Category: Oregon

Elk Creek to Idiot Creek Road (Wilson River Trail) – 05/18/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 20, 2024
No Comments on Elk Creek to Idiot Creek Road (Wilson River Trail) – 05/18/2024

The Wilson River Trail currently runs 24.6 miles, with its western end beginning at Muesial Creek Road and its eastern end at Idiot Creek Road. We previously hiked two sections of the trail – the Kings Mountain TH to the Elk Creek TH segment twice (2010 & 2022) and the Footbridge TH to Jones Creek TH segment (2014). It was time to check out another section of the trail and we set our sights on the Elk Creek TH to Idiot Creek Road TH segment.

We parked at the Elk Creek Trailhead since it is the more convenient of the two trailheads to reach. There are a small number of parking spots across from a signboard where we had begun both of our Elk/Kings Mountain loops which is where we once again parked.
The first signboard near the small parking area.

We hadn’t fully woken up yet, so we didn’t think to simply take the trail here uphill 100 feet to the Wilson River Trail. Instead walked along the shoulder of Elk Creek Road to a much larger parking area at roads end.
Elk Creek Road from the small parking area.

The larger parking area.

There was another signboard at this trailhead which we stopped at to study the map.

After confirming our route, we set off past a Wilson River Trail sign and came to a junction where we realized we could have avoided the 500′ road walk.

We turned right following a pointer for Idiot Creek Loop Road (note the road is currently not a loop due to a washed-out section). The trail quickly joined the old bed of Elk Creek Road.

We followed the old roadbed along Elk Creek for approximately a half mile to a well signed junction.

Bleeding heart

Salmonberry

Fairy lanterns

Largeleaf avens

Scouler’s corydalis

Coastal monkeyflower

At the junction we turned right and crossed the seasonal footbridge over Elk Creek. (In place May thru September.)

The trail traversed a hillside above Elk Creek for three quarters of a mile before heading uphill.

Fringecup

Trillium

Star flower

The well graded trail uses a combination of switchbacks and long traverses to climb over 1000′.

Looking down at the trail below.

Vanilla leaf

Spotted coralroot

Anemone

Western buttercup

Near the 2.7-mile mark we took a short spur trail to a rocky viewpoint.

Paintbrush, parsley, and blue-eyed Mary

From the viewpoint it was another third of a mile up to Idiot Creek Loop Road.

Fairy lanterns and paintbrush

I did just a bit of exploring along the road in each direction before we headed back down.

Lupine was just beginning to bloom along the road.

On the way back down.

We had briefly considered following the Elk Creek Trail from the junction near the footbridge before heading back to the car but decided to save that for another time.

West Fork Elk Creek to the left and Elk Creek to the right from the bridge.

The junction with the Elk Creek Trail.

We returned to the car by sticking to the actual Wilson River Trail this time ending the morning at 7.7 miles with a little under 1500′ of elevation gain.
We missed a section of leafy mitrewort on our earlier pass.

On the section of the trail we missed by taking Elk Creek Road.

The small parking area from the trail.

While there was a number of cars in the parking areas, we only passed 5 other hikers this morning. Mountain bikers would have gone out the Elk Creek Trail and most hikers were likely headed to Elk Mountain or tackling the full Elk/Kings Mountain Loop. The hike to Idiot Creek Loop Road was pleasant and the gently graded trail made for a nice climb through the green forest. The lack of any major “wow” sights along the trail keeps this a quieter option for the area, but the creek, flowers, and forest make it worthy of a visit. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Elk Creek to Idiot Creek Loop Road

Tags Elk Creek, Elk Creek Footbridge, Elk Creek Trail, ELk Creek Trailhead, flowers, hiking, Idiot Creek Loop Road, Oregon, Tillamook State Forest, Wilson River Trail

Coastal Range Hiking Northern Coast Oregon Coast Trip report

Cathedral Tree, Young’s River Falls, and Fishhawk Falls – 05/12/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 15, 2024
No Comments on Cathedral Tree, Young’s River Falls, and Fishhawk Falls – 05/12/2024

After spending the night in Astoria following a full day of hiking (post) we woke up on Mother’s Day ready to head home. We couldn’t resist the opportunity to get a little more hiking in on the way there though.

Our plan for the day was visit the Astoria Column by way of the Cathedral Tree, then take an alternate route from Astoria to visit a pair of waterfalls. We made the short drive from our motel to the Richard Fenscak Cathedral Tree Trailhead on Irving Street and set off past a gate.

A map at the trailhead provides a high-level overview of the mile long route to the Astoria Column. The AllTrails map was particularly helpful as it showed most if not all of the spur trails. The trail begins as a wide gravel path that climbs, briskly at times, approximately 250′ in a third of a mile to a junction on a boardwalk.

Thimbleberry

Coming up on the start of the boardwalk.

Scouler’s corydalis at the base of the boardwalk.

The boardwalk junction.

We turned left at the junction and arrived at Cathedral Tree in just 150′.

The base of Cathedral Tree.

One of two benches near the 300+ year old stika spruce.

Cathedral Tree

After visiting the tree, we returned to the junction and continued uphill towards the column.

Beyond the boardwalk the trail was a bit rougher.

Trail markers were present at times to help identify the correct route.

Pacific waterleaf

The Astoria Columnn.

We wandered around the column taking in the views and the art on the column itself.

Megler Bridge

Young’s River on the left and the Lewis & Clark River on the right

The early bird.

We decided to go up the column since it had been years since I had visited, and Heather had never been.

The spiral staircase.

It was stuffy inside and with a rail only on one side of the staircase Heather quickly realized that this was going to be outside her comfort level so she headed back down. I continued to the top, a little dizzy, but otherwise feeling good.

The view was great despite the clouds. They were high enough to allow for decent visibility and they were already breaking up.

Young’s River

Traffic on the Columbia River.

Looking out toward the Pacific beyond Astoria.

Deer in the grass below the Astoria Column.

Heather below the column.

After taking in the view, I wound my way back down the stairs (and got dizzy again).

We returned to the Cathedral Tree trail and hiked back down to Irving Street.

This was a spur trail 0.2-miles from the column (0.6-mile from the trailhead) that also leads down to Irving Street and could be used for a loop if you don’t mind some street walking. We opted to pass and did the hike as an out-and-back.

False lily-of-the valley

The last trillium?

Fringecup

From the Cathedral Tree Trailhead we followed Google map directions through Astoria to Young’s River Road and eventually to Young’s River Falls Park.
The start of the short trail to the falls.

It was clear from the parking area that it is unfortunately popular with the party crowd who can’t be bothered to pack out their mess. Regardless the falls were impressive, and the 0.3-mile round trip was well worth the stop.
Interpretive signs near the start of the trail.

The falls were noted during Lewis and Clark’s stay at nearby Fort Clatsop (post).

This was a tough one to photograph due to the amount of spray being blown straight at us by the force of the water.

After admiring the falls we returned to the car and made our way to Highway 202 following directions from Google. Once we’d made it to the highway we headed SE to Lee Wooden Fishhawk Falls County Park.

A quarter-mile trail here leads to Fishhawk Falls which we honestly weren’t expecting much from.
We pulled over onto the shoulder of Hwy 202 to snap a picture of these bulls.

Bleeding heart

Fairybells

Scouler’s corydalis

We spotted it too late to get a photo, but as we neared the falls a bald eagle took flight. The trail ends at Fishhawk Creek nearly a tenth of a mile from the 72′ falls.

The view is good from the end of the trail, but since this was our last stop of the day I decided to ford the creek and get a closer look. The water was knee deep, but not too cold.

I was joined by a pair of ouzels at the falls.

Looking back at Heather on the other side of Fishhawk Creek.

Me through the trees below the falls.

Maybe it was the timing of our visit, but this was one of the nicest waterfalls we’ve seen in a while. We finally pulled ourselves away and returned to our car. We made one more stop on the way home at the Jewell Meadows Wildlife Area to use the public restrooms before driving home.

Please note that you need a permit to park at the refuge.

The three short hikes came to a total of 3 miles and 500′ of elevation gain, mostly from the Cathedral Tree hike. They were quite enjoyable, and we were able to get home before Noon giving us time to unpack, clean up, and then visit my Mom on Mother’s Day. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Cathedral Tree, Young’s River Falls, and Fishhawk Falls

Tags Astoria, Astoria Column, Cathedral Tree, Cathedral Tree Trail, Clatsop County, Fishhawk Falls, hiking, Jewell Meadows Wildlife Area, Lee Wooden Fishhawk Falls County Park, Oregon, Young's River, Young's River Falls, Young's River Falls Park

Hiking Northern Coast Oregon Oregon Coast Trip report

Crescent Beach, Ft. Stevens Historic District, and the Skipanon River Loop – 05/11/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 14, 2024
3 Comments on Crescent Beach, Ft. Stevens Historic District, and the Skipanon River Loop – 05/11/2024

We spent Mother’s Day weekend hiking several trails in Clatsop County. We began on Saturday by driving to Ecola State Park and parking in the Ecola Point parking lot. We last visited the park in December 2013 when we hiked north along the Oregon Coast Trail (OCT) to Tillamook Head’s high point. (post)

For this visit our plan was to hike south on the OCT then take the Crescent Beach Trail down to that beach.
The trail begins near the restrooms.

The trail began by climbing via a couple sets of wooden stairs to Ecola Park Rd which it briefly followed along the shoulder.

Ecola Park Road.

Where the trail left the shoulder, we came to a pair of cyclists who we thought were looking out at the Ocean. It took a second for us to realize that they were actually watching a small herd of elk in the forest below.

After watching the elk for a moment we started down the trail which wound up switching back down toward the elk. Luckily they were following proper Leave No Trace Principals and remained an acceptable distance from the wild hikers.

We continued on past the elk following the OCT approximately a mile from parking lot to the junction with the Crescent Beach Trail.

Skunk cabbage

Scouler’s corydalis

Window to the Pacific.

We turned right at the junction and descended a quarter mile to Crescent Beach.

Ecola Point

Chapman Point and Bird Rocks

We decided to head north toward Ecola Point to check out the tide pools. We had inadvertently timed our visit nearly perfectly as it was about an hour and a half from low tide.
Prior to reaching the tide pools we passed Waterfall Creek.
The upper falls.

Waterfall Creek

The lower falls.

The tide pools from Waterfall Creek.

The tide pools wound up being some of the most impressive we’d seen. We spent a good amount of time walking around to the different pools. We were careful not to climb on any of the rocks or to disturb any of the wildlife. In fact some of the rocks that were exposed are likely part of the Oregon Islands Wilderness.

We found Patrick from Spongebob!

After admiring the tide pools we headed south along the beach toward Chapman Point and the Bird Rocks.

We were curious as to what forces carved out the backside of this rock.

Chapman Point is only passable at certain low tides. On the far side is Cannon Beach (post).

This cave through Chapman Point was flooded at the far end.

Pigeon guillemot

Goose

We turned around at Chapman Point and headed back to the Crescent Beach Trail.

Whibrel

We retraced our steps back to Ecola Point where the lot was beginning to fill up.

Seaside bittercress

Youth-on-age

Our hike here came to 4.4-miles with approximately 600′ of elevation gain.

We hopped in our car and headed north to Fort Stevens State Park for our next hike. There are several parking lots at Fort Stevens and we opted to park at Battery Russell lot.
Battery Russell from the lot.

As with Ecola Point we had started a hike here before. In September 2017 we visited Battery Russell, Coffenbury Lake, and a shipwreck at the park (post). Again today we were going in the opposite direction, this time north to visit the park’s Historic Area. We followed a paved path east from the parking lot then over Jetty Road on an overpass.

The overpass

We followed the paved path to a junction near a pill box where we went right.

The path led past Swash Lake which helped explain the host of mosquitos that were flying around us.

We stayed right at the next junction and Jetty Lagoon on the Swash Lake Bridge.

Looking out toward Swash Lake from the bridge.

A little under 2 miles form the parking lot we arrived at the visitor’s center.
The gate to the Historic Area is locked in the evening.

Visitor’s center

A number of trails and paths wind around the Historic Area as well as open spaces that one can simply walk across. We made up our own route based on a suggested hike from the Oregonhikers Field Guide.

We began by walking past a jeep on display and looping behind the visitor’s center.

From the visitor’s center we headed into a large open space where the barracks had once been.

We made our way to the far end of the open space and turned south to see the old guardhouse and Battery Clark.
The guardhouse on the left.

Battery Clark

We then turned back north cutting across the barracks area toward a pair of smooth bore cannons and Battery Freeman.

We passed the cannons and hiked through a guarded underpass.

Fort Stevens Earth Works.

We crossed a grassy field to the cannons atop the Earth Works then descended a staircase.

White-crowned sparrow

We cut across the grass below to the footbridge in the distance.

Columbia River

Looking west toward the Pacific.

At the Columbia we turned right on the Jetty Trail and followed it past some disc golf holes and Battery Smur to a former roadbed.

Battery Smur

The roadbed coming in from the former barracks site.

We turned left on this road and followed it to a gate and the former Torpedo Loading Room.
Mine Loading Building

Searchlight Generator

Torpedo Loading Room

We turned around here and walked back to the Jetty Trail and followed it west through the Disc Golf Course to the Clatsop Longhouse site.

From the longhouse site we continued on the Jetty Trail toward Battery 245.

Battery 245

We hiked around Battery 245 and onto Battery Mishler.

We passed this battery and Battery Pratt then veered right on a paved path which led back to the path we’d followed from Battery Russell.

Sign for the Lil’ Oozlefinch Putting Course.

We headed back toward the parking lot and at the Pill Box we veered right which was a more direct route to the parking lot. The drawback was that there was no overpass here so we had to watch for traffic before crossing Jetty Road.

Bald eagle

Gate near Jetty Road.

After crossing Jetty Road, we followed the paved path left a tenth of a mile to the Battery Russell parking lot. This hike came to 6.3-miles with just 75′ or so of elevation gain.

Our final stop of the day was just 5 miles from the Battery Russell parking lot at Lighthouse Park in Warrenton.

The parking lot at the park.

Our plan here was to hike the 2-mile Skipanon River Loop. Three things drew us to this trail. First it was a trail we hadn’t yet hiked. Secondly, we hadn’t hiked along the Skipanon River yet, and while it isn’t an official goal we are trying to visit as many of Oregon’s rivers as possible. Finally, one of our favorite post hike restaurants, Nisa’s Thai Kitchen is located along the route.

From the parking lot we crossed NE Skipanon Drive and followed the sidewalk past a storage facility to a path next to E Harbor Drive that promptly passed beneath the road.

Emerging from the underpass.

We turned right onto a paved path along the Skipanon River for a third of a mile to Skipanon River Park.

Mallard family

Sign at the park.

At the park the trail ended and we turned right onto SE 3rd St and followed it a block to S Main Avenue where we turned left. After two blocks on Main we turned left onto SE 5th St and then took a right on a grassy track behind some buildings.
Eighth Street Dam from the grassy track.

We crossed the river on the 8th Street Dam where we finally saw an official trail map.

Until we saw this sign we’d been thinking that maybe the trail didn’t exist any longer. We were also questioning how the loop was supposed to get back across the river at the other end since the only bridge across the river there was Harbor Drive. Until seeing this we were thinking of turning around at the dam, but instead we decided that we’d do the loop with Heather getting a table at Nisa’s while I recrossed the river to retrieve the car.

With lunch calling, and our feet feeling a bit worn, we opted not to do the optional out-and-back B1 spur trail and continued on the loop past a gate.

On this side the trail was a nice grassy track following a dike which was far more pleasant than Main Avenue.

Not the clearest picture but I think this is a greater scaup based on the head shape. We’ve seen a number of lesser scaups, but this would be our first greater.

Great blue heron

Cormorant

A brief paved section.

Nisa’s Thai Kitchen across Harbor Drive.

There was a nice wide bike/pedestrian lane on the bridge making the crossing not too bad even with traffic. As I was made my way across I noticed a path leading down to the underpass on the south side of Harbor Drive which meant I wouldn’t need to cross the main street on foot.
Looking back up the path from Harbor Drive.

The loop came in just over 2-miles with minimal elevation gain.

This would probably be a nicer hike early in the morning when less traffic was about. It was a little awkward walking along the city streets as well, but the grassy dike was a comfortable walk. What really made this worth the stop though was the Drunken Noodles and Pad Thai. After a satisfying meal we drove to Astoria arriving at our motel right after check in time (3pm). We originally thought we might head out to the Astoria Riverwalk after cleaning up, but after showering a resting for a bit it was clear that 12.9 miles were enough for one day. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Crecent Beach, Fort Stevens Historic Area, and the Skipanon River Loop

Columbia River Gorge South Hiking Oregon Trip report

Sheppard’s Dell Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and Devil’s Rest – 4/28/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date April 29, 2024
No Comments on Sheppard’s Dell Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and Devil’s Rest – 4/28/2024

After a dry spell, April showers returned as we prepared for a planned outing to the Columbia River Gorge. On the plus side the plan was to visit several waterfalls which would only benefit from the additional precipitation, and it might keep a few folks home meaning less crowds. On the minus side was the potential for limited views during our planned loop to Devil’s Rest, and possible difficulty keeping the camera lens dry. The pros won out and we got our typical early start to try and make sure there would be a parking spot when we got to our third stop at the Wahkeena Falls Trailhead.

Our plan for the day was to begin by stopping at the two shorter hikes first then end with a longer lollipop loop hike from the Wahkeena Falls Trailhead up to and around Devil’s Rest. Note that all loops visiting Devil’s Rest rely in part on a network of user-created trails. This network of trails, sometimes known as “Foxglovia”, was largely the result of the hard work of “Red Shorts” who sadly passed away unexpectedly earlier this month. Thanks to his work the trails we used on this day were in good shape and well signed for the most part. It will now be left up to others to carry on his work if the trails are to remain passable. As always it is important to attempt to get updated trail conditions before heading out.

We started with the shortest hike of the day by parking at a small pullout along historic Highway 30 across from a sign for Sheppard’s Dell.
The trailhead at 6:15am.

A short path on the far side of the highway leads to a viewpoint at Young Creek and of the 1914 highway bridge.
The Bishops Cap along Highway 30.

The stone railed trail can be seen along the cliff above the lower falls.

The upper falls can be seen through the trees with the lower falls more visible.

End of the trail.

The bridge from the trail.

From Sheppard’s Dell we drove east on Highway 30 (less than a mile) to the Bridal Veil State Scenic Viewpoint.
Informational signboard at the trailhead.

This park hosts two short trails, the Bridal Viel Falls Trail and the Overlook Loop Trail. We started with trail to the falls which began as a paved path next to the restrooms.

After a short distance the trail turns to gravel as it begins to descend to Bridal Veil Creek.

Bridal Veil Creek

The trail crosses the creek on a wide footbridge then turns right and climbs slightly to a viewing platform across from the falls.

The 120′ two-tiered Bridal Veil Falls.

After admiring the waterfall we returned the way we’d come and set off on the Overlook Loop Trail. The half mile interpretive loop passes several viewpoints across the Columbia River to Washington.

There was a lot of camas blooming along the trail.

Cape Horn (post) across from one of the viewpoints.

Sand Island to the west.

The Overlook Loop arriving back at the trailhead parking area.

The short 1.1-mile hike here was still a mile longer than that at Sheppard’s Dell which meant it only a little after 7am as we headed for our final stop of the day. There are actually several starting points for loop hikes involving Devil’s Rest with the most popular seemingly being the Angel’s Rest and Wahkeena Falls Trailheads. Multnomah Falls and Palmer Mill Road are two others that allow for loops under 10-miles. While the Angel’s Rest Trailhead was closer to Bridal Veil it is a slightly longer loop with more elevation gain than starting from Wahkeena Falls Trailhead. Starting at Wahkeena Falls also means getting to see that waterfall and Fairy Falls prior to the start of the loop.

There were a few parking spots available at the Angel’s Rest Trailhead and even fewer cars at Wahkeena Falls when we arrived at 7:15am. We’d been to Wahkeena Falls before. Heather, Dominique and I on an out-and-back from the aforementioned Angel’s Rest Trailhead in 2013(post) and just myself in 2022 after hiking to Larch Mountain from Multnomah Falls (post). Before starting the 1.4-mile climb to the start of the loop we stopped at the Wahkeena Falls viewpoint.

While the Wahkeena Trail passes just below the falls the upper portion of the falls is only visible from a distance.

The trail begins as pavement as it switchbacks uphill before turning to rock/dirt and arriving at a footbridge below the lower portion of Wahkeena Falls at the 0.2-mile mark.

Beyond the falls the trail climbs to a spur trail to the Lemmons Viewpoint then continues along Wahkeena Creek (crossing it twice) to Fairy Falls at the 1.1-mile mark.

The Wahkeena Trail switchbacking up to the Lemmon Viewpoint junction.

Sitka mist-maidens

Woodland-star

The Forest Service includes maps at junctions involving official USFS trails. Note that the map does not extend to Devil’s Rest or include the Foxglovia area.

Our first paintbrush sighting for the year was at the Lemmons Viewpoint.

Archer Mountain in the foreground with Hamilton Mountain (post) and Beacon Rock (post) further to the east.

The first crossing of Wahkeena Creek.

Second footbridge.

Since my visit in October 2022 the trail has experienced a couple of slides, likely a lingering result of the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire. As of 2/18/24 the Forest Service advises caution if attempting to navigate the slides and in fact does not recommend attempting it. They had not officially closed the trail, but also do not have an eta on repairs.
This was the first sketchy new obstacle. The large tree is cutting across a switchback rerouting the trail steeply uphill. While there were some footholds the steepness combined with muddy conditions required caution.

Wahkeena Creek

Fairy Falls with Wahkeena Creek through the trees on the right.

Fairy Falls

Trillium

Bleeding heart

The worst of the slides was a short distance beyond Fairy Falls.
The worst slide took out a section of trail just before a switchback.

Looking down the washout.

The switchback in 2022.

Not pictured, but just above the missing section of trail was another large, downed tree. It was possible to pass under but to do so we both needed to get on our hands and knees.

Neither of us were looking forward to going down either of these washed-out sections but that was a problem for later. The rest of the Wahkeena Trail was in good shape and we followed it past its junction with the Vista Point Trail to a junction with the Angel’s Rest Trail and the start of the loop.
Coming up on the lower end of the Vista Point Trail.

The Angel’s Rest Trail junction.

We went left at this junction sticking to the Wahkeena Trail as it climbed to a junction with the upper end of the Vista Point Trail.

Signs at the junction with upper end of the Vista Point Trail.

Beyond this junction the Wahkeena Trail descended slightly to a junction with the Devil’s Rest Trail.

We veered uphill to the right on the Devil’s Rest Trail.

The Devil’s Rest Trail (Trail 420C) is an official USFS trail that ends at the rocky outcrop atop Devil’s Rest after 1.6 miles. The trail climbs approximately 800′ but is fairly gradual initially using switchbacks to keep the climb reasonable.
Coltsfoot along the trail.

Bleeding heart

Violets lining the trail.

After switchingback along Shady Creek the trail arrives at the rim of the Wahkeena Bowl where the climb becomes even more gradual.

Traveling along the rim of the Wahkeena Bowl.

A small pocket of forest that escaped the Eagle Creek Fire.

Devil’s Rest looking a little foggy from below.

There were a lot of trillium along the rim.

We passed a trail crew that was just hiking in to start work. Not sure how they got up there, but it was nice to see them out and we thanked them for their efforts.

The trail passed two rocky viewpoints before making a final climb to Devil’s Rest.
The first viewpoint was slightly off the trail.

We could at least make out the Columbia River below.

We were going in and out of fog ever few minutes.

Archer Mountain making an appearance.

A trail led to the second outcrop which had a rock sticking up.

Company at the viewpoint.

Something for the trail crew to work on.

Nearing Devil’s Rest.

The Devil’s Rest Trail veered right at a fork and ended at a rock outcrop.

Even without the foggy conditions there wouldn’t have been much of a view from Devil’s Rest, the FS mentions that in their description, but it still makes for a nice destination.

Earlier I mentioned that there were several potential places to start a hike to Devil’s Rest, but there are also several options for returning. The obvious being simply returning via the USFS Trail. To make a loop out of the hike there are a number of options. The steepest and most difficult would be finding the Primrose Path which reportedly heads directly downhill from Devil’s Rest. We didn’t see that trail, but we also weren’t planning on using it. We hiked back along the Devil’s Rest Trail to the junction below and turned right following a pointer for Angel’s Rest.

From there things got a little confusing for us. While we had our GPS and maps showing loops from both Oregon Hikers and NW Hiker none of them showed all of the current trails, but we didn’t realize that initially. This trail is part of the upper Foxglove Way Trail.

A short distance from the the first Angel’s Rest point we came to a fork in the trail with another Angel’s Rest pointer. This one saying to go take the left hand fork.

By going left we were now on a newer (22-23) route. This new trail is referred to as either the She Devil Trail or Red Shorts Cut Trail.
The pointer says “To She Devil Trail” with Red Shorts Cut at the bottom but AllTrails and some more recent Oregon Hikers maps label this section the She Devil Trail.

Regardless of which is the official name it wasn’t on the maps we had but it took us a bit to realize we weren’t where we thought we were. As it turns out Red Shorts built this trail as a more gradual, albeit longer, option. This explained the Angel’s Rest pointer since this was his intended route. The trail itself was in great shape and easy to follow.

The first clue that we might not know where we were came when we passed a stake marking a less worn trail that simply said “Multnomah Basin Road” with a pointer.

Post hike research revealed this was the Lil’ Devil Trail which connects to yet more trails. We correctly ignored this spur and continued on She Devil.

It wasn’t long before we passed another trail and pointer, this time on our right.

This turned out to be the She Devil – Devil’s Fork Trail junction. Taking the Devil’s Fork Trail would have saved us a fair amount of distance as it descends to the Foxglove Trail in 0.2 miles then continues another 0.4 to the Lily’s Lane Trail. Because we didn’t have all the existing trails on our maps we mistook this for a different trail altogether. Instead of turning right we stuck to the She Devil Trail.

We now had enough of a GPS track that we could compare it to the route shown on the Oregon Hikers/NW Hiker maps and see that something seemed off. Our track had headed too far to the SSW compared to the maps so when we came to the next split in the trail we veered right on a flagged trail.
The pointer on the left is for Smith Road. We didn’t see any signs for the right-hand fork.

Despite not seeing a sign for the flagged trail we knew we didn’t want to continue heading SSW. This turned out to be the Red Shorts Cut Trail which slowly curved around to head NNW and meet up with the Foxglove Trail.

Mushrooms

Approximately 0.4-miles along the Red Shorts Cut Trail we arrived at the Foxglove Trail where we were initially confused once again. We could continue in a NNW direction or turn right (ENE). We correctly, although not confidently, turned right onto the Foxglove Trail.

After a third of a mile we arrived at a 4-way junction.

This was the Devil’s Fork Trail crossing the Foxglove Trail. In other words, had we taken the Foxglove Trail way back when we veered left on the She Devil Trail it would have led us here. Likewise had we taken the Devil’s Fork Trail when we stayed left on the She Devil Trail it would have brought us here. Regardless of which trail brought us to this 4-way junction following the pointer for the Wahkeena Trail was the direction we wanted to go.

We turned left onto the Devil’s Fork Trail which briefly followed an old road bed.

We passed the signed Devil’s Cut-off Trail a tenth of a mile from the 4-way junction. This is the trail we mistook the upper portion of the Devil’s Fork Trail for. The cut-off leads over to the Primrose Path.
The Devil’s Cut-off Trail on the right.

Signage on the Devil’s Cut-off Trail.

Sticking to the Devil’s Fork Trail brought us to the Lily’s Lane Trail in another third of a mile.

This was honestly the most debris/blowdown we encountered on the user-maintained trails.

Pointers at the junction with the Lily’s Lane Trail.

Devil’s Fork Trail signs at the junction.

We turned right on Lily’s Lane for 0.2-miles to its end at the Angel’s Rest Trail.

Columbian larkspur getting ready to bloom.

Sign at the Lily’s Lane/Angel’s Rest Trail junction.

We turned right on the Angel’s Rest Trail and followed it for 1.5-miles back to the Wahkeena Trail.
Mist Creek Footbridge.

The first of two logs that required crawling under.

There was a short section filled with Scouler’s corydalis.

The Primrose Path joining from the right.

Primrose Path warning.

Does anyone know the story of this columbine at the Primrose junction? It has to be non-native.

Wahkeena Creek from the Angel’s Rest Trail.

Valerian

Nice display of Oregon grape near Wahkeena Springs.

Arriving at Wahkeena Springs.

Wahkeena Springs

The Wahkeena Trail junction is a very short distance from Wahkeena Springs.

We turned left onto the Wahkeena Trail and began our decent. It was busier than it had been that morning, but it still wasn’t crowded. The less-than-ideal weather seemed to have worked in our favor. Aside from a couple of brief light showers we’d stayed dry and couldn’t have hoped for better given the forecast. We carefully navigated the tricky slides and made our way back down to Wahkeena Falls.
Both female and male versions of western meadowrue. Today was by far the most meadowrue we’d ever seen on a hike.

Female

Male

Fairy Falls

Starting down the switchbacks.

Gold stars

Wahkeena Falls.

The version of the loop that we did came to 9.4-miles with 2350′ of elevation gain.

This turned out to be a great day in the Gorge with the first two waterfalls being more than worth the quick stops and the Devil’s Rest hike added a good amount of adventure. I was saddened to learn of Red Shorts passing when I got home and started researching what we’d done wrong. I was glad to have taken the route that we wound up with though as it was a testament to his hard work and effort.

Flickr: Sheppard’s Dell, Bridal Veil Falls, and Devil’s Rest

Hiking Oregon Portland Trip report Willamette Valley

Jackson Bottom Wetlands and Rood Bridge Park – 04/20/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date April 22, 2024
2 Comments on Jackson Bottom Wetlands and Rood Bridge Park – 04/20/2024

In the original version of our 2024 hiking schedule we’d planned on visiting Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve and Rood Bridge Park in March, but the thing about wetlands is that they tend to be wet. We’d been waiting for all of the trails at Jackson Bottom to dry out, and according to online reports that had finally happened.

Both the preserve and park are located in the city of Hillsboro with the preserve being home to a nature center open 10am – 4pm seven days a week. We began our day at Jackson Bottom by parking at the south entrance near the nature center. (We did not visit the nature center primarily due to the fact that we finished our hike here before 9:30am.)

A network of trails provides numerous options to explore. For our hike we began on the River Trail at the SW corner of the parking lot.

This trail descended a staircase to a view of the Tualatin River.

The trail follows the river through woods with several varieties of Spring wildflowers.

Camas

Solomonseal

Fawn lilies

Thimbleberry

Giant purple wakerobin

The River Trail ended at the Kingfisher Marsh Loop where we turned right.
The trail signs were very helpful in keeping us on track.

Anna’s hummingbird

Viewpoint overlooking Kingfisher Marsh.

The trail crossed Jackson Slough on a footbridge.

After crossing the slough we turned right on a connector trail that brought us to the Pintail Pond Loop where we once again turned right.
Pintail Pond Loop

American goldfinch

A short distance from the connector trail junction we passed the Ash Trail which was temporarily closed due to unstable conditions.

We would have preferred sticking to the Pintail Pond Trail even if the Ash Trail had been open simply because the Pintail Pond Trail provided constant views of the pond where numerous ducks, geese and other birds could be seen.
Red-winged blackbird

Sparrow

Purple martins

American robin

There is a lot of lupine in the preserve but only a few had started blooming.

There was a connector trail down to the Ash Trail near a covered viewing deck, but again we opted to stay on the pond loop.

We paused near the viewing deck to watch the tree swallows glide around their houses.

Pintail Pond

Northern shoveler drake and a gadwall

Green-winged teal

Geese

Killdeer

At the northern end of the pond we arrived at the Jackson Bottom Wetlands Trail where we turned right.

We followed this trail past the northern end of the Ash Trail to a junction with the Coyote Hill Trail where, you guessed it, we turned right.
More camas

The Ash Trail.

Orange-crowned warbler

Jackson Bottom Wetlands

Can’t emphasize enough how helpful the map/pointer combinations are.

The Coyote Hill Trail doesn’t actually climb a hill, but rather it loops around a meadow with a view of Coyote Hill.

Noisy crow

Mourning dove

Our assumption was that that is Coyote Hill in the distance.

Western buttercups

Some houses on the wetlands border.

Golden-crowned sparrow

The Coyote Hill Trail brought us back to the Jackson Bottom Wetlands Trail near its end. We finally made a left turn and headed back toward Pintail Pond.

End of the trail.

Savannah sparrow

Spotted towhee

Passing Pintail Pond.

We stayed right at junctions following the Jackson Bottom Wetlands Trail to its end at Jackson Bottom North Trailhead.
Wapato Marsh

White-crowned sparrow

American robin

American coot

Ring-necked ducks

Wapato Marsh

Cormorants

Raised viewing platform with many tree swallow photobombs.

This couple was having quite the discussion.

The Bobcat Marsh Trail on the left.

Water treatment pipes at the other end of the Bobcat Marsh Trail.

NW Pond

The trail passed between the NW Pond on the left and Oak Island Marsh on the right.

NW Pond had a variety of waterfowl. This is a northern shoveler drake, ring-necked duck pair, four lesser scaups, and an American coot.

Pied-billed grebe in NW Pond

Lesser scaups

Goose and mallards

Yellow-rumped warbler

The northern trailhead.

Viewing platform at the trailhead.

On the way back we took the Bobcat Marsh Trail which passed Meadow Mouse Marsh.

Cinnamon teal on Meadow Mouse Marsh

Near the southern end of the Bobcat Marsh Trail a pair of geese were nesting on a pole and were noisily fending off a second pair of geese.

After rejoining the Jackson Bottom Wetlands Trail we followed it back to the Kingfisher Marsh Loop where we turned right.
Mt. Hood beyond Wapato Marsh

Back on the Kingfisher Marsh Loop.

We followed this trail to a junction below the Nature Center where we stayed straight at a junction and climbed a small hill to the Nature Center Trail.
The Kingfisher Marsh Loop turned left here.

The trail passed behind the Nature Center to some gardens.

Mason bee house

We followed the Nature Trail down to the River Trail which we followed back to the parking lot. Our hike here came in just under 5 miles with just 50′ of elevation gain. From the parking lot we drove 4.3 miles to Rood Bridge Park (it’s less than 2 miles as the crow flies).

The parking area here is rather large, but we chose to park at the northern end near the playground. From our parking spot we made our way toward the rhododendron garden.

Sign for the rhododendron garden.

Numerous paths loop through the garden, but we stayed mostly to the right as we made our way east to the Woodland Pond.

The Woodland Pond

At the pond we turned right on a paved trail which led us to the Rock Creek Trail.
Heading for the Rock Creek Trail.

Rock Creek from the Rock Creek Trail.

We were familiar with the Rock Creek Trail having hiked its two other segments in May 2022 (post). The eventual plan is for the three current segments to be connected to make a single 8-mile trail. We turned right onto the Rock Creek Trail and followed it to a junction with Lakeside Loop Trail where we took another right.
The maps for the park were a little tougher to follow as most of the trails weren’t named and there were a lot of interconnected short segments.

We followed this paved path past a trail leading downhill to a lake.

We stuck to the paved trail which brought us back to the parking lot and the beginning/end of the Rock Creek Trail.

The junction ahead is where the Rock Creek Trail beings/end according to the Rock Creek Trail maps. Maps of Rood Bridge Park simply refer to this as part of the “Main Trail Loop”, if they label it at all.

We followed the Rock Creek Trail downhill past a sign for a watercraft launch along the Tualatin River. The trail then followed the river before arriving at junction with the Lollipop Loop.

Mallards

Footbridge at the start of the Lollipop Loop.

We crossed Rock Creek on the footbridge and quickly found ourselves climbing a short but steepish hill to a forested ridge. The loop began a short distance after the trail flattened out.

As we had for most of the day we went right when the trail split and followed the path through the woods. There were several use trails cutting through the center of the loop as well as some spur trails leading to nearby homes, so it took some trial and error to find the “official” trail. We managed to only veer off course once, but we spent a fair amount of time pondering which way to go at several junctions. The highlight of this loop was the abundance of trillium. We were just catching the tail end of the bloom, but it was impressive.
There was a fair amount of Oregon grape as well.

Violets and trillium

After completing the loop we returned to the Rock Creek Trail, turning right and climbing back to the junction where we’d turned onto the Lakeside Loop earlier.

Western meadowrue

Fawn lilies

We veered right off of the paved trail onto a dirt path since it was a much more inviting surface.

The dirt path rejoined the paved path behind the Rhododendron Garden and playground.

We continued on the Rock Creek Trail as it passed behind the playground area and descended back down to Rock Creek on what was now a dirt/gravel trail.

Sparrow

Footbridge over Rock Creek.

Just over 100 yards beyond the footbridge the trail arrived at S 1st Avenue where the segment currently ends.

We turned around at street and headed back, taking a somewhat muddy spur trail that ran parallel to the main trail for 0.2 tenths of a mile just to change things up on the way back. When we got back to the Rhododendron Garden we passed through again on different paths to see more of the plants.
Left is the dirt path we’d taken earlier, straight is the Rock Creek Trail, and right led to the Rhododendron Garden.

This hike was approximately 2.5-miles with 100′ or so of elevation gain giving us just under 7.5-miles and 150′ of elevation gain for the day.
Jackson Bottom on the left and Rood Bridge to the right.

Both of these destinations would be great for kids. (Note dogs and bicycles are not allowed at Jackson Bottom.) We enjoyed Jackson Bottom a little more given the wildlife, but Rood Bridge was a nice park and the trillium display along the Lollipop Loop will not be forgotten. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Jackson Bottom Wetlands and Rood Bridge Park

Tags Bobcat Marsh Trail, Cinnamon Teal, Coyote Hill Loop, hiking, Hillsboro, Jackson Bottom, Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve, Jackson Bottom Wetlands Trail, Kingfisher Marsh Loop, Nature Center Trail, Oregon, Pintail Pond, River Trail, Rock Creek Trail, Rood Bridge Park, Trillium, Wapato Marsh

Corvallis Hiking Oregon Trip report Willamette Valley

Jackson-Frazier Wetland, Mary’s River Nature Park, and Mulkey Ridge Trail – 3/30/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date April 1, 2024
No Comments on Jackson-Frazier Wetland, Mary’s River Nature Park, and Mulkey Ridge Trail – 3/30/2024

A sunny Easter weekend provided us an opportunity to visit three trails in the Corvallis area. The first two were new to us while the third, the Mulkey Ridge Trail, filled in a gap between two of our previous hikes in the area.

Our first stop for the day was at the Jackson-Frazier Wetland just to the NE of town.

A short, paved path leads to a 3/4-mile boardwalk that loops through the wetland.
A footbridge along the paved path crosses Frazier Creek.

Kiosk at the start of the Bob Frenkel Boardwalk.

A fairly rainy week had left the wetland wet, but not flooded. By the sounds, birds were everywhere although we only managed to spot a small fraction of them as we made our way around the boardwalk.
The start of the loop. We went counterclockwise.

Northern flicker

We listened to this sparrow sing for a bit. It was putting on quite the performance.

One of a couple viewing platforms off the main boardwalk.

Blackbird

Robin in the morning sunlight.

Sparrow

Hummingbird

Easter rabbit?

While short (0.9 miles) this was a really nice walk, and there is something about hearing birds that is uplifting.

From this wetland we drove through Corvallis and parked at Mary’s River Natural Area (If you are using Google Maps you want Mary’s River Natural Park not “Area”.
Kiosk at the trailhead.

Mary’s River Natural Area is another wetland with a short, paved path leading to a boardwalk although here there is no loop.

Interpretive sign along the path.

Buttercups and a bog saxifrage

The start of the boardwalk.

Three California scrub-jays

One of the scrub-jays up close.

We walked a short distance from the end of the boardwalk to visit Mary’s River.

Swollen Mary’s River. It did appear that it might be possible to make this a loop in the dry season by following a grassy track, but it was too wet and muddy to even attempt that today.

We returned the way we’d come stopping a couple of times to watch birds flitting between the trees.
Mary’s Peak (post) from the boardwalk.

Black-capped chickadee

Anna’s hummingbird

This was another 0.9-mile hike, and while not as interesting as the Jackson-Frazier Wetland it was a pleasant walk with a fair number of bird sightings.

Since these new to us hikes totaled less than two miles, we wanted something longer as we continue to build our base back up for longer hikes later this year. This gave us the perfect excuse to revisit part of two previous hikes, Bald Hill (post) and Fitton Green (post). We’d visited the Fitton Green Natural Area just over a year ago and on that hike noted that the Mulkey Ridge Trail made it possible to connect that area with the Bald Hill Natuarl Area which we had visited in October of 2016.

Just as we’d done in 2016 we parked at the Oak Creek Trailhead which is West of town.
Kiosk just on the other side of Oak Creek from the trailhead parking lot.

At the first kiosk we turned right along Oak Creek to a second kiosk at the boundary for the Bald Hill Farm Conservation Area.

This is the 3.7-mile long Mulkey Ridge Trail which we followed along Oak Creek to a fence where we turned left along a gravel road. The road jogged right heading uphill past a large barn.
Bald Hill from the trail.

Mary’s Peak

The barn across the gravel road.

Our fist camas sighting of the year. The only one in bloom that we’d see all day.

A half mile from the trailhead we stayed straight at a junction to continue on the Mulkey Ridge Trail.
We’d turned left here on our 2016 Bald Hill hike.

The trail continued for approximately another 0.4-miles before briefly joining it at a farm road with a sign pointing downhill to a farmhouse, barn, and shops.

Crossing the farmhouse road to join the gravel road.

We followed the gravel road past a private residence after which the road turned into a trail again.

As the trail entered woods where we began seeing a variety of Spring wildflowers.

The first of many fawn lilies we’d see.

Giant white wakerobin

Toothwort

More fawn lilies

Bleeding heart

At the 1.2-mile mark we came to a map board at a “Y” junction. We had a couple of choices to make here. Sullivan added Fitton Green as a featured hike in his “100 Hikes Oregon Coast” 1st edition, describing an 8.2-mile out-and-back starting at the Oak Creek Trailhead while the Oregonhikers.com field guide describes a 6.9-mile lollipop loop beginning from the same TH. While the lollipop is shorter it involves nearly a mile and a half of road walking. Our first choice was easy, we prefer loops when possible, even if they involve some road walking. The second decision to make was did we want to do the road walk now or wait until we were heading back. While the Oregonhikers entry saves the road walk for the return we opted to do it now, primarily because road walking tends to be harder on the feet and we didn’t want to wait until they were even more tired to put them through that.

We veered uphill to the right at the junction and in 0.2-miles arrived at gravel Wynoochee Drive.

Trail pointer at Wynoochee Drive.

We turned left onto the road which climbed gradually for just over three quarters of a mile to paved Panorama Drive.

We spotted several deer in the grass at the intersection with Skipanon Drive.

I count six in this photo.

In addition to the deer we saw a large number of Stellar’s jays along Wynoochee Drive.
While most of the jays wouldn’t sit still in the open long enough for a decent photo this one at least cooperated.

Sign for the Fitton Green Natural Area at the intersection with Panorama Drive.

We followed the pointer for Fitton Green to the left and did some more climbing as Panorma Drive took us past several homes before descending to the Panorama Drive Trailhead three quarters of a mile from the intersection.

The road turned to gravel shortly before arriving at the trailhead.

Gate at the trailhead.

We hiked past the gate and in a tenth of a mile came to the Allen Throop Loop which had been part of our 2023 hike here.

We turned left onto the loop and climbed to a viewpoint of Mary’s Peak.

Mary’s Peak still sporting a decent amount of snow.

We followed the Allen Throop Loop as it wound down the open hillside for 0.7-miles to a junction with the Mulkey Ridge Trail.
Looking SE towards Corvallis

Looking West towards the Coast Range.

Common lomatium

We were hoping it was clear enough to see the Cascade Volcanoes, but the Three Sisters were hidden by clouds. We were however able to see the top of Mt. Jefferson.

The Mulkey Ridge Trail below to the left arriving at the Allen Throop Loop.

We turned left onto the Mulkey Ridge Trail and began to make our way back to the trailhead.

There were a fair number of flowers blooming along the trail.
Strawberry

Redstem storksbill

Wild iris

More fawn lilies

Candy flower

Purple deadnettle

Pacific hound’s tongue

Colorful turkey tails

The trail splits briefly along a ridge marking what used to be the end of trail from the Oak Creek Trailhead.

Dark-eyed junco

There were a pair of acorn woodpeckers in this area that we stopped to watch.

This tree was full of holes that the woodpeckers use to store their acorns in.

One of several benches along the trail.

Oregon grape

Trillium

The Mulkey Ridge Trail descending to Mulkey Creek. (Note the footbridge in the lower right-hand corner.)

Footbridge over Mulkey Creek.

Approximately 2.5-miles from the Allen Throop Loop we arrived back at the spur trail we’d followed up to Wynoochee Drive.

Toothwort

We retraced our steps back 1.2-miles to the Oak Creek Trailhead where we were happy to find our backup GPS unit was still sitting on top of our car where we’d accidently left it.
Western buttercups along the trail on our way back.

The GPS we did remember to take with us indicated this was a 7.4-mile hike, a half mile longer than the Oregonhikers field guide. I can’t account for the difference but given the elapsed time 7.4-miles seems reasonable. The hike included a little over 1150′ of elevation gain as well. Overall this was a great hike with a good variety of scenery, nice views, and some wildlife. The network of trails also makes both shorter and much longer hikes possible. Happy Trails!

Today’s hike in cyan, 2016 Bald Hill green, and 2023 Fitton Green purple

Tags acorn woodpecker, Allen Throop Loop, Anna's Hummingbird, Bald Hill Farm Conservation Area, Bald Hill Natural Area, Corvallis, Fawn Lily, Fitton Green, flowers, hiking, Jackson-Frazier Wetland, Mary's River Natural Area, Mary's River Natural Park, Mulkey Ridge Trail, Oak Creek Trailhead, Oregon, Panorama Drive Trailhead

Eugene Hiking Oregon Willamette Valley

Middle Fork Path – Dorris Ranch to Clearwater Park – 03/16/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date March 18, 2024
No Comments on Middle Fork Path – Dorris Ranch to Clearwater Park – 03/16/2024

March began with a couple of weeks of wet weather including several days with snow mixed in with the rain. Things finally changed this week and by the weekend temperatures in the Willamette Valley were entering the low 70’s which meant it was time for our March hike. Dorris Ranch had been on the schedule for March 2024 since 2022 following a February hike by my parents there. They’d been a little too early for any flowers, so March seemed like a good time for us to give the ranch a try.

The 268-acre Dorris Ranch (est. 1892) is located in Springfield, OR and is recognized as the first commercial filbert (hazelnut) orchard in the United States. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is reported that over 50% of the commercial filbert trees growing in the U.S. today originated from the Ranch’s nursery stock.

Trails crisscross the ranch ranging from the paved Middle Fork Path to gravel and natural surface paths. We parked at the Middle Fork Path Trailhead at Dorris Ranch. Our plan was to begin by hiking through the orchards to the confluence of the Coast Fork and Middle Fork Willamette Rivers then continue on to the Middle Fork Path and follow it to its end at Clearwater Park and then return to the trailhead via the Middle Fork Path.
Signboard at the trailhead.

Map of the trails at Dorris Ranch.

Map of the Middle Fork Path (red) and Mill Race Path (yellow).

Before heading for the rivers we visited the Living History Village. Replicas of the 1850’s buildings built by the Masterson family built prior to selling the land to the Dorris family are located along a short loop and is used for school field trips.
The Masterson cabin replica. They were a family of ten when they moved out.

After checking out the Living History Village we headed downhill to the Dorris Ranch Barn.

These cedar doors were installed earlier this month replacing a broken door.

Plaque on the barn.

From the barn we took a wide gravel path past a gate to the orchards.

A January 16th ice storm hit the area hard and damaged a number of trees at the ranch and along the Middle Fork Path.

Some signs of the ice storm damage.

Large trees around the pump house and packing shed.

An American kestrel with an unlucky frog atop a tall tree.

Oregon grape near the packing shed.

Old oak tree along the path.

Purple deadnettle beneath the old oak.

Black walnut orchard just past the oak tree.

At the black walnut orchard the gravel gave way to a natural surface trail.

Violet

The trail arrived at a bench overlooking the confluence of the Coast Fork and Middle Fork Willamette Rivers.
The confluence.

Middle Fork Willamette River

From the confluence the trail turned left passing through a forest before arriving at the Middle Fork Path after half a mile.

Mallards

Hooded mergansers

Slender toothwort

Someone had left some seeds and nuts on this tree. While it’s not LNT compliant it was attracting a variety of wildlife.
Chipmunk and squirrel

Chipmunk and white-breasted nuthatch

Giant White Wakerobin, Trillium albidum

The paved Middle Fork Path dead ahead.

We turned right onto the Middle Fork Path and followed it for three and a quarter mile to the parking lot at Clearwater Park.

Ruby-crowned kinglet

Wren

Middle Fork Willamette River

Double-breasted cormorant

Pacific hound’s tongue

Ring-necked ducks

Goose

Arriving at the Quarry Creek picnic area.

Looking back at Spencer Butte (post).

A goose and a couple of common mergansers in the river.

Common merganser drake

Approximately 2.75-miles from Dorris Ranch we came to the junction with the 3-mile-long Mill Race Path. An adventure for another day.

There were plenty of benches along the path.

Larkspur starting to bloom.

Springfield Mill Race

Mt. Pisgah (post) through the trees across the Middle Fork Willamette.

Disc golf course at Clearwater Park.

Nearing the parking lot at Clearwater Park.

Map of the trails at Clearwater Park.

We weren’t aware of the informal trails shown on the map at Clearwater Park, but the prospect of seeing a couple of ponds piqued our interest so we crossed the park entrance road and followed a narrow gravel path into the woods.

Turkey vultures. We’d seen our first turkey vulture of the year a little earlier on the Middle Fork Path. I’d been on the lookout for one of these scavengers for the last couple of weeks knowing that their arrival in the Willamette Valley coincides with the onset of Spring.

We didn’t get far on the informal trails before ice storm damage turned us back.

We backtracked and took a different informal path to the parking area near the boat launch and then followed a dirt path back to the Middle Fork Path.
Turkey vulture enjoying the sunshine.

Arriving at the boat launch area.

Heading back to the Middle Fork Path.

We followed the Middle Fork Path back to Dorris Ranch, sticking to the paved trail all the way back to the trailhead.

Back at Dorris Ranch. The trail we’d taken earlier that morning is to the left just before the bench.

Western bluebirds

I believe this is a Cooper’s hawk.

Western buttercups

Daffodils

While we saw a few more flowers than my parents had in February we were still a week or two early, but at least we did see a few of the early bloomers. There was abundant wildlife though and the fairly level trails made for a relaxing hike. Our GPS units both showed this as a 9.2-mile hike which was just right for our feet this time of year given we were primarily on paved trails.

After the hike we met up with our Son for lunch at Ubon Thai Kitchen before heading back to Salem. As to close a perfect late Winter hike as you can get. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Middle Fork Path

Tags Clearwater Park, Coast Fork Willamette River, Dorris Ranch, Eugene, hiking, Hooded merganser, Living History Village, Middle Fork Path, Middle Fork Willamette River, Mill Race Path, Oregon, Quarry Creek Picnic Area, Springfield, Ubon Thai Kitchen

Coastal Range Hiking Oregon Portland Trip report Willamette Valley

Ki-a-Kuts Falls Fernhill Wetlands – 02/24/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date February 26, 2024
3 Comments on ~~Ki-a-Kuts Falls~~ Fernhill Wetlands – 02/24/2024

A mostly sunny, near 60-degree forecast, looked too good to pass up so we decided to head out and attempt a pair of short hikes in the Oregon Coast Ranges Tillamook State Forest. Our first stop was along Maple Creek Road for a hike to Ki-a-Kuts Falls.
Sunrise from the trailhead.

Clear cut at the trailhead.

The old alignment of the road was said to be located approximately 80 yards from the trailhead, but it appears that between time, storms, and logging operations the old road has become far less obvious.
This was the view through the forest from Maple Creek Road around the 80-yard mark.

We hiked further up Maple Creek Road and checked for a way down to the old alignment, but in the end decided that the slick conditions combined with the amount of blowdown on the hillsides would have made for a much more challenging hike than we were looking to tackle.
We could hear the Tualatin River in the valley below and I managed to get far enough down the hill to get a glimpse of the water. I had descended from a pullout with a fire ring about 50-75′ looking for the old roadbed, but I still couldn’t make out where it actually was and had been slipping a lot on wet wood.

After climbing back up to Heather I called an audible and we turned to Plan B. The second hike we’d originally planned on was a 1.5-mile out and back further into the forest to visit Stairstep Falls, a rapid more than a fall, that requires fording the 25 yard wide Middle Fork North Fork Trask River. We decided against attempting that hike because it would effectively end our hiking day by leaving the only pair of hiking shoes I’d brought soaked. That was fine when it was going to be the final hike of our day, but we wanted to get a little more than 2.5-miles in. (We’d done close to 1 looking for the way to Ki-a-Kuts Falls.)

I’d known going in that there was a chance that we’d need to turn to Plan B because the most recent trip reports I could find for Ki-a-Kuts Falls was from 2014. That Plan B had been Fernhill Wetlands. Located in Forest Grove, OR the trailhead was just 26-miles from where we were. We drove back to Yamhill and then headed North on Highway 47 to the Fernhill Wetlands Trailhead.

Map and information at the trailhead.

There are several loops possible at the wetlands and we hoped to maximize these, so we headed south along Fernhill Marsh.

Starling

Lenticular clouds over Mt. Hood in the distance.

Our first wildflower of the year is Indian plum in 2024.

Egret

Path at Fernhill Wetlands.

We stayed straight at a junction with a path between Fernhill Marsh and Cattail Marsh.
Gazebo overlooking Cattail Marsh.

Great blue heron on a post above Cattail Marsh.

American coot

At the next junction we turned left between Cattail and Eagles Perch Marshes.

Another great blue heron.

Red-winged blackbird

Hawk flying over Eagles Perch Marsh.

Fittingly at the far end of the marsh were a pair of bald eagles.

We turned right and walked along Eagles Perch Marsh for a tenth of a mile to a gate along SW Geiger Rd.

Ring-necked ducks

Buffleheads

This one might be a hooded merganser?

After turning around we headed north passing Cattail Marsh and arriving at Fernhill Lake.

Fernhill Lake

The trail bent eastward along the lake to a gazebo overlooking Barney Wetlands. From the gazebo we watched a flock of tundra swans. This was our second outing in a row (Wapato Lake) seeing tundra swans after not ever having seen them on a hike prior.
This is where the trail turned east (for obvious reasons).

Barney wetlands

There were also quite a few ruddy ducks here which we don’t often see.

After a good long break watching the swans we continued around Fernhill Lake to Dabblers Marsh.
Double-crested cormorant on a post in Barney Wetlands.

Double-crested cormorant

Drying off in the sun.

Nurtia at a bench near Dabblers Marsh

Nutria

Dabblers Marsh

Green-winged teal

Great blue heron

Pie-billed grebe

We turned west between Fernhill Lake and Dabblers Marsh and came to a nice view of the lake and the start of the Dabblers Marsh Loop Trail.

We turned onto the woodchip path along Dabblers Marsh and followed pointers to a loop around some farmland.

Robin

The start of the loop at the edge of the farmland. We stayed left opting to hike the loop clockwise.

Anna’s hummingbrid

A gaggle of geese in the field.

American kestrels manning their posts.

Purple dead-nettle

More geese coming in for a landing.

Near the end of the loop the trail left the field along Dabblers Marsh.

Spotted towhee

Rabbit

After completing the loop and returning to Fernhill Lake we did a loop through the Water Gardens.
Geese on Fernhill Lake

Mallard drake

Mallard female

Water Gardens

Northern shovelers, a mallard, and a coot.

Oregon grape beginning to bloom.

Northern shoveler

Green-winged teal pair

Path along the Research Wetlands.

Egret near the parking lot at Fernhill Marsh

Looking back at the Research Wetlands from the near the trailhead.

We managed to get 3.7-miles in at the wetlands and saw a lot of birds and other animals. While there were quite a few more folks here than we’d seen on our previous hike at nearby Wapato Lake Wildlife Refuge, it never felt too busy. Plan B had earned an A+ in our books. Happy Trails!

Hiking Oregon Trip report Willamette Valley

Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge – 02/10/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date February 12, 2024
2 Comments on Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge – 02/10/2024

While we didn’t have another hike scheduled for February a decent forecast was too much to pass up. We were looking for something nearby (less than an hour from Salem) on the shorter side that would be more of a leisurely stroll than a hike. We decided it would be a good day to check out the Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge . Originally added (2007) as part of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge (post) the Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge was designated in 2013. Eight years later the refuge was opened to public use and now has approximately 2.85 miles of trail. The trails are currently open from Feb 1st through Nov 30th each year (note the 1.3-miles of natural surface is closed to hiking starting Sept 1st). Also of note is that during periods of heavy rains the access trail may become flooded, but the Refuge website has a link to the USGS Monitoring Tool where you can easily check to see if the creek’s level is over 7.5 feet.

The trailhead is adjacent to Brown Park in the city of Gaston, OR and includes two ADA parking spaces and a restroom. What it lacks is signage from Highway 47. The parking area can be accessed from that highway or via Onion Lane by turning South off of E Main Street/SW Gaston Road. A paved trail begins at an informational signboard where you can also pick up a brochure.

It was a little cloudier than we’d hopped as we set off on the paved path. We followed the path to a footbridge over Wapato Creek to the levee that partially surrounds the lakebed. We faced a choice of heading left for 0.6-miles or right for up to 2-miles. Another person had just turned left so we opted to go right.

We were a little confused by the sign on the left here stating the trail was closed. The website and signboard had said nothing about a closure and the gate at the far end of the bridge was open and others were already out on the levee. We assume they just hadn’t taken the sign down after the seasonal closure period.

Pointers on the levee.

Nutria (sigh). We had hopped it was a beaver but alas the whiskers give it away.

Geese, several species of ducks, and some shore birds.

From the bridge to the right the levee’s surface is good gravel. We took our time as we strolled south trying to discern which types of ducks we were seeing.
A great blue heron along Wapato Creek.

Great blue heron

Wapato Lake

Beaver lodge

Northern shovelers and an American wigeon

Of course we forgot to bring binoculars making it even harder to make out which types of ducks were out there.

Ring-necked ducks with an American coot in the background.

Ring-necked duck and northern shovelers

Reflections in Wapato Lake

There is virtually no shade along the lake which wasn’t an issue today but could be in the heat of Summer. There are however three benches along the levee allowing for a place to sit and watch the birds.

Lesser scaups

Ducks flying over the lake.

Old bridge over Wapato Creek. The gravel surface ended at this bridge.

After 0.7 miles of gravel the levee continued as a natural surface. The unevenness of the natural surface was a stark difference to the gravel.

We continued on the natural surface another three quarters of a mile to a gate at another old bridge. Across the lake we could see some tundra swans which were a first for us, and we startled a coyote that raced off through the brush along the lakebed.

The coyote running off through the brush.

Tundra swans

We decided to turn around at this bridge even though the levee continued. It appeared that the water was further away from the levee going forward and we hadn’t planned on going much more than 3-miles today.

We were hoping that the partly sunny skies that had been forecast would make an appearance as we made our way back, but that never happened. Nevertheless, we were enjoying trying to identify the different ducks and birds we were seeing.
Northern pintails and some green-winged teals.

American wigeons and a pair of green-winged teals.

There were a couple of times that blue sky seemed imminent.

Buffleheads

Iowa Hill (post) across the lake.

More buffleheads

Immature bald eagle

Sparrow

Horned grebe

Canvasbacks, another first for us.

Great blue heron on the osprey nest.

Ther heron on the nest.

When we arrived back at the bridge over Wapato Creek we stayed straight on the level and followed the gravel path north 0.6-miles to a gate where we turned around and returned to our car.

Mallards

Red-winged blackbird

Bald eagle

Nutria

Gaston from the refuge.

Green-winged teals

Northern pintails

Mostly American wigeons and green-winged teals

On the paved path back to the parking lot.

We wound up going a total of 4.8-miles (according to both our GPS units) which was a little further than we’d planned, but we got to see a lot of wildlife without much effort on the level trails.

This was an enjoyable visit and given its relative proximity to Salem one that we’ll likely revisit down the line. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Hiking Oregon Portland Trip report Willamette Valley

Forest Park (Germantown Road to Newberry Road) – 02/03/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date February 5, 2024
No Comments on Forest Park (Germantown Road to Newberry Road) – 02/03/2024

Warm weather and possible blue sky prompted us to head out for our February hike the first day we had off. While the very recent weather had been unseasonably warm the Willamette Valley, and especially the Portland area, was still recovering from January’s Winter storm. We had changed our planned January hike due to storm damage in Portland’s Forest Park and found ourselves looking to change our planned February hike now as well.

We had originally planned on visiting some wetlands west of Portland but flooding from the ice storm and heavy rains that followed had left some of those trails flooded. A quick check of the current trail conditions at Forest Park revealed that there were no closures/detours listed for the area of the park we had planned to hike the previous week so that became our Plan B.

We had hiked in the 5200-acre Forest Park on five previous occasions with each hike including part of the approximately 30-mile Wildwood National Recreation Trail. The trail begins in Washington Park’s Hoyt Arboretum (post) and ends at Newberry Road to the NW. Our previous outings had covered all but approximately 3.3-miles of the Wildwood Trail between the arboretum and Germantown Road (post). A 2022 visit to the Pittock Mansion via the Wildwood Trail (post) connected to the hike from Hoyt Arboretum and to a 2020 loop starting on Leif Erickson Drive from Thurman Street (post). A 2019 loop from the Lower Saltzman Road Trailhead (post) didn’t connect to any of the other hikes leaving a 1.3-mile gap in the Wildwood Trail between the Maple Trail and Nature Trail junctions, and a 2-mile gap between Firelanes 5 and 7A.

We were missing all of the Wildwood Trail between Germantown Road and Newberry Road though, so that was the goal of today’s hike. We decided to start at the Germantown Road Trailhead as opposed to the Newberry Road Trailhead which was a choice we would regret later. We were the third car at the Germantown Road Trailhead at 7:15am.
Some of the damage from the ice storm at the trailhead.

One of the nice things about Forest Park is the numerous loops that are possible off of the Wildwood Trail which allows one to avoid straight out-and-back hikes. There is a price for the loops which is paid in the currency of elevation gain. The route I’d planned for the day included three loops beginning at the trailhead where instead of taking the Wildwood Trail we took the Connector Trail to the Cannon Trail and followed it downhill to the Leif Erickson Drive North Trailhead.
Sign for the Connector Trail at the trailhead.

Cannon Trail

From the Leif Erickson Trailhead we crossed Germantown Road at the gate for Firelane 9 then hiked uphill along the shoulder of Germantown Road just over 100 yards to Firelane 10.
Firelane 9 across from the trailhead.

Firelane 10

We followed Firelane 10 downhill to a stream crossing then climbed to a junction with the Linnton Trail.

Unsurprisingly the recent weather had most of the stream beds flowing which we hadn’t witnessed on our other visits.

Heading up to the junction.

The Linnton Trail heads down a ridge to the Linnton Trailhead.

We turned left at the junction sticking to Firelane 10 which climbed back up to the Wildwood Trail. The 1.7-mile detour from the Germantown Trailhead came with an elevation loss of 375′ and gain of 550′.

We passed the Keyser Trail which rejoins Firelane 10 just a quarter mile ahead. We stuck to Firelane 10 which climbed very steeply in that quarter mile leading us to believe the Keyser Trail may have been a little more gradual as the map showed it bowing away from Firelane 10 before rejoining.

The first of only three trees that were still down over the trails we hiked. In the distance is a Wildwood Trail sign at the junction.

We turned right onto the Wildwood Trail and followed it for just over a mile to the BPA Road.

The trail repeatedly bows into the hillside to cross creek beds.

We passed three pointers for Newton Road and then crossed Newton Road along this section of the Wildwood Trail. We would be using Newton Road to make another small loop on our way back.

The Wildwood Trail crossing Newton Road.

Not all of the junctions have maps, but most of the major ones do to help keep hikers and runners on track (or to give them more ideas).

Climbing up to the BPA Road crossing.

The BPA Road heading uphill with the Wildwood Trail we’d just come up to the right.

We turned off of the Wildwood Trail here and took a right onto the BPA Road. After a brief climb the BPA Road dropped to a saddle where Firelane 12 joined from the left at the Fix-the-Hole plaque.

Firelane 12 on the left.

The middle of three plaques commemorating the 1999 acquisition of 73-acres that was in danger of being developed.

We turned left onto Firelane 12 and descended for half a mile to Firelane 15 near another unnamed creek.

Once again varied thrush 1 – Deryl 0. If I was keeping score, it would probably be something like 179-10.

Firelane 15 on the left ahead.

We turned left onto Firelane 15 and climbed over 230′ in 0.4-miles to the Wildwood Trail.
The small creek along Firelane 15.

Blue sky and powerlines above Firelane 15.

Wildwood Trail crossing Firelane 15.

We turned right onto the Wildwood Trail once again and followed it nearly 1.8-miles to its end at Newberry Road. There were no firelanes or side trails along this final stretch of the Wildwood Trail.

The fanciest bridge we crossed all day.

Why is the trail way down there when the road is up above on the far hillside?

Woolly bear

Climbing to Newberry Road just to say we made it to the end of the Wildwood Trail.

Newberry Road Trailhead.

After a brief break at the trailhead we headed back. We stuck to the Wildwood Trail passing both Firelane 15 and the BPA Road. Just under 4-miles from Newberry Road we arrived at Newton Road were we turned right and left the Wildwood Trail.

Another sub-par bird photo, but it took us quite a while just to spot this woodpecker who was way up in the treetops (and mostly in the shade).

Crossing Firelane 15.

Another blurry bird. This one a wren, one of many we heard but the only one we were able to spot.

Uprooted trees along the Wildwood Trail.

Newton Road to the right of the Wildwood Trail.

We turned uphill onto Newton Road and followed it just over half a mile to the Newton Road Trailhead where we paused to use the facilities.
Mile marker along Newton Road.

Douglas squirrel

One of several small habitat restoration study areas along Newton Road.

The Newton Road Trailhead in the distance.

After our break at this trailhead we followed Firelane 10 at the far end of the parking area 0.2-miles to the Wildwood Trail.

It was just over three quarters of a mile on the Wildwood Trail from Firelane 10 to the Germantown Road Trailhead.
One of only two benches we saw all day.

Cars parked along Germantown Road in the distance.

According to the Garmin our hike was 12.2 miles with approximately 2200′ of elevation gain. A good challenge for us this early in the year. (Our feet were not too happy with us.)

Despite the challenge it had been a nice hike with excellent weather, and while Forest Park is much busier than many of the trails we visit it never really feels too crowded.

While our experience on the trails had been good we arrived back at our car to find that people had parked along a fence behind us in the parking lot which didn’t leave us enough room to back out from between the cars on either side of us. We hadn’t expected anyone to park there because of the lack of room, but we should have known better. We spent the next half hour or so waiting for the owners of any of the three cars parked around us to return and set us free. (Although the SUV parked on our right was most likely going to be in the same predicament we were.) Fortunately the people that had parked directly behind us returned and we were able to escape. There have been other times I worried about having the car get trapped, but until today it had just been my own paranoia. Hopefully we will choose our parking spots more carefully in the future. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Northern Forest Park

Tags BPA Road, Cannon Trail, Connector Trail, Firelane 10, Firelane 12, Firelane 15, Forest Park, Germantown Road Trailhead, hiking, Leif Erickson Northern Trailhead, Linnton Trail, Newberry Road Trailhead, Newton Road, Newton Road Trailhead, Oregon, Portland, Wildwood Trail