Englemann spruce, lodgepole pine, and tufted hairgrass

Access by road, trail, and water; cross-country travel through boggy portions may be somewhat difficult at times

The 188-ha Gold Lake Bog Research Natural Area is located in Lane County, Oregon in the volcanic High Cascades. Nestled in a basin between two mountain slopes at the head of Gold Lake, most of the RNA is topographically flat, except in the northwestern and southeastern corners where the tract does include the lower mountain slopes. Three small ponds (totaling 1.5 ha) are located in the bog, and three major streams converge and flow through the tract. Elevations range from 1,463 to 1,646 m. Complete descriptions of the bogs and marshes that make up the key features of this RNA are not available. However, many common bog plants occur. Subalpine forests are dominated by Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) along the periphery of the bogs and marshes. The drier upland forests are of mixed composition including mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), Shasta red fir (Abies magnifica var. shastensis), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and western white pine (Pinus monticola). The major form of disturbance in the past was the removal of beaver dams, causing water levels to drop marshes and bogs. This practice was discontinued when the natural area was established in 1965.