It begins near Emigrant Lake and travels 28.8 miles (46.3 km) through the municipalities of Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, Medford, and Central Point.

[4] Prior to the arrival of settlers in the 1850s, the Bear Creek Valley was home to three Indian tribes; these were the Takelmas, the Latgawas, and the Shastas.

The scattered camps hunted deer and elk, fished for salmon, raided other tribes, and consumed plums, sunflowers, and root crops.

[6][8] Farmers and ranchers continued to acquire land claims, and when the Oregon and California Railroad arrived in 1883, Bear Creek was chosen as the route to follow.

[4] The landscape surrounding the watershed has been carved by tectonic activity leaving steep canyons that are prone to flooding when snow melts in the spring.