Category: Corvallis

Ritner Creek Park and Fort Hoskins – 04/25/2026

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date April 27, 2026
3 Comments on Ritner Creek Park and Fort Hoskins – 04/25/2026

On our previous outing at the end of March I was testing my left leg (post) after some tightness in that knee. While that hike went relatively well and my left knee/leg came out of it feeling no worse for the wear my back tightened up followed by pain in my right hip. I went in for a physical therapy appointment in mid-April and was given some stretching and strengthening exercises to help me get back on track. The working theory is that I strained something, probably when my left leg hyperextended slightly on a step on my Deschutes River Hike in January (post) which caused me to change my gait enough to put extra strain the muscles in that leg which have always been extremely tight. As the physical therapist put it those tight muscles were then fighting over the knee and the knee was losing. The right hip issue was likely a result of another change to my gait to compensate for the left leg. He surmised that at this point my whole pelvic area was off kilter, so we are working on correcting that. The good news was he didn’t put any limits on activities (within reason).

After a week of doing my exercises, I was ready to give another hike a try. To be honest I wanted to get a hike in before April was over because I hadn’t gone a full calendar month without taking at least one hike since January 2013. It also did seem like the physical therapy was helping and I wanted to see how my body reacted to a short outing.

I wanted to keep my day to no more than three miles and decided on a potential two stop day beginning at Ritner Creek Park. The small county park is located near the unincorporated community of Pedee in Polk County. Heather did not join me opting for a longer hike at Ellendale Creek which I’d visited without her this past January (post).

Things got off to a rocky start before I’d even arrived at my first stop when I stopped to try and take a picture of a turkey crossing gravel Gage Rd. When I tried to turn my camera on nothing happened. I had just recharged the battery the night before and had not brought any of my extras because the day was going to be so short. I tried removing and reinserting the battery to no avail. Given I had just recharged the battery I feared the camera may have taken its last picture, but it turned out to be the battery and not the camera. Without my camera I was relegated to using my cell phone for pictures.

I parked at the small parking area along Gage Road just before 6:30am and was surprised to find two other vehicles. Trails led off in both directions from the ends of the parking area.

The trail on the east (right) end.

The trail on the west (left) end and the restrooms.

I headed east first. The trail on this side only extended about 150 yards before ending at Ritner Creek.

There were snails littered along the trail and few wildflowers along the sides.

Fringecup

Candyflower

Strawberry

Ritner Creek at the end of the trail. Another trail is visible on the far side.

I returned to the parking area and headed west next. The trail on this side of the park arrived a footbridge after approximately 100 yards.

The trail turned east on the far side of the creek and continued another 0.2-miles ending across from the end of the trail on the other side.

Bleeding heart

Western meadowrue

Elderberry

Salmonberry

Violet

One of several picnic tables along the trail on this side of the creek. There were fire pits and garbage cans as well.

Star-flowered Solomon’s seal

Fairy lanterns

End of the trail.

I discovered that the two vehicles belonged to turkey hunters who were not thrilled when I let them know I’d seen one crossing the road on my way to the park. My hike here was just a little over half a mile. While there isn’t a lot of hiking to do here the picnic tables, creek and restrooms would make it a good place for kiddos or for a nice lunch spot.

The short hike along the creek hadn’t caused any issues with my back, hips. or legs so I headed for my second stop which was Fort Hoskins Historic Park which was just 9.3 miles from Ritner Creek Park in neighboring Benton County.

We’d visited Fort Hoskins way back at the beginning of June 2014 (post). The park offers two hiking loops from the trailhead. The lower half mile interpretive loop visits the former fort site with a spur leading to the 1869 Frantz-Dunn House while the 1.3-mile upper loop passes through a restored oak savanna on the side of Dunn Ridge.

With the two loops heading off in different directions from the trailhead I could bail after the first loop if I was starting to have any issues. I decided to tackle the upper loop first hoping to see some wildflowers on the hillside. The upper loop also offered the most climbing gaining over 300′ on its way up the ridge. The upper loop starts at a small post across the entrance road from the restrooms.

Rose checkermallow

After a tenth of a mile the trail splits with the right-hand fork heading out into a meadow and the left staying in the trees. I stayed left and continued climbing through the forest.

The right-hand fork heading into the meadow.

Evergreen bugloss

Fairy slipper

Poison oak. The trails were clear but there was a fair amount just off trail in places.

Vetch

Iris

Fairy lanters

Violet

Snow queen

Checker lily

The trail leveled out near the top of the ridge and headed into the restored oak savannah.

There were a lot of iris blooms in the meadow.

Looking west into Kings Valley from Dunn Ridge.

The trail starting to head down through the meadow.

Serviceberry

Buttercup

Purple dead-nettle

The Commanders House below at the old fort site.

The split for the upper loop.

It looks like someone took a piece of pie.

When I got back to the trailhead I decided to give the lower loop a go. I followed a paved path to the picnic shelter then down the gated road to the former fort site.

The picnic shelter

The picnic shelter from the parade grounds.

We had not visited the Frantz-Dunn House in 2014 so this time I turned down a roadbed before the Commanders House and checked it out.

Apple blossoms

After visiting the house I headed back up to the Commanders House and completed the interpretive loop.

Foundation of Hoskins School.

Final paved stretch before reaching the trailhead.

The two loops and detour down to the Frantz-Dunn House came to 2.3-miles and 450′ of elevation gain.

I ended the day with just under 3-miles which was a few tenths of a mile more than my back would have liked. My lower back had started to tighten up on the lower loop and is still a little tight as I am writing this the next morning. On the bright side the left leg and right hip do not appear to have suffered any setbacks. It appears that I’ll be sticking to shorter outings for a bit as I work my way back through PT. I will try and make the most of it and use the time to possibly check out some places like Ritner Creek that we would likely not visit under normal circumstances. Happy Trails!

Flicker: Ritner Creek & Fort Hoskins Parks

Tags Benton County, Fort Hoskins Historic Park, Frantz-Dunn House, hiking, Kings Valley, Oregon, Polk County, Ritner Creek Park, wildflower

Corvallis Hiking Middle Santiam Old Cascades Oregon Trip report Willamette Valley

McDowell Creek Falls and Cheadle Lake – 02/28/2026

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date March 3, 2026
No Comments on McDowell Creek Falls and Cheadle Lake – 02/28/2026

We woke up to the news of military action in Iran, a somber reminder of the state of the world today. Our prayers are with all the families across the globe impacted. We’re thankful to still have the opportunity to step away and enjoy the outdoors.

We had picked a pair of hikes near Lebanon, OR McDowell Creek Falls and Cheadle Lake. We had visited the former in February 2014 (post) while the latter would be new for us as a hike. (We had run part of this route in the early 2010’s as part of the Runaway Pumpkin half marathon races.)

We started our morning at McDowell Creek County Park for the relatively short loop that visits four named waterfalls. We parked in the lower (western most) parking lot which is referred to as the Royal Terrace Falls Trailhead in the Oregon Hikers Field Guide.

There are restrooms and picnic tables available at the trailhead.

After double checking the map, we set off on the trail across McDowell Creek.

After 0.2-miles we came to the start of the loop and opted to go left for a view of Royal Terrace Falls from the footbridge across Fall Creek.

The start of the loop.

Royal Terrace Falls

Bench of the far side of the bridge.

Beyond Royal Terrace Falls the trail recrossed McDowell Creek then crossed McDowell Creek Road before arriving at Crystal Falls aka Crystal Pool a third of a mile from Royal Terrace Falls.

McDowell Creek

McDowell Creek Road from the crossing.

Crystal Falls ahead through the trees.

A use trail led down to the creek for a better view of the falls.

Just over a tenth of a mile past Crystal Falls the trail arrives at an impressive wooden walkway near Majestic Falls.

Majestic Falls

Stairs led up from Majestic Falls to a viewpoint platform at the top of the waterfall.

From the upper viewpoint we faced a choice of going directly uphill to the upper parking lot or taking a slightly longer route by swinging out along the creek for a short distance. We had gone directly up in 2014 so this time we chose to swing out along the creek.

Stairs up to the upper lot.

Robin near the upper lot.

We crossed the road near the upper parking lot and in 0.3-miles
recrossed McDowell Creek Road.

Pointer for Royal Terrace Falls at the crossing of McDowell Creek Road.

In another 0.3-miles we arrived at Fall Creek above Royal Terrace Falls.

Viewing platform above Royal Terrace Falls

Looking down at the bridge below Royal Terrace Falls.

We took a short detour up a use trail along Fall Creek which didn’t lead anywhere of note then headed down the stairs along Fall Creek to complete the loop.

Fall Creek along the use trail.

Royal Terrace Falls from the stairs.

When we were back at the lower parking lot we followed a short trail downstream to a view of Lower McDowell Falls.

The hike here was just 2.2-miles with a little over 200′ of elevation gain leaving us plenty of energy for a second stop.

It was less than a 20-minute drive from McDowell Creek to Cheadle Lake in Lebanon. We had initially planned on parking at Cheadle Lark Park however there was quite a bit of construction equipment present, and it was unclear if the trails at this end of the area were open, so we shifted to “Plan B” and made our way to nearby Riverview Park.

We stopped at the signboard for the Old Mill Trail and studied the map for a moment and downloaded a digital copy then headed right (south) on a paved path. (It was unclear if this was the Old Mill Trail or the West River Trail, nevertheless it would take us to Cheadle Lake.)

The South Santiam River from the trail.

This trail led us into a neighborhood and to Mountain River Drive.

Here the pointers refer to the West River Trail.

We followed the sidewalk for 100 yards to a crosswalk at River Drive then continued another tenth of a mile to Cheadle Lake Park’s boat ramp parking area.

From this parking lot the paved North Shore Trail passes along the northeastern shore of Cheadle Lake between the lake and the Lebanon Santiam Canal. We were on the lookout for waterfowl and other birds as we started off.

Mallards

Geese

Ring-necked duck

American wigeon

Ridgeway Butte beyond a farm across the canal.

American wigeons and domestic ducks on the farm.

After four tenths of a mile we arrived at the Island Loop Trails which are a series of fingers in the middle of the lake.

We hiked out-and-back on the eastern most finger before returning to the North Shore Trail.

Pied-billed grebe

Bench at the end of the finger.

Gadwall

Back on the North Shore Trail we continued SE and spotted a pair of hooded mergansers in the canal.

Spotted towhee

Song sparrow

At the far end of the lake, we arrived at a 4-way junction within sight of the parking lot we had originally planned on starting from.

The park map showed a dashed (proposed) Southshore Trail heading right from this junction. The proposed trail would loop around the lake to the boat ramp. We had not paid attention to the “proposed” verbiage when we decided to turn right and try the loop. Initially the trail was paved with benches but the pavement soon ended and was replaced by a dirt trail through the grass.

California scrub jay.

Oregon grape

The finger that we had hiked out earlier.

The trail lasted a little over half a mile before petering out on the north side of a soccer field at a marsh. It was at this point that we noticed the “proposed” label on the map. Since looping around the lake wasn’t an option, we looped around the soccer field and headed back the way we’d come.

The soccer field is to the left with Ridgeway Butte ahead.

Heading back on the North Shore Trail.

We had discussed being surprised at having not seen a bald eagle on our first pass along the lake. That changed as we passed the Island Loops.

Bald eagle spotted.

Cormorants

From the boat ramp we headed back toward Riverview Park and took the gravel fork at the southern end of the park.

Heather had a blister starting so she headed back to the car while I continued around the park to the Eagle Scout Trail.

I turned on the Eagle Scout Trail and followed this dirt path 0.8-miles to the paved Old Mill Trail near Gill’s Landing

Indian plum

Bewick’s wren

Old Mill Trail near Gill’s Landing.

I returned to Riverview Park on the Old Mill Trail completing a 6.4-mile hike with minimal elevation gain.

Old mill site.

Riverview Park

This was a nice pair of hikes. We knew that McDowell Creek Falls was a great hike, but Cheadle Lake was surprisingly quite for an in-town hike and the birding turned out to be pretty good. Happy Trails!

Flickr: McDowell Creek Falls and Cheadle Lake

Tags birds, Cheadle Lake, Cheadle Lake Park, Crystal Falls, Ducks, Eagle Scout Trail, Gill's Landing, hiking, Lebanon, Lower McDowell Creek Falls, Majestic Falls, McDowell Creek Falls, North Shore Trail, Old Mill Trail, Oregon, Riverview Park, Royal Terrace Falls, West River Trail

Corvallis Hiking Oregon Trip report Willamette Valley

Dimple Hill from Lewisburg Saddle – 07/05/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 8, 2025
2 Comments on Dimple Hill from Lewisburg Saddle – 07/05/2025

The day after the 4th we had the opportunity to join a friend for her birthday hike at McDonald Dunn Forest near Corvallis, OR. This was a great opportunity to catch up with some friends and meet some new people with a bonus hike thrown in.

We’d done a few hikes in the area (Bald Hill & McCulloch Peak, Chip Ross Park and Dimple Hill, Peavy Arboretum – McDonald Forest, McDonald-Dunn Forest via Sulphur Springs – 10/02/2021, Peavy Arboretum to Dimple Hill – 10/22/2022) but had never begun a hike at the Lewisburg Saddle.

The group of friends and family set off on Patterson Road 600 across Sulphur Springs Road from the trailhead and followed it to Road 650 which leads to Dimple Hill.

Fireweed

Daisies and trefoil

Near this area a bird flew across the road and landed in a tree on the other side. Someone had noticed that it appeared to have a small rodent which seemed odd for such a small bird.

The lighting made it difficult to make much out, but the shape made me think it could be a northern pygmy owl.

After using the camera and phones to try and get a better look we agreed that it was indeed a pygmy owl.

That is the back of its head with the rodent hanging down.

After the little owl flew off we continued on and a little while later I spotted a buck grazing on the hillside below.

Rubbing on the tree trunk.

St. John’s wort on the hillside.

Hedgenettle

Road 650 to the left.

The group turned left onto Road 650 then left the road after a tenth of mile to follow Upper Dan’s Trail to Dimple Hill.

Spotted towhee

Upper Dan’s Trail on the left.

Viewpoint bench on Dimple Hill.

Mary’s Peak (post) from Dimple Hill.

A new addition since my last visit to Dimple Hill was the upper viewpoint bench which had been replaced.

The group gathering at the viewpoint bench.

After a short break at the viewpoint we all headed back the way we came to Lewisburg Saddle.

Chipmunk

Snake

After returning to the trailhead a small group headed to Good Grounds Coffee Shop to do a little more catching up before heading our separate ways. This was a great hike for catching up and meeting new people as the wide gravel road meant we didn’t need to be single file. The weather couldn’t have been much better either.

This out and back was about 5-miles round trip with 600′ of elevation gain.

Orange is the out-and-back from today.

While we don’t often get the chance to hike with others (most are not insane enough to wake up before 3:30am on a day off) it was a lot of fun to get to do so on this day and to help celebrate a friend’s birthday. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Dimple Hill from Lewisburg Saddle

Tags Corvallis, Dimple Hill, Good Grounds Coffee, hiking, LEwisburg Saddle, McDonald-dunn Forest, McDonald-Dunn Research Forest, Northern Pygmy Owl, Oregon

Corvallis Hiking Oregon Trip report Willamette Valley

Wildlife Week – Day 4: Finley National Wildlife Refuge 04/30/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 2, 2025
3 Comments on Wildlife Week – Day 4: Finley National Wildlife Refuge 04/30/2025

The midway point of my wildlife week vacation was also the 750th day hiking for me since 2006. Given these milestones, and a sunny forecast, I headed to William L. Finely National Wildlife Refuge for the longest hike of the week. The refuge is located south of Corvallis just under an hour drive from Salem.

This was my fifth visit to this refuge (2017, 2020, 2021, 2024) and my plan was to repeat my October 2024 route and add the 1.8-mile Mill Hill Loop. This resulted in a 14.8-mile hike with a little over 950′ of cumulative elevation gain. For a more detailed description of the route you can click the 2024 link above.
The orange loop is the Mill Hill Loop.

I wound up not entirely retracing my 2024 route due to a herd of elk rerouting me around a field. (Oddly today’s route followed the trail whereas I’d gotten off of it in 2024.)
The orange section on the right is my detour with the solid cyan representing the 2024 route. (Other colored lines are from the other previous visits.)

Since I described the majority of the route last October this post will be light on details and even heavier than usual on photos. I set off from the Turtle Flats Trailhead just before 6am and quickly found that the grass was longer and a lot wetter than it had been in October.

Rabbit

Sunrise view

Mt. Jefferson

I hadn’t gotten very far before I spotted a couple of elk ahead.

As I scanned the tree line I realized there was a whole herd out there and then moving across the field I noticed something smaller.
Coyote

The coyote spotted me and decided to head the other way. The elk on the other hand didn’t appear to be too bothered by my presence, at least yet.

I slowly continued in their direction since that was where the Prairie Trail led.

They finally started to take note as more and more elk emerged from the tree line.

I stopped here not wanting to get any closer and waited to see what the elk would do.

The lead bull here seemed to have a leadership role because once he emerged and headed across the field the herd followed and then circled up.

They were still a little too close to the route of the Prairie Trail for my liking and I was doing my best to follow the Leave No Trace principle of respecting wildlife so I turned around and started to head back the way I’d come. As soon as I did that the herd started off in the opposite direction.

I decided to continue on now that they had moved further away and I wouldn’t be following them. They had gone behind a stand of trees and the Prairie Trail cut through the trees several hundred yards from the end of the woods.

Shortly after I exited the trees into the next field the elk herd came around the trees giving me one last look at them as I headed away.
On my 2024 hike I had turned left here on the track at the edge of the photo, but with the elk out there I stayed straight(ish) along the tree line. Apparently that is part of the Prairie Extension Trail, but it was a more obvious path and there was an equally obvious path that angled off the extension trail back to the main Prairie Trail.

The next mile and half was pretty uneventful except for my feet freezing. They were soaked and it has only in the upper 30s Fahrenheit. Once I reached McFadden Marsh the wildlife sightings picked up again.
It was a wet muddy hike this time of year.

Camas and buttercups

McFadden Marsh sending up a light fog.

Wood ducks

Northern shoveler

Mallards, a green winged teal, a cinnamon teal, and a wood duck.

Ruddy duck

I’m sure it’s a nutria, it’s almost always a nutria.

Cinnamon teals

Female wood duck

Bald eagles on the far side of the marsh.

Blackbird

Buffleheads

Great blue heron

Green winged teals and American wigeons

Dove

Marsh wren

Heron hanging out near the Mcfadden Marsh blind.

Egrets and ducks

Egrets

Robin

I left McFadden Marsh behind, and the next wildlife action happened along Cheadle Marsh when an American bittern landed in the reeds ahead of me.

There were actually two bitterns.

It took me a moment to realize there was a second bittern.

Their camo is so good.

American coot

Swallows

Pied billed grebe

Ring-necked duck

Cinnamon teals

I passed Cheadle Barn and saw a few birds near the Cheadle Barn Pond.
Manroot and the Cheadle Barn

California scrub jay

Bittern flying over the Cheadle Barn Pond with Pigeon Butte in the background.

Wildlife and wildflower sightings were scattered along the rest of my route.
Iris and golden paintbrush on the side of Pigeon Butte.

Golden paintbrush and I guess the beetle counts as wildlife.

Savanah sparrow near the Finger Ponds.

Geese in a field near the Finger Ponds.

Turkey vulture

Goose and goslings in Cabell Marsh.

Great blue heron at Cabell Marsh.

American goldfinch near Cabell Marsh.

California quail near Cattail Pond.

Pied billed grebe at Cattail Pond.

Camas along the Cattail Pond Trail.

Pacific waterleaf along the Beaver Pond Trail.

Checker lily along the Beaver Pond Trail.

Fairy lanterns along the Beaver Pond Trail.

Giant white wake-robin along the Beaver Pond Trail.

Bullfrogs and blackbirds were all I saw at the Beaver Pond.

Turkeys along the Beaver Pond Trail near Park Headquarters.

The start and end of the Mill Hill Loop.

Yellow violets in the midst of invasive herb robert.

Bleeding heart

Gray squirrel

Star flower

Spotted coralroot

I’d once spotted a turtle on this log in a pond below the Mill Hill Loop so I took a picture hoping for another one. Instead I got a bullfrog.

Mallards in the same pond.

Solomonseal

Tolmie’s mariposa lily

The forest is pretty along the Mill Hill Loop.

Poet’s shooting star

Small-flowered woodland-star

The end and start of the Mill Hill Loop.

Tough-leaved iris

There were a bunch of bullfrogs sunning at the little pond along the Woodpecker Loop.

Lomatium on the Woodpecker Loop.

Woodpecker Loop Overlook. I took a break on the bench here and changed into dry socks after having a snack.

This northern harrier was putting on an aerial display while I took my break.

Wildflowers along Bald Hill.

Wild rose

Checkerbloom

Tough-leaved iris and golden paintbrush

More turkeys along Finley Refuge Road.

Cabell Barn across from the entrance road to the Cabell Marsh Trail.

Honeybee swarm along the road to the Cabell Marsh Trail. It looks a little like a heart.

This end of Cabell Marsh was practically deserted. My guess was that there was plenty of water right now in less visited areas, so the birds were avoiding this area for now.

You can almost always count on a coot though.

Cormorants out on a log in the middle of the marsh.

Homer Campbell Boardwalk

Wood ducks. These might have been the first significant wildlife I’d seen from the boardwalk. It’s a really neat trail I just rarely see any wildlife from it (with the exception of the shelter).

Turkey vulture flying over Turtle Flats.

Turtles at Turtle Flats!

Ending the day with turtles put a nice bow on a great day of hiking. Finley is a great place to hike and see wildlife. The Mill Hill and Woodpecker Loops are open year around along with the Homer Campbell Boardwalk while the remaining trails are open seasonally from April 1st to October 31st. With over half of wildlife week done it’s going be hard to top today. I’m planning on heading north for the next couple of hikes which might mean a couple of species I haven’t seen yet this week which I’ll be on the lookout for. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Finley Wildlife Refuge 2025

Corvallis Hiking Oregon Trip report Willamette Valley

Wildlife Week – Day 1: E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area 04/27/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date April 29, 2025
2 Comments on Wildlife Week – Day 1: E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area 04/27/2025

We have been fortunate in years past to both have the ability to take 4 weeks of vacation each year which helped immensely in our completing our “500 featured hikes” goal last year (post). Heather’s job had changed in late 2023 resulting in her losing a couple weeks of vacation time each year so after taking a couple of weeks of unpaid time-off in 2024 to complete our hiking goal I have a few solo weeks in 2025. For the first solo week I went with a theme, wildlife week, and planned a series of hikes at various federal and state designated wildlife refuges/areas in the Willamette Valley.

I kicked wildlife week off with a visit to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area located just north of Corvallis (about 30 minutes from Salem). We’d hiked here in July 2022 (post) but had yet to check out the short Coffin Butte Trail located along Highway 99. Today’s plan was to hike that trail then revisit the Angling Pond from our first trip. There is a $10.00 daily parking fee at the 20 ODFW wildlife areas or you can get an annual fee for $30.00

I pulled into the Coffin Butte Trailhead just before Sunrise (6:07am) in hopes that it might be a colorful morning, but alas the cloud cover was solid.

This is a fairly straight forward trail that initially follows a wide grassy track as it climbs to a viewpoint overlooking the wildlife area. The trail then continues, steeply at times, up Coffin Butte to the boundary of the refuge. This upper section is rougher, more overgrown, and full of poison oak and there are no real views. The trail is also next to the Coffin Butte Landfill which means that it can be a bit smelly if the air is moving in the right (wrong) direction. That being said I did the full 1.6-mile out-and-back (455′ of elevation gain) just to say I had and hope that I effectively avoid the leaves of three.
The landfill to the left.

One of two pointers to keep hikers on track.

Sign at the viewpoint.

The remains of a bench at the viewpoint.

Buttercups and iris

The sign announces the “Summit 604′”, but the actual summit is further along the ridge on private property meaning the trail ends here.

A mariposa lily surrounded by poison oak.

After reaching the “summit” I returned to the car and made the one-mile drive to the Angling Pond Parking Area
The busy parking area.

I wandered a bit to the NE of the parking area on trails before returning to the parking area and re-hiking the lollipop loop we’d done in 2022. I changed it up a bit by doing the loop counterclockwise this time. Before returning to the car, I also detoured west along one of the refuge roads to see a little more of the area. There are ample opportunities to explore here, a sort of choose your own adventure. My hike today still only came to 2.7-miles with virtually no elevation gain, but I opted not to explore more in an attempt to pace myself over the next several days.
My route and the Coffin Butte Trail.

There were a lot of birds out, but the majority did their best to be heard and not seen. That being said I did manage to get photos of a few species making it a successful start to wildlife week.
Wandering on trails to the NE of the parking lot.

Apple blossoms?

Concrete structure left over from Camp Adair.

Turkey vultures

Turkey vulture

Heading for the pond.

There were all kinds of birds singing in the trees but nary a feather to be seen.

Iris

I believe this walkway is new since or previous visit.

There were quite a few folks fishing around the pond, and one great blue heron.

Wetlands across the trail from the pond.

Buffleheads

Pied billed grebe

Camas

Hooded merganser drake

Mallards

Killdeer and hooded mergansers

Sandpiper

Heading west through the wildlife area.

Hummingbird

Family of geese

Robin

Black capped chickadee

Northern flicker

Wetlands

Blackbird

Groundsquirrel

It was a good start to wildlife week and I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing quite a few more critters as the week progresses. Happy Trails!

Flickr: E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area

Tags Angling Pond, Coffin Butte, Coffin Butte Trail, Coffin Butte Trailhead, Corvallis, E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area, hiking, Oregon, Wildlife

Corvallis Hiking Oregon Willamette Valley

William L. Finley Wildlife Refuge – 10/10/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 13, 2024
2 Comments on William L. Finley Wildlife Refuge – 10/10/2024

After starting my week of vacation with back-to-back hikes with 4355′ and 5300′ of elevation gain, I took a day off and then picked a much more level hike to wrap up my week. I turned to the William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge located just south of Corvallis, OR. Despite several visits there were still some portions of trails that I had yet to hike there. Heather and I first visited this refuge in 2017 to complete one of Sullivan’s featured hikes (post). We hiked the Homer Campbell Boardwalk, Woodpecker Loop, and Mill Hill Loop that day. We returned in 2020 to check out the SE corner of the refuge including Pigeon Butte. I returned in 2021 during a solo April vacation and re-hiked many of the trails we’d been on during our previous visits and adding a short section of trail/road that we hadn’t yet hiked. Our most recent visit was in 2023 to the Snag Boat Bend Unit which is located approximately 3-miles east of the main unit on the other side of the Willamette River.

For this visit I mapped out a route starting at the Turtle Flats Walkway Trail. This extremely short (0.02-mile) paved path was one of those trails I had not hiked, and the parking area had a restroom and was close to another trail I had not hiked in its entirety, the Prairie Trail.
Hunting information kiosk across from the Turtle Flats parking area.

The Turtle Flats restrooms. (Photo from the afternoon.)

The entire Turtle Flats Trail in one photo.

Viewpoint at the end of the trail.

From the viewpoint a mowed path continued on to Finley Refuge Road across from the start of the Prairie Trail.

The Prairie Trail starts on a roadbed for a short distance then changes to “native surface” as it follows the edge of open fields.

I had a copy of the refuge map with me which came in handy to make sure I stayed along the correct fields.
I turned right here following said map through a small section of trees.

Poison oak is hard to miss when it is sporting its Fall colors.

Emerging from the trees and staying right.

The Prairie Trail turned East shortly after the trees and pointed me toward a pretty spectacular sunrise.

McCulloch Peak (post), Dimple Hill (post), and Vineyard Mountain (post) in the McDonald-Dunn Forest to the North.

Mary’s Peak (post) with a few clouds below its summit.

One of several raptors hunting over the fields.

Pigeon Butte to the left and Green Peak in the distance.

I thought I might see deer or even elk along the edges of the fields being fairly early in the morning, but aside from some fairly fresh deer sign the raptors and lots of smaller birds were all that seemed to be around. That was until I got to the northern end of McFadden Marsh. Still no deer or elk but I spotted the first great blue heron in a field just before arriving at the marsh.

The marsh itself was full of egrets, ducks and a few more herons.
Fog and McFadden Marsh to the left.

Mallards

Geese flying overhead.

Egret and ducks

Egrets

More egrets

Heron with the egrets.

McFadden Marsh

Egrets and a murder of crows.

Great blue heron

Red-winged blackbird

Prairie Trail along McFadden Marsh.

The Prairie Trail ends at a small pullout on Bruce Road which is where we’d parked for our 2020 hike here.
I could just make out the railings along Bruce Road from here.

Nutria family near Bruce Road.

The nutria family.

The Prairie Trail at Bruce Road.

I turned right onto gravel Bruce Road of 0.2-miles to a larger parking area on the others side of Muddy Creek.

Northern flicker

Starling

Muddy Creek

Interpretive signs at the larger parking area.

At this parking area I turned right onto the first mowed path which is the Cheadle Marsh Trail.

I followed this grassy track, between Cheadle Marsh on the left and Muddy Creek on the right, for almost a mile to a junction near the Cheadle Barn.

California scrub-jay

Peregrine falcon?

Pigeon Butte across Cheadle Marsh.

While I was photographing this egret I glanced to my left and noticed a buck staring back at me.

Meanwhile a great blue heron decided it wanted the egret’s perch.

The heron and egret

American coot

The roof of the Cheadle Barn poking up from the hill.

California quail escaping into the blackberry bushes.

The small hill up to the junction below the barn. My legs let me know that even this small hill was more than they were interested in today.

Robin

Spur trail to the Cheadle Barn.

I skipped the barn this time and continued on past a small pond to a junction with the Pigeon Butte Trail.

Spotted towhee

The pond and Cheadle Barn.

Ducks in the pond.

Pied-billed grebe. I also had a yellow-rumped warbler nearly land on me, but then it disappeared into the trees across the pond.

The gravel road that serves as the Pigeon Butte Trail ahead.

I turned right on the Pigeon Butte Trail and reluctantly made the gradual climb to a junction on the shoulder of the butte.

A successful egret and unfortunate rodent.

The junction is located at the crest of the trail/road.

Spur trail to the summit of Pigeon Butte.

My legs had already declared that they were not interested in going uphill and I’d already been up the butte twice, so I skipped the spur trail and continued downhill.

This section of trail passes the Finger Ponds which were almost completely dry this time of year.

The dry ponds hosted a good number of songbirds.

It appeared that there had been a number of controlled burns performed throughout the refuge.

The 0.9-mile section ended at a junction with the Cattail Pond Trail.

I turned left onto that trail (also a roadbed) and followed it a mile to a pointer for Cattail Pond.

Viewpoint bench looking toward Cabell Marsh.

Woolly bear caterpillar sharing the trail.

Gray Creek

At the pointer the Cattail Pond Trail turns left, and the road becomes the Mid-Refuge Connection Trail. I turned left at the pointer to visit the pond and hike a 0.6-mile section of the Cattail Pond Trail that I’d yet to hike.
Mallards

More mallards

Maple Knoll on the far side of Cattail Pond.

I’m assuming nutria but am not 100% convinced on this one.

The 0.6-mile section of trail looped around the pond and connected me to the Beaver Pond Trail which is the trail I’d taken on previous visits.
This section was a mixture of the edge of fields and wooded trail.

Follow the pointer.

A cedar waxing joined by a pair of finches.

I turned right at this sign onto the Beaver Pond Trail and followed it a half mile back to the gravel roadbed.

Just under 100 yards from the Cattail Pond Trail is this unsigned junction. The left is a half mile out-and-back spur on along the side of Maple Knoll. I stayed right this time having done the spur in 2020 with Heather.

The trail passes the Beaver Pond just before arriving at the roadbed.

The Beaver Pond was pretty well deserted given its lack of water.

I turned left onto the Mid-Refuge Connecting Trail.

The connector trail climbed gradually to a signed 4-way junction that serves as the start of the Mill Hill Loop.

Authorized personnel only on the right-hand fork here.

Arriving at the junction.

The right fork is the trail I came up. The center fork is the Mill Hill Trail, and the left fork is the Mill Hill Loop Trail which loops around Mill Hill in 1.7-miles and arrives back at the junction where I took this photo from.

Having done the Mill Hill Loop twice before I decided to save myself the distance and more climbing and took the center fork which would lead me to the Intertie Trail and eventually the Woodpecker Loop Trail.

There are several junctions along this stretch, most of which are well signed.

This junction marks the start of the Intertie Trail.

Crossing Finley Refuge Road.

I was moving pretty quickly through the forest here and startled a doe that came around a bend from the other direction. She bounded into the trees but didn’t go too far.

When I arrived at the Woodpecker Hill Loop I turned left. It meant a little bit of climbing, but going this direction would lead me past the Environmental Education Shelter on Woodpecker Hill.

Signage at the Woodpecker Hill Loop.

The Woodpecker Hill Loop is a well-developed interpretive trail.

Stellar’s jay

Each of these kiosks has an informational placard inside.

Near the crest of the trail.

The shelter on Woodpecker Hill.

I took a quick break on the shaded bench at the shelter then headed downhill to the Woodpecker Hill Trailhead.

Dragon fly

Signboard at the Woodpecker Hill Trailhead.

From the trailhead I walked down the entrance road to Finley Wildlife Refuge Road and turned left. I now had a 0.7-mile gravel road walk to reach the Cabell Barn.
Yay, more uphill.

The back of a killdeer.

Bald Hill on the left.

Winkle Butte is the near rise on the left. On a clearer day Mt. Jefferson would be visible in the distance to the right of Winkle Butte.

Cabell Barn ahead.

I turned right across from the barn on Cabell Lodge Road following a pointer for the Cabell Marsh Overlook.

Historic granary

The Cabell Lodge burned on December 13, 2023.

The lodge in April, 2021.

From the parking area at the end of the road I followed a path to the overlook then descended to the marsh on the seasonal trail.

Cabell Marsh was busy with a lot of mallards and a few other species mixed in.

Geese

Pigeon Butte from the marsh.

Great blue heron towering over the ducks.

An egret along the shore to the right.

The egret facing off with the heron. The mallard appeared to be ready to act as the referee.

After a brief face off the egret moved on.

Observation blind accessed via the Homer Campbell Boardwalk.

When I reached the boardwalk I turned left and followed it a little over a third of a mile to a parking area where I picked up Finely Refuge Road again. I turned right and followed the road a half mile back to the grassy path that led to the Turtle Flats viewpoint.

Signboard at the boardwalk trailhead.

Back on the refuge road.

Muddy Creek

The path to Turtle Flats on the left and the start of the Prairie Trail ahead on the right.

The loop today came in at 13.2-miles with maybe 400′ of total elevation gain.

This was a nice mix of trail types, and as always seems to be the case here, it was full of wildlife sightings. Much of the refuge is only open seasonally (April 1 through October 31) although the Woodpecker Hill, Intertie, Mill Hill trails and the Homer Campbell Boardwalk (only to the observation blind) are open year-round. It was great to be able to hike some new to me trail and there is still a small unhiked spur off the Prairie Trail for a future visit. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Finley Wildlife Refuge 2024

Corvallis Hiking Oregon Salem/Albany Willamette Valley

Independence Riverfront Parks – 07/06/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 9, 2024
No Comments on Independence Riverfront Parks – 07/06/2024

The arrival of a heat dome on July 4th had us rethinking our hiking plans. We’d had a nice but warm hike on the Olallie Trail on the 4th (post), but the heat was only forecasted to get worse over the next few days. We were still recovering from that hike but still wanted to get out for a short stroll to stretch our legs, so we decided to make the fifteen minute drive to Independence, OR for a walk along the Willamette River.

The city of Independence has been developing parks along the river over the last 20+ years starting with Riverview Park which opened in 2005. Our plan was to start at this park and hike north past the community dog park and around the Independence Sports Park which is still under development. Due to the city’s 4th of July celebrations we weren’t able to park at the park so we began our hike from South D Street and walked down Osprey Lane to reach the park.

From the northern end of the park’s parking area we crossed Ash Creek on a footbridge.

Ash Creek

On the far side of the bridge we spotted a doe who was on her way to the creek.

After watching the doe for a while we continued on. The wide paved path made for an easy stroll. It was early enough that it wasn’t too warm yet, and most of the path was in the shade which also helped.

In addition to the single doe we spotted a variety of birds along our route.

Passing the dog park.

Sign at the start of the sports park.

Bird in a nest.

Interpretive sign along the trail.

Shortly after entering the sports park we forked right onto the soft surface Willamette River Trail

Stellar’s jay

Flowers along the path.

Eventually the field on the left will be developed into sports fields.

Vetch

Morning sunlight showing why it’s a robin “red breast”.

Sparrow

Going around the open field brought is into the sunlight, but it still hadn’t warmed up too much.

Swallows

Spotted towhee with breakfast.

When we got back to Riverview Park instead of taking Osprey Lane back to our car we took a paved path from the southern end of the parking area.
Amphitheater at Riverview Park.

This paved path passed between the river and apartments for a little over a third of a mile to South Main Street where we turned right (north) for a block to return to South D Street and our car.
Willamette River

Killdeer

Pointers on South Main Street.

This was a perfect recovery walk coming in a 3.1-miles with virtually no elevation gain.

We were pleasantly surprised with the number of birds and how nice the parks looked even after having just hosted the 4th of July celebrations. Hopefully the heat dome will move on soon and that will be the end of abnormally warm weather for the Summer, but it’s nice to have options such as this available. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Independence Riverfront Parks

Tags Ash Creek, hiking, Independence, Independence Community Dog Park, Independence Sports Park, Oregon, Riverview Park, willamette river, Willamette River Trail

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

Corvallis Hiking Oregon Salem/Albany Trip report Willamette Valley

Albany Parks and Snag Boat Bend – 04/22/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date April 24, 2023
3 Comments on Albany Parks and Snag Boat Bend – 04/22/2023

The delayed arrival of Spring weather has begun affecting the timing of the hikes that I’d planned for us this year. We had originally planned a wildflower hike for this weekend, but they are running at least two weeks behind so we turned to a pair of wildlife hikes instead. Our first stop was at the Snag Boat Bend unit of the William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge.

This 341-acre unit is located a across the Willamette River to the East of the 5,325-acre refuge. The unit has several miles of trails although the amount accessible fluctuates due to flooding.
Not sure how “official” the writing is on the map, but it wasn’t wrong about the Turtle Loop being “closed” (high water).

The Snag Boat Bend Loop Trail begins as a boardwalk that passes over the North Beaver Pond. Oddly there wasn’t much, if any, water in this pond despite other areas later being flooded.

After the short boardwalk section the trail became a combination of grass/mud as it followed a swollen Lake Creek toward the Willamtte River.

A swollen Lake Creek

A third of a mile from the trailhead is a picnic table overlooking a former channel of the Willamette River that is now an oxbow lake filled by Lake Creek.

The oxbow lake.

The trail makes a hard left at the picnic table passing along the water.
Lots of water in the lake.

Woodpecker hiding in the trees.

Just under 0.2 miles from the picnic table, during low water, is said to be a path that makes it possible to connect the Snag Boat Band and Turtle Loop Trails.
Note the sign on the far side vs the closer sign barely sticking up out of the water.

A quarter mile from the picnic table the Snag Boat Bend Loop turns left at a junction. We stayed straight and visited the Observation Blind before setting off on the Blue Heron Trail.
Oregon grape

Red flowering currant

Slug

Signs at the junction.

The observation blind.

There wasn’t a whole lot to observe from the blind since the morning fog limited visibility.

Goose

Spotted towhee

Mallard drake

The Blue Heron Trail followed the boarder of the refuge and some private farmland.

It was approximately another quarter mile from the blind to a 4-way junction. Here the Blue Heron Trail began and finished a theoretical loop using the left most forks and the Turtle Trail split off to the right along a dike.
Blue Heron Trail to the left and Turtle Trail on the right.

We turned right onto the Turtle Trail and as we got onto the dike we could see that the area below, where a loop shown on the Oregonhikers page joined back up, was likely flooded. We followed the dike a quarter of a mile to another junction where the Turtle Trail made a hard right and descended from the dike into an open area where several rabbits were busy having their breakfast.

American widgeon

We followed this grassy track for a third of a mile back to the swollen Lake Creek where, during low water, the Turtle Loop would turn right along the creek and loop back around.

Another sign out in the middle of the water.

We turned back and returned to the junction with the Blue Heron Trail.
The start of a possible loop using the Blue Heron Trail. The fainter track on the right heading downhill was flooded just 100 feet or so away.

The flooded area where the loop would end.

I had gone down to the flooded section to see if there was possibly a way across without having to wade but there wasn’t. The good news was that my heading down to this spot had caused a great horned owl to move trees which allowed both Heather (on the other section of the Blue Heron Trail) and myself to spot it.

Since we knew that we would be able to make the Blue Heron Trail into a loop we followed it a half mile from the junction, making a sharp right near the 0.4-mile mark and decided to turn around. The trail had gone from gravel to wet grass and our feet were getting pretty damp which helped make the decision to turn around.
Cottonwood with red flowering currant, Oregon grape, and Indian plum blooming in front.

We were able to keep our feet dry on the gravel surfaces.

Mushroom

Rufous Hummingbird

Hawk preparing for takeoff.

We had started to go past the turn for the Blue Heron Trail so this photo is as we headed back toward the turn. We came from the right-hand side so the path straight ahead would have been the “sharp right”.

Killdeer

Our turn around spot. The trail was beginning to bend back to the East here.

We headed back along the Blue Heron Trail following it to the Snag Boat Bend Loop where we turned right in order to finish that loop.
A chipping sparrow among the golden-crowned sparrows.

On the Snag Boat Bend Loop

The trail turned left to follow this gravel roadbed for the final third of a mile.

The gate in the distance is at the trailhead.

Our hike at Snag Boat Bend came in at 3.9 miles with maybe 50′ of elevation gain. Had some of the loops not been flooded it might have been a bit shorter.

It was a nice first visit though and we are now interested in returning in late Summer/early Fall when some of the flooded trails might be accessible. While the fog made it a bit hard to see we still managed to see a few ducks, a goose, several rabbits, the owl, a hawk, lots of smaller birds, and one bald eagle that flew overhead. From the trailhead we drove North to the city of Albany where we’d plan to visit a series of the city’s parks. The idea was to start at Monteith Riverpark and hike East along the Willamette River to Simpson Park and then continue along the river there past First and Second Lakes if the trail wasn’t flooded. If it was flooded, we could turn inland at Simpson Park and re-visit the Talking Water Gardens (post).

I had two reasons for putting this urban hike on our schedule. First it was close to home and secondly Monteith Riverfront Park sits at the confluence of the Calapooia and Willamette Rivers, and the Calapooia is one of Oregon’s rivers that we had yet to see on a hike. This 80-mile long tributary of the Willamette begins in the Willamette National Forest near Tidbits Mountain (post) and flows Northwest through Brownsville, OR before turning North to the East of Interstate 5. It was disappointing to arrive and find that the entire park was closed for a large waterfront project by the City of Albany. (Normally I would check the status of our destination prior to heading out, but I didn’t expect an entire city park to be closed, and after looking online when I got home, I’m not sure I would have found the information anyway.)
We wound up parking East of the Riverfront Community Center and hoping on the Dave Clark Trail there.

Less than 100 yards from where we’d parked we came to an observation platform that led out over the Willamette River. From this platform we could at least see the mouth of the Calapooia emptying into the Willamette.

The confluence ahead to the left.

Highway 20 passing over the Willamette to the left. Fun fact about U.S. Highway 20 – It runs from Newport, OR to Boston, MA and is the longest road in the USA according to the Federal Highway Administration. Click here for more information and an interesting write up of the drive from Boston to Newport by Boots on the Trail.

We followed the Dave Clark Trail East passing under both bridges of the highway and then later under the Union Pacific Railroad.

Orange crowned warbler. One of many small birds we saw along this trail.

We thought it was a little odd to see two occupied nests atop the railroad so close together until we realized that the occupants weren’t both birds of prey.

Canada geese were using one of the nests.

Might be the mate looking acting as lookout from the bridge.

Osprey occupied the other and appeared to be in the process of renovations.

We also encountered a beautiful male Anna’s hummingbird but for the life of me I couldn’t get either one of the cameras I was carrying to focus on the little guy so the only picture we wound up with was a cropped shot from Heather’s phone.
His bright pink head was more impressive in person.

After ducking under the railroad and passing some apartments the trail passed the Willamette Community Garden and climbed to NE Oak Street.
The community garden (not pictured) was on our right.

Pretty tulips at the sign.

Here the trail follows several blocks of sidewalk before reaching its end at Bowman Park. The official route of the trail turned right on Oak St for a block then left for 5 blocks NE Water Ave to Geary St where it turned left and descended 3 blocks to Bowman Park. We stayed straight on Front Ave NE though and followed it 3 blocks to Harrison St. NE where we turned right for a block to NE Water Ave to rejoin the Dave Clark Trail.
Not a lot to see in the residential neighborhoods but we did cross Pettyjohn Creek along the way.

Sign for Bowman Park at Geary St.

Bowman Park on the left and the paved path we took on the right.

A paved path led East from Bowman Park behind a new apartment complex where it turned to a wood chip surface.

Cormant in the middle of the Willamette.

At the far end of the apartment complex the trail suddenly turned into a slick, muddy single track.

Squirrel

Things got started getting interesting here, and not in the good way. We quickly started passing vacant and/or abandoned homeless camps and the trail surface was just a mess. At this point we were only about a half mile from the Simpson Park Trailhead though so we pressed on.
Seen near a homeless camp which sort of captures the situation. A combination of unaffordable house, drug abuse, and mental illness has created a crisis up and down the West Coast with no simple (or quick) answer.

We initially mistook all the footprints and bike tracks as a sign that the trail saw good recreational use.

According to the Oregonhikers.org Field Guide entry for the Albany Riverfront Hike there is a concrete bridge over Cox Creek near Simpson Park. We never made it that far though as after a quarter mile we came to small pond over the trail. There was no foreseeable way around and we didn’t want to do to much searching for an alternate route for fear of stumbling upon an occupied camp so we turned around.

Prior to reaching the impassible puddle we had already decided to forgo trying to hike further along the Willamtte from Simpson Park and had planned instead of visit Talking Water Gardens and return via roads instead of the muddy trail. Now that we’d been stymied though we trudged back through the mud and past the homeless camps to the apartments where we turned left on a path that led a short distance uphill into Eads Park.

We turned left and passed through this small park then turned right onto Burkhart St NE and began our second stint of neighborhood hiking. After a block on Burkhart we made a left on Willamette Ave NE and followed it 0.2-miles to its end at the Albany/Millersburg Water Reclamation Facility where we turned right onto Davidson St. NE. A block on Davidson brought us back to Front AVE NE and a sign for the Talking Water Gardens.

Front Ave became Waverly Dr NE and we followed it until we finally crossed Cox Creek three tenths of a mile later.

We made our way to the gated entrance to the Talking Water Gardens happy to see that the man-made waterfall in the Beaver Marsh was flowing this time.

Buffleheads

We turned right and headed for the main sign board to get a picture of the map and decide on our route.
We decided to loop around the West Beaver Marsh and Central Oak areas before heading back.

There was obviously a lot more water present now then there had been in November and while there were less ducks present there was a larger variety of birds and best of all a bunch of western pond turtles.

View from above the waterfall.

The first set of turtles we spotted.

Western pond turtles.

Female red-winged blackbird

Green-winged teal

Yellow-rumped warbler (Audubon’s)

More turtles

Mallard drake

Turkey vulture

Another bale of turtles. (I had to look up “bale” because I had no idea what a group of turtles was called.)

Another man-made waterfall.

This had been full of ducks on our previous visit.

Yet another turtle.

Black phoebe

Acorn woodpecker

Sparrow

Northern shoveler

Hummingbird

Red-winged blackbird

Bench along the Central Oak area.

The first goslings we’ve spotted this year.

Very zoomed in shot of a hawk seen in the distance.

Bullfrog

Marsh wren

Final set of turtles.

Mallard pair

Chickadee

Yellow-rumped warbler (Myrtle)

We took about an hour to hike a little over 1.25-miles through the gardens. There was a lot of stopping to watch the wildlife and attempt to get photos. After exiting the gardens we made our way back to Front Ave via Waverly Drive and this time followed signs for the Dave Clark Trail back to it.

We followed the Dave Clark Trail back to our car, but not before spotting a bit more wildlife.
A couple ahead of us on the trail spotted this guy for us.

Squirrel

Our Albany Parks hike wound up being just 6.3 miles with under 100′ of elevation gain bringing our total for the day to 10.2 miles and maybe 100 total feet of elevation gain. All the hiking on paved surfaces in Albany combined with having wet shoes and socks made it feel like more though.

At the end of the day we were glad that we wound up in Talking Water Gardens given how much fun wildlife we spotted there but I probably would not do the rest of this hike over. The Dave Clark Trail along the Willamette was nice enough and if I was in Albany for another reason and had some time it would be a fine place for a stroll but necessary neighborhood walk to reach Simpson Park/Talking Water is not nearly as nice as either simply starting at the Simpson Park Trailhead or hiking along Cox Creek from Waverly Lake as we had done in November. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Snag Boat Bend and Albany Parks

Corvallis Hiking Oregon Trip report Willamette Valley

Fitton Green Natural Area – 03/11/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date March 13, 2023
1 Comment on Fitton Green Natural Area – 03/11/2023

Since mid-February we’ve had several rounds of snow, lots of rain, and a stretch of cool (cold) temperatures. We are more than ready for Spring to arrive. A well-timed break in the weather pattern gave us an opportunity to get back to hiking with a trip to Benton County’s Fitton Green Natural Area. While the Fitton Green Natural Area is managed by Benton County a network of trails also allows access to land managed by the Crestmont Land Trust, Greenbelt Land Trust, and the City of Corvallis (Bald Hill Natural Area).

We had visited Bald Hill in 2016 (post) so for this visit we chose to start at the Wren Trailhead (Cardwell Hill West TH) and visit the Crestmont Land Trust and Fitton Green trails.

The signboard at the trailhead had a good map which revealed two trails that were not present on the map I’d downloaded from the County’s website, the North and Bridge Trails.

Of the two the North Trail most interested us as it would allow us to avoid repeating a section of the Cardwell Hill Trail. The Bridge Trail would have been an option had we been looking for a shorter loop. After settling on our route we set off on the Cardwell Hill Trail.

From the trail we had a brief view of Marys River.

We followed the gravel roadbed turned trail for half a mile, crossing into the Crestmont Land Trust area, to the well signed junction with the North Trail.
The forecast was for patchy morning fog with a chance of light showers between Noon and 3pm and partly sunny skies. They got the patchy morning fog part right.

The first of three abandoned cars we’d pass on the day. This one was in a field on a hillside before entering the Crestmont Land Trust.

Interpretive signs greeted us as we entered the Crestmont Land Trust.

The North Trail junction.

We turned uphill on the North Trail at the junction where we encountered the first of several “Shovel Stations”.

The shovels can be used to remove cow pies from the trails during periods of cattle grazing in the land trust. Thankfully there was no grazing happening currently so there was no need to carry the shovel to the next station, but we thought it was a neat idea. The North Trail gained approximately 200′ in the first third of a mile where we came to a viewpoint with a fairly new looking gazebo and a unique set of table and chairs that had been carved from stumps.

The gazebo housed a small table with benches. A particularly nice touch was the lack of back on the bench that wasn’t facing the view which allows you to sit facing the view.

The view from the gazebo.

The stump table and chairs.

Not sure what the most recent gathering was but there was an interesting variety of items around the table.

After admiring the gazebo and odd table setting we continued on the North Trail which began a half mile descent back to the Cardwell Hill Trail.
Another bench along the trail.

Turkey tails

The Cardwell Hill Trail in the valley below the North Trail.

Dropping down to the Cardwell Hill Trail.

We turned back onto the Cardwell Hill Trail which quickly entered the Fitton Green Natural Area. We ignored two spurs of the Fitton Green North-South Trail on the right and followed this trail up and over its high point a total of 1.5 miles to the Cardwell Hill East Trailhead.
The first spur didn’t have any signage

The second spur had a marker naming it the Fitton Green North-South Trail.

Trail marker

Dimple Hill in the McDonald Forest (post).

The other two abandoned cars, these were outside of the natural area.

Arriving at the east trailhead.

We turned around at the trailhead and regained the 250+ feet that we’d dropped from the trail’s highpoint. The out and back to east trailhead wasn’t necessary but it was some good hill training for the hiking season to come. We then descended 300′ to the Fitton Green North-South Trail where we veered left.
One of the more impressive trees along this section of the Cardwell Hill Trail

The Fitton Green North-South Trail.

Tragedy nearly struck on this trail when a slow-moving slug barely avoided a foot.
Watch your step.

We followed this trail a total of 1.1 miles where we turned right onto the Allen Throop Loop Trail. Along the way we passed Amy’s Trail at the 0.4-mile mark, a private road at the 0.9-mile mark, and the western end of the Allen Throop Loop at the 1-mile mark.
Amy’s Trail

The clouds were beginning to break up as we climbed up this trail.

The western end of the Throop Loop.

The eastern end of the Allen Throop Loop. Continuing on the Fitton Green North-South Trail would have brought us to the Panorama Drive Trailhead.

We turned onto the Allen Throop Loop Trail which brought us to an oak savannah hillside.
There seems to have been a spelling error (Alan vs Allen) on the trail marker.

Plaque at a viewpoint along the Allen Throop Loop. Note that it is Allen not Alan on the plaque.

Despite the clouds breaking up we didn’t have a view of Marys Peak, the highest peak in the Oregon Coast Range (post).

The trail overlooks the cities of Corvallis (to the left/east) and Philomath (straight/south).

Bald Hill with Corvallis beyond from the Throop Loop.

East toward the Coast Range.

We were too early for any wildflowers, especially this year with the lingering cold weather but we did spot some lupine leaves along the trail before we came to a bench at a junction with the Mulkey Ridge Trail.

This is the trail that connects Bald Hill with Fitton Green.

The trail made a slight climb from the bench arriving back at the Fitton Green North-South Trail less than a quarter mile later.
The junction from the Throop Loop Trail.

We turned left and retraced our steps on the Fitton Green North-South Trail to its junction with Amy’s Trail where we turned left (West) dropping into a denser forest.
Map at the start of Amy’s Trail.

Gate at the Fitton Green-Crestmont Land Trust border.

Creek along Amy’s Trail. With all the wet weather there was a fair amount of water in all the streams/creeks in the area.

After a third of a mile on Amy’s Trail we came to a junction with Creek Road.

We turned left crossing over the little unnamed creek to a T-junction near a picnic table. To the right was the Creek Trail while the Upper Forest Trail went left.

On the hillside above the picnic table is the Creek Trail.

Our plan was to make as wide a loop as possible through this area so we went left following the Upper Forest Trail uphill.

Switchbacks along the Upper Forest Trail.

After a fairly stiff climb the Upper Forest Trail descended more gradually arriving at High Road 0.4-miles from the Picnic Table.

Arriving at High Road.

According to the maps High Road continued to the left a short distance then became the Lookout Extension before dead ending in the forest. Something to check out on another trip. Today we turned right following this roadbed 100 yards before once again turning left, this time onto the Mid Forest Trail at a 4-way junction.
The Mid Forest Trail is hidden behind the tree on the left. To the right is the Creek Trail while High Road continues straight ahead.

Another 0.4-mile descent brought us to a junction in an oak savannah with the Lower Forest Trail and Middle Road.

Lots of green moss along this trail.

A little snow on the ridge in the distance.

Rabbit that Heather spotted.

The junction was at the far end of this open space.

Stayed left at the junction on what was now the Lower Forest Trail which descended another quarter mile to Lower Meadow Road.
This was by far the most confusing junction we’d encountered all day. It was one of only a couple that was unsigned and none of the maps that we’d seen or had brought with us showed the road continuing to the left. Since we’d planned on staying left at all junctions except for at High Road we initially turned left here thinking it was the River Trail, but it just didn’t feel right so we turned to the Garmin which did show the road continuation. It didn’t look anything like the River Trail route so we promptly turned around and returned to the 4-way junction and took a left downhill through the meadow.
Lower Meadow

The River Trail brought us to Marys River then turned north along the river for a 0.2-miles.
Gate along the River Trail just before Marys River.

Marys River

Male common merganser floating Marys River. I only had a brief second to try and get a picture as he floated by thus the poor focus.

A short spur trail led down to the river bank.

We had spent all morning watching for wildflowers knowing that everything was running late this year but holding out hope that we’d spot an early bloomer. One of the first to bloom each year in the forests around the valley is snow queen and finally along the river here we spotted a few of the small purple flowers.

The River Trail veered away from Marys River and back into the meadow before ending at Lower Meadow Road. We turned right on the road which crossed an unnamed creek before meeting the Cardwell Hill Trail.

Not flowers but mushrooms are always fun to spot.

Lower Meadow Road crossing the creek and ending at the Cardwell Hill Trail.

We turned left onto the Cardwell Hill Trail. We had missed this 0.4-mile section which followed Marys River earlier when we’d turned up the North Trail.

The short Trestle Extension led to a view of a railroad trestle over Marys River.

The signboards at the North Trail junction from the Cardwell Hill Trail.

Robin near the North Trail junction.

We retraced our steps from the North Trail junction under the partly sunny skies that had been promised.
No more fog.

Today’s hike came in as 9.3 miles on the Garmin with approximately 1200′ of cumulative elevation gain.

While it hadn’t felt at all like Spring when we’d set off that morning by the end of the hike, and after seeing the snow queen blossoms, we could convince ourselves that it might not be too far off. The forecast had been spot on with the patchy fog giving way to partly sunny skies, and we did have two very light showers pass over while we were looping through the Crestmont Land Trust.

This was a nice hike and an area that we will definitely be back to. There are trails that we didn’t take this time to come back and explore and the possibility of longer or shorter loops make it an attractive option when we were looking for something open year-round and not too far home. Happy Trails!