Category: Willamette Valley

Wildlife Week – Day 7: Fern Ridge Wildlife Area (and bonus waterfalls) 05/03/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 5, 2025
4 Comments on Wildlife Week – Day 7: Fern Ridge Wildlife Area (and bonus waterfalls) 05/03/2025

The final outing of Wildlife Week fell on Saturday, so Heather was able to join me. I’d picked the Fern Ridge Wildlife Area west of Eugene, OR for this final outing, in part because it gave us an excuse to check out a pair of waterfalls SW of Eugene between Reedsport and Drain.

The forecast called a chance of showers through early afternoon, and we drove through several along Interstate 5 before exiting the freeway on Highway 38 south of Cottage Grove. As we headed west on Hwy 38 the showers eased and we even had some blue sky by the time we parked at the gated entrance to Loon Lake Recreation Site.

With the campground still closed for the season we parked at a pullout next to a bridge over Mill Creek and then hiked past the gate to the day use area.
Mill Creek from the bridge.

Stellar’s jay

Chipmunk

Loon Lake

The lake was formed by a landslide. The boulders in the Mill Creek picture above were part of that landslide.

At the end of the day use area we picked up a paved path that led into the forest.

Trillium

We veered right at a hiker symbol onto a short path (about a quarter mile) that led into the Elliott State Research Forest and ended at Loon Lake Falls.
This was our first hike in the Elliott State Forest and possibly only hike given the forest webpage states under “There are no established trails, restrooms, or trash receptacles.”

Fairy lanterns

Given that the unnamed stream that feeds the waterfall appears to start just a bit further uphill I suspect it doesn’t often have much of a flow, but it was a decent waterfall in a lovely setting.

After admiring the waterfall we hiked back to the car. This stop was just 1.5-miles with 200′ of elevation gain.

Quite a bit of the distance was walking from the road to the day use area.

The next waterfall we visited was Camp Creek Falls. This waterfall is on private timberland just off of a BLM road. The timberland company’s public access map available online currently shows the area as open to the public but that could change at any time. Because of this I am not going to go into detail for the location but there is information online from other sources. If you do plan on trying to visit the waterfall, I highly suggest looking up the current land ownership through the Douglas County Assessor (Douglas County GIS| County Map) and then looking up the current owner online to find out about public access.
A very short path led down to the waterfall.

Camp Creek Falls. The rock here is sandstone which creates the 31′ stairstep cascade.

Snail

This was a very pretty waterfall. There were however a few beer cans and bottles around and a fire pit along the creek which were disappointing. We’ll never understand why someone would take the time to visit such a beautiful location and mar it.

With the waterfall visits checked off we headed back to Highway 38 then made our way north to the Fern Ridge Wildlife Area.
Before reaching Highway 38 I had to pull over to get a couple of photos of an elk herd.

We started our hikes at Fern Ridge WLA by parking along Cantrell Road at a pullout for the West Coyote Unit.

The wildlife area maps showed loops on both sides of Coyote Creek. We set off on a trail leading off from the pullout which followed an old roadbed.

Camas

Not sure why this was lying on the side of the trail away from the trailhead, but it provides information on the seasonal allowed usage of the units.

The trail led to a grassy track along Coyote Creek.

Geese

The maps showed the trail then looping back closer to the creek and returning to Cantrell Road at the Coyote Creek Canoe Access. There was a bench right next to the creek near the mowed track but we didn’t see any sign of a trail here, so we continued another 0.2-miles on the grassy tack before deciding we’d for sure missed the return trail, if it even still existed.
Roses

Channel along the dikes.

We turned around and returned to the bench where, coming from this direction, we could make out a faint trail leading into the woods.

This trail was muddy with vegetation encroaching on it, including an alarming amount of poison oak.

Rough-skinned newt

Slug

Snail

Made it out.

Dodging poison oak isn’t either of our favorite pastimes so we were hesitant about the trail in the Coyote East Unit. Nevertheless we crossed Coyote Creek on Cantrell Road where large signboards announced the Nature Trail. (FYI there are no parking pullouts on this side of the creek.

We walked up the trail a short distance to the start of the loop where Heather said thanks but no thanks and headed back to the car.

I opted to give it a try and set off to the right on the more obvious trail. There was a bit of poison oak but on this trail it wasn’t encroaching as much as it had in the Coyote West Unit.

Western meadowrue

Bench along Coyote Creek

The Nature Tail also emerged onto a mowed track where I messed up the route.

If I had consulted the map I would have realized the trail continued left on the grass for a short distance before returning to the woods and looping back around to mowed tracks. The trail then sticks to the grass as it heads south before turning back to the west. I turned right mistakenly thinking I was further along the route and having not paid attention to the mix of grass tracks and woods.
I should have gone this direction. The presence of the bench should have tipped me off.

I kept my eyes out for a trail on my right and after 0.2-miles I spotted a possibility.
Overgrown but in the right spot.

I was now paying closer attention to the map compared to the GPS and realized my mistake of turning right, but I could also see that this overgrown path must be the continuation of the loop. It was muddy and overgrown but in just 370′ I was back at the start of the loop.

After completing my “modified” loop I road walked back to Heather and the car. This hike wound up being two miles with no elevation gain.
The orange section is where I turned right instead of left as I should have. I estimate that going the correct way would have added approximately 0.75-miles. I don’t know what type of condition the other section of trail through the woods is in.

These were an odd couple of trails, possibly more useful for hunters during hunting seasons. We had one more stop at planned at Fern Ridge WLA at the https://myodfw.com/sites/default/files/2019-02/Fisher%20Butte.pdf. We parked at the large trailhead off Highway 126 and set off past a large signboard.

We’d spent time in this unit in November 2021 when we started from a different trailhead along Royal Avenue (post). The “trails” here are a series of dikes through the wetlands creating multiple route opportunities. We wound up with a 4.3-mile hike consisting of two loops.

Road to Fisher Butte,

We spotted quite a few different species of birds and heard a lot of bull frogs. There were also some impressive camas fields in some of the wetlands.
Camas

Bird viewing platfrom.

Red-winged blackbird

Bullfrog. They were everywhere and continuously startled us when they would make a loud “alarm” sound before jumping into the water.

We turned left at the platform onto this dike.

Sparrow

Blue-winged teals. This was the first time seeing this species during Wildlife Week. We had seen a couple of these ducks back in 2021 at Cold Springs National Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Oregon (post).

Another big field of camas.

Fisher Butte at the end of another dike.

Geese in formation.

Checkerbloom

Blue sky, a far cry from the low clouds and showers we’d driven through in the Eugene area earlier in the morning.

Geese and cinnamon teals.

I needed a more powerful camera to make out the various ducks and other birds we were seeing in the distance.

There were a number of great blue herons hunting in the wetlands.

Another viewing platfrom.

Looking toward the Royal Avenue Unit.

Pelicans. Another species that I hadn’t seen at any other wildlife area this week.

Purple martin

One of at least a half dozen American bitterns that we saw in flight. We were unable to spot any before or after they were in flight.

Swallows in flight

There was a lot happening in this part of the unit.

White pelicans and a mute swan (non-native)

Geese

Another first this week – greater white fronted geese. It’s a blurry photo but it was the best I could do given their distance.

Goose passing the swan.

Same goose passing a pelican.

Northern shoveler

Hawk

Another large group of various ducks and other birds.

Bald eagles

Two types of camas

Heading back to the trailhead along the side of Fisher Butte.

Flax

The final stretch of Wildlife Week.

The showers never materialized, and the wildlife was abundant making this a great end to Wildlife Week. Over the seven days I visited five national wildlife refuges, two state wildlife areas, and two wetlands covering nearly 60-miles of hiking. I got to see a great variety of wildlife and know I missed so much more. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Fern Ridge WLA plus waterfalls

Tags Coyote Creek, Coyote East Unit, Coyote West Unit, Fern Ridge Wildlife Area, Fisher Butte Unit, hiking, Loon Lake, Loon Lake Falls, Loon Lake Recreation Site, Nature Trail, Oregon, pelicans. blue-winged teal

Hiking Oregon Portland Trip report Willamette Valley

Wildlife Week – Day6: Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Fernhill Wetlands 05/02/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 4, 2025
3 Comments on Wildlife Week – Day6: Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Fernhill Wetlands 05/02/2025

Originally I had planned to do my hike at Finley Wildlife Refuge (post) on the Friday of Wildlife Week, but going into the week the forecast called for rain showers. I rearranged the order to move Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Fernhill Wetlands to Friday morning feeling in hopes that I could finish these hikes before 11am when the showers were forecasted to start. By the end of the week the chance of showers had been replaced by mostly sunny skies.

We visited Wapato Lake in February 2024 (post) and had enjoyed the short hike. Located in Gaston, OR the trailhead is just under an hour from Salem. A paved path leads to a footbridge over Wapato Creek and then dikes lead right for 2 miles and left for 0.6. We hadn’t done the full 2-miles to the right in 2024, so I started with that section then hiked to the end of the 0.6-mile section before returning to the car for a total of 5.6-miles with virtually no elevation gain.

All trails are open from February 1st through September 30th, then from October 1st through November 30th the final 1.3-mile stretch to the right (south) is closed, and there is no hiking allowed during hunting season from December 1st to January 31st.

There were a lot of ducks, geese, and herons at the lake along with smaller birds in the surrounding trees.
Geese

Osprey

Killdeer

Meadow checker-mallow

Wood ducks

Northern shovelers

Ducks, geese, and a heron.

Scrunched heron

Stretched heron (same heron)

Sparrow

A different heron and a duck.

Yep, it’s a nutria.

Spotted sandpiper

One of several benches located along the dikes.

American coot

Gadwall

Dove

Crow

American kestrel

Swallow

Cinnamon teals having a disagreement.

End of the trail to the south.

View from the end of the trail.

Wood ducks

Robin

Short billed dowitchers

Green winged teal

Hooded merganser and a gadwall

Ring-necked ducks

Heading to the left (NNE) now.

Red-winged blackbird

Egrets, herons, and ducks.

Great blue heron and egret

Cinnamon teal and northern shoveler

Hooded mergansers and a cinnamon teal

Northern shovelers and a northern pintail on the right.

California quail

End of the trail in this direction.

One thing to note is that the bathroom is currently closed due to budget shortages. Other than that, this was a great hike with a nice variety of wildlife and no other people.

From Gaston it was just a ten-minute drive to Fernhill Wetlands.

We had also been here in February 2024 (post), but not on the same day as Wapato Lake. I did virtually the same route today as on that trip which is described in detail in that trip report.
My 3.3-mile track with minimal elevation gain.

The wildlife was sparser here than it had been on our previous visit, but there were a few species about. I also saw my fourth and fifth Bullock’s oriole of the week. Every one of these I’ve spotted have been while flying past me with their bright orange feathers flashing momentarily only to disappear into a tree or bush. I did have some more cooperative subjects though including the first hummingbird of the week.
Swallow

Osprey

Killdeer

American coot

Mallard

Anna’s hummingbird

A bit of the pink on it’s throat.

Ring-necked ducks
Bald eagle

Gadwalls

Song sparrow

Purple martins

Pied billed grebe

Mallard and ducklings

Mallards

Fringecup

Rabbit

Sandpipers

Ground squirrel

American goldfinch. I’d seen a number of these this week but had only managed a picture of the back of one at Finley Wildlife Refuge.

This was another fun morning of looking for wildlife, but my feet and legs are more than happy that there is only one day of Wildlife Week left. The plan is for Heather to join me on the last hike, and we are hoping to check out a couple of waterfalls before stopping at Fern Ridge Wildlife Area west of Eugene. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Wapato Lake NWR and Fernhill Wetlands

Tags Fernhill Wetlands, Forest Grove, Gaston, hiking, Oregon, Wapato Lake, Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Wildlife, Willamette Valley

Hiking Oregon Portland Trip report Willamette Valley

Wildlife Week – Day 5: Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge and Jackson Bottom Wetlands 05/01/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 3, 2025
No Comments on Wildlife Week – Day 5: Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge and Jackson Bottom Wetlands 05/01/2025

A day after my long hike at William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge (post) I dialed it back a little. For day 5 of my “Wildlife Week” vacation I had two short hikes planned to revisit a pair of wildlife areas along the Tualatin River the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge and Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve.

First up was the Tualatin River NWR. We’d visited this refuge twice previously, first in March 2019 and then again in May 2023. The seasonal trails at this refuge are closed from October 1st through April 30th so today was the first day the Wetlands Loop would be open this year.

I parked at the Roy Rogers Road Trailhead as we had done in 2023 primarily because it was a little closer to Jackson Bottom.

My route utilized portions of the seasonal Wetland Trail and the River Trail to make a loop with a short out-and-back on the Ridgetop Trail. It came to 4.7-miles with about 100′ of elevation gain, most of which was on the Ridgetop Trail.
The orange track is a portion of the Wetland Trail that I had not previously hiked.

Mt. Hood from the Wetlands Trail.

I spotted a couple of deer shortly after setting out.

I believe this is a savannah sparrow.

Geese families

Killdeer

It was just under 40 degrees Fahrenheit when I started, but the forecast called for temperatures to reach 80 by the afternoon.

Geese, goslings, and goose eggs.

Sandpiper

Not sure what type of fish this is but they were thrashing about near the shoreline, and I had seen similar behavior the day before in McFadden Marsh at Finley NWR.

Duck and ducklings

Sleeping nutria

Purple martins and a swallow (bottom left).

Egrets and a great blue heron.

Closer look at the egrets and heron.

Robin

I stopped at the Refuge Headquarters to use the facilities, and this pair of bald eagles arrived at the same time.

The eagles on the tree behind the headquarters.

Mallard

Sandpipers

Riverside Trail

Tualatin River

Song sparrow

Inside-out flower

The Ridgetop Trail to the left. There is a bench and railed overlook but the view is blocked by trees. If there hadn’t been any leaves there may have been a view but today there wasn’t.

The only trillium I saw with any petals left.

Bleeding heart

Northern flicker

I spotted an American kestrel in this snag. I had been hoping to see one during this week’s hikes.

American kestrel

Crow

Northern shoveler

Wildflowers near the trailhead.

Lupine, plectritis, checkerbloom, and golden paintbrush.

Not a huge amount of wildlife here today but the kestrel was a nice addition to the list of species seen this week. This was by far the busiest hike of the week, possibly due to it being the first day of the seasonal trails being open. I was done with the hike at 8am so not only was it busy, they were early birds.

It was a 20-minute drive from the refuge to Jackson Bottom Wetland so it was still fairly early when I arrived at the trailhead.

Our previous visit here was last April (post) and we hiked the majority of trails here during that visit, so this was a near repeat except I went in the opposite direction (clockwise).
This route came to 4.4-miles and just 35′ of elevation gain.

In addition to wildlife the preserve has some nice flower gardens near the visitor center.

Camas

Larkspur

Not a native wildflower but pretty.

Columbine

Rabbit

The look on their faces seems to indicate they were not expecting to see me there.

Going back the other way.

Karaoke

Helpful maps and/or pointers are located at trail junctions.

Swallow

Swallows

Cinnamon Teal

Ring-necked ducks

Purple martins

Canada geese

Jackson Bottom Wetlands Trail passing Oak Island Marsh.

Crow harassing an osprey over Oak Island Marsh.

I thought flamingos were pink.

American coot in NW Pond.

Another napping nutria.

Robin

Gadwall

Egrets at Wapato Marsh.

Great blue heron in Pintail Pond.

Lupine along the trail.

Green winged teal

Heading toward Salamander Slough.

Two turtles and a mallard.

Long billed dowitcher

Cabbage white?

Checkerbloom along the Coyote Hill Trail.

Common yellowthroat

Savannah sparrow

Spotted towhee

Tualatin River

Deer crossing Pintail Pond. I think these are the same three I saw earlier.

I’ve been spotted.

Rabbit on the left along the River Trail.

Salmonberry

Western meadowrue

Wild rose

Stairs leading to the trail on the River Trail.

Jackson Bottom was noticeably less busy than the refuge had been. It was a nice hike with a fairly steady supply of wildlife. These are both good destinations and were a nice addition to wildlife week. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Tualatin River WLR and Jackson Bottom

Tags Coyote Hill Trail, hiking, Hillsboro, Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve, Jackson Bottom Wetlands Trail, NW Pond. Salamander Slough, Oak Island Marsh, Oregon, Pintail Pond, River Trail, tualatin river, Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, Wapato Marsh, Wetlands Trail, Wildlife

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

Hiking Oregon Salem/Albany Trip report Willamette Valley

Wildlife Week Day3: Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge 04/29/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 1, 2025
No Comments on Wildlife Week Day3: Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge 04/29/2025

Overnight and morning rain showers delayed day 3 of wildlife week but by 9am things were starting to clear up. With the later start I had decided it would be the day I visited Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge. It is the closest refuge to our home in Salem, just under 20 minutes, and I was only expecting to do a 5-to-6-mile hike meaning I’d likely still be home around Noon. This was my sixth visit to the refuge (2010, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024) and I was looking to do something a little different during this visit. Looking at the refuge map and Google Earth there was a possible route/trail around the base of Baskett Butte along it’s west and south sides and my mission today was to check it out. I wound up with a 5.5-mile lollipop (with a short handle).

I parked at the familiar Baskett Butte Trailhead and set off on the signed trail staying right at junctions eventually passing Morgan Lake, the Smithfield Road Trailhead and Moffitti Marsh.

You can actually see some of the route I explored on the left side between Parvipes Marsh and the butte and at the bottom of the picture wrapping around the butte.

It might be wildlife week but for the first half mile I saw more wildflowers than wildlife.
Manroot

Camas

Plectritis

Checkerbloom

Tolmie’s mariposa lilies

My first non-flying bird wildlife sighting was a doe from the saddle on the butte.

After watching her for a moment I started to move and noticed two more deer on the other side of the trail in the woods.

Morgan Lake with a bit of Moffitti Marsh to the left.

Columbine

Iris

Robin

Sparrows

Gold crowned sparrow

The grass was low enough that the lake was fairly visible. Later in Spring you’re lucky to see any water from the trail.

Not a great picture due to the distance and light, but there are a couple of ruddy ducks to the left hanging out with some ring-necked ducks.

Mallards

American coot

Gadwalls

Buffleheads

Common yellowthroat

At the end of Morgan Lake (by the sign above) I started scanning the wetland below for a bittern. I’ve heard them in the area before and had them fly off before I could get a picture, but I was usually coming from the other direction. This time I had the high ground, and it made a difference.
Looking for a bittern.

American bittern. I could only see the bittern from a very short section of trail and as soon as I lost a little elevation it disappeared from sight. It never flew off, but I couldn’t see it even knowing where it was.

Following the trail next to Smithfield Road.

Lots of red-winged blackbirds near the trailhead.

Finch

Heading back toward Baskett Butte and Moffitti Marsh.

Northern flicker

Moffitti Marsh

American wigeons

Female common yellowthroat

Spotted towhee

I watched a crow chase off a hawk that had apparently gotten too close.

The official trail heads up the hill to the left. I veered right just beyond the trail sign pointing toward Moffitti Marsh.

I followed tire tracks from the refuge vehicles through the muddy grass. It wasn’t the easiest walking, but it wasn’t too hard to follow the tracks.

Lilac

Parvipes Marsh ahead to the right.

A refuge tractor was a little behind me so when I came to a “T” junction with a clear but less worn track heading uphill to the left I turned that way.
The tractor turned right and drove over a dike at the end of Parvipes Marsh to a field on the other side.

Deer farther up the hillside.

The track I was on turned to the right and traversed the hillside around the butte.

This appears to be balsamroot. There were just a couple of patches on the SW side of the butte.

Cottonwood Pond

Buttercups and miniature lupine

Meadow checker-mallow

Lomatium and plectritis

South Slough Pond

I was a bit surprised to find a bench along this route given it isn’t shown as an official trail.

Grass pea

More checkerbloom

Golden paintbrush

The path I was on was leading toward Coville Road and I could see the trailhead, but I hadn’t been to the overlook on Baskett Butte yet. In 2023 I had come down from the overlook on a trail that connected up with the track I was on, so I kept watch and then turned uphill when I spotted the tread.
If I hadn’t been looking for the tread I don’t think I would have noticed it.

Lupine

Another Tolmie’s mariposa lily

Western meadowlark

The overlook ahead.

The obligatory photo from the overlook.

It was a steep climb up to the overlook and in hindsight I was wishing I had done the loop in the opposite direction. I had opted not to do that though because I wasn’t 100% this route was going to work. After a brief break at the overlook I headed down to the trailhead on the official trails.

Lots of patches of plectritis on the butte.

Ground squirrel

Swallow

Before heading home I drove up Coville Road to the parking area at Cottonwood Pond since I had seen a lot of birds on the water during my hillside traverse.
Baskett Butte from the Cottonwood Pond parking area.

Mallards

Northern pintails

Northern shovelers

Lesser scaup. They look a lot like ring-necked ducks only without the ring.

Ring-necked ducks

Nap Time.

Another nice day at a wildlife area. In addition to the photographed subjects a bald eagle, Bullock’s oriole, goldfinch, turkey vulture, and Canada geese all flew by me but refused to pose for a picture. The next couple of days are forecast to be sunny before more showers arrive on Friday in time for the weekend. Hopefully I will have some cloud free morning light over my next couple outings. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Baskett Slough 2025

Tags American Bittern, Baskett Butte, Baskett Butte Trailhead, Baskett Slough Wildlife Refuge, Cottonwood Pond, deer, hiking, Moffitti Marsh, Morgan Lake, Northern Pintail, Oregon, Parvipes Marsh, Rich Guadagno Memorial Loop Trail, Ruddy Duck, Salem, Smithfield Road Trailhead, Wildlife

Hiking Oregon Salem/Albany Trip report Willamette Valley

Wildlife Week – Day 2: Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge 04/28/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date April 30, 2025
No Comments on Wildlife Week – Day 2: Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge 04/28/2025

For day 2 of my “Wildlife Week” vacation I returned to Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge. This marked my fourth visit to this refuge which is just under 30 minutes from Salem (2014) (2021) (2022). For this visit I parked at the Eagle Marsh Trailhead and hiked a total of 10.5-miles visiting Eagle, Teal, Willow, Mallard, Egret, Pintail and Killdeer Marshes as well as Mohoff, Wood Duck, Dunlin and South Ponds.
The route included two short road walks along Buena Vista and Wintel Roads.

My “sunrise” start was once again under a canopy of clouds making pictures of the numerous ducks and other birds difficult during the lollipop loop past Eagle Marsh and around Teal and Willow Marshes.

Ring-necked ducks

Much of the area, and most trails, are closed between October 1st and April 1st each year.

Ring-necked ducks and a very out of focus pied billed grebe.

Willow Marsh

Northern filckers

Geese

Teal Marsh

Pied billed grebe

Common yellowthroat

Pair of bald eagles in the snag.

One of the eagles.

I believe this is a greater yellowlegs.

Bufflehead

Green-winged teals

Killdeer

Leaving Eagle Marsh. Even over an hour after sunrise there wasn’t much light.

A 0.2-mile walk to the SW along Buena Vista Road brought me to the start of the dike trails at Mohoff Pond and Mallard Marsh. I took the dike between the two and followed it to a 4-way junction between Mohoff Pond, Mallard Marsh, Egret Marsh, and Pintail Marsh.

Robin

The mudflats at Mallard Marsh were busy.

Green-winged teals and several species of shore birds. I think the darker, larger birds are short billed dowitchers, the smallest are sandpipers and there is one with a black mark on its underside which may be a dunlin.

Better look at the short billed dowitchers.

A little better look at what I think might be dunlins.

I see you.

This American bittern saw me way before I saw it. It had flown up earlier and landed in the vegetation and even though I watched where it landed, I couldn’t make it out until it took flight again.

Savanah sparrow that appears as annoyed with the bugs as I was.

Not a great photo but there is a northern pintail lower right.

A sandpiper, my guess is a least sandpiper.

American wigeons. Another not great shot but they were all sticking close to the far shore of Mallard Marsh.

Mallards hanging out at Mallard Marsh.

Nearing the 4-way junction.

At the junction I went straight passing between Egret and Pintail Marshes. This was the first time I’d taken this route.

Northern shoveler

I made my way to the Pintail Marsh Trailhead and then road walked another 0.3-miles east along Wintel Road to a small pullout along the Prairie Extension Trail.
Pintail Marsh from the trailhead along Wintel Road.

Cinamon Teal

I veered right on the Prairie Extension’s grassy tract.

Camas

Hawk

Song sparrow

Spotted towhee

Common vetch

After two tenths of a mile on the Prairie Extension I noticed a hiker symbol marking the Woodland Loop Trail on the right.

While this trail has theoretically been there on my previous visits it hasn’t always been obvious or passable. Storm damage and Spring flooding had kept me off this trail until today. The third of a mile trail passes through a dense and damp woodland before returning to the grassy track near the end of the Rail Trail boardwalk.

Avens

Western meadowrue

Obstacle

Newer looking bridge.

Older bridge.

End of the Woodland Loop.

The boardwalk to the left.

I turned right and hiked around Dunlin and Killdeer Ponds then made my way back to the Rail Trail boardwalk. There was some commotion at the SW corner of Dunlin Pond caused by several bald eagles having a heated conversation.
The one trying to land was apparently not invited to the party.

There are 3 immature and 2 adult eagles in the trees. Then there was the juvenile that wasn’t welcome and possibly another juvenile that had been flying around. I was having a hard time keeping track of just how many there were.

After tearing my focus away from the eagle meeting, I watched a northern harrier hunt in the field opposite of Dunlin Pond.
Grey ghost

Dunlin Pond

These may be the two juveniles that were not allowed at the meeting.

A nearly dry South Pond on the right after having looped around Killdeer Marsh.

The start of the boardwalk.

I didn’t see much of anything along the boardwalk (which is typical) until near the end when things picked up near Wood Duck Pond.
Dove

Song sparrow

Wood ducks

Mallard

Swallow

Cinnamon teal

I turned right at the end of the boardwalk and took the Prairie Extension back to Witnel Road and then hiked back to the Pintail Marsh Trailhead.

Woodpecker

Pintail Marsh (all the black specs are insects)

I went left along the marsh and stayed left at junctions to pass Mohoff Pond and make my way back to Buena Vista Road.

Female red-winged blackbird

Male red-winged blackbird

American coot

The highly invasive American bullfrog.

A good look at the size difference between a Canada goose (left) and cackling geese.

Sunning snake

Canada goose

I walked the road back to Eagle Marsh where a great blue heron was hanging out next to the overlook.

The heron’s head between the interpretive signs.

Ankeny has never disappointed. I always see a lot of wildlife, but getting good pictures without a professional camera and telephoto lens is difficult given the size of the ponds and how easy it is for the birds to put a good deal of distance between people and themselves. In addition to the wildlife included in the post I also saw an osprey, a coyote (just before pulling into the parking area), a scrub jay, and numerous small birds that would not cooperate for photos. All in all, it was a great addition to Wildlife Week. Happy Trails!

Flicker Album: Ankeny 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

Hiking Oregon Portland Trip report Willamette Valley

Fanno Creek Trail – 04/26/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date April 28, 2025
No Comments on Fanno Creek Trail – 04/26/2024

The Fanno Creek Trail is part of the Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District offering several miles of paved trail along Fanno Creek in Beaverton and Tigard. The current trail is 8.3-miles in length with plans to eventually extend the trail between Willamette Park in Portland to the Tualatin River in Durham. The urban trail passes through a number of parks, and we planned on hiking a section that included five such parks. Before starting our hike though we made a short detour to check out Koll Wetlands.

There is no hike at Koll Wetlands, you just park behind some businesses and look for birds and other wildlife.

We arrived too early for decent pictures due to cloud cover limiting light, but we spotted a rabbit and a number of ducks and other birds.

Duck and ducklings along with a killdeer.

After checking out the wetlands we drove to the Denney Road Trailhead.

We headed south on the trail into Fanno Creek Park and followed the paved path 0.7-miles to a crossing of SW Hall Boulevard.

Chickadee

Mallards

Fanno Creek

Thimbleberry and service berry

We crossed SW Hall Boulevard and entered Greenway Park.

Northern flicker

There are several loop options available in this park if the water isn’t too high. The water was low enough today that we were able to stay left at all junctions and only had to navigate a few feet of muddy, flooded trail.

Hummingbird

Red-winged blackbird

Squirrel

The Greenway Loop Trail had the only flooded section on this day.

Wetlands along the Greenway Loop Trail.

Goose

Hooded mergansers

After rejoining the Fanno Creek Trail at the southern end of Greenway Park we passed under SW Scholls Ferry Road.
This is another section that may flood at high water times.

Shortly after passing under the road the trail passes a sign for Englewood Park.

We spent some time here watching a female mallard attempt to join the drakes along with her ducklings only to be repeatedly chased off.

Mallards ducklings

The ducklings finally making it across the trail.

Goose and gosling

Avens

The trail jogged right at a crossing of SW North Dakota Street then crossed SW Tigard St to enter Dirksen Nature Park.

Camas

Dirksen Nature Park

Viewing platform

Wetlands from the viewing platform.

Dove

Finch

Robin

We continued through the nature park and crossed SW Tiedeman Ave. Two tenths of a mile later we arrived at the Woodard Park Trailhead near the park’s playground.

Lupine

Woodard Park Trailhead.

We made this our turnaround point and headed back. We stayed left again in Greenway Park to complete the three loops there. The trail was fairly busy on the way back but not too crowded and there was still quite a bit of wildlife to see.
This may be a lesser goldfinch, I wasn’t able to see anything but its rear end though.

Spotted towhee

Wood duck

Our out-and-back on the Fanno Creek Trail came to 7.1 miles with minimal elevation gain.

This was a nice urban hike, and we can see why it’s popular with all types of trail users. Dirksen Nature Park was a highlight and looked like it would be a great place to bring the kiddos. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Koll Wetlands and the Fanno Creek Trail

Tags Beaverton, Englewood Park, Fanno Creek, Fanno Creek Trail, Greenway Loop Trail, Greenway Park, hiking, Hooded merganser, Koll Wetlands, Koll Wetlands Park, Oregon, Tigard, Wildlife, Wood Duck, Woodard Park

Eugene Hiking Oregon Trip report Willamette Valley

Thurston Hills, Jasper, and Elijah Bristow Parks – 04/19/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date April 21, 2025
1 Comment on Thurston Hills, Jasper, and Elijah Bristow Parks – 04/19/2025

As we continue to look for hikes/trails that we have yet to visit we turned to the Eugene-Springfield area. There are numerous parks and natural areas offering hikes of varying lengths in or near these cities. We’ve visited a number of them in past and this outing would add three more to our list of places visited.

We began our day at Thurston Hills Natural Area. The trailhead, located within the city limits of Springfield, opens at 6am (restrooms at 7am).

Opened in 2017 the area offers trails for hikers and mountain bikers. The bike only trails are closed during the wet season which making it a quieter time for hiking. We set off on the gravel Mossy Maple Trail and began a gradual climb.

The trails were well marked with plenty of reminders which users were allowed on them.

There was a variety of Spring wildflowers blooming in the forest as we made our way up the trail.
Giant white wakerobin (Trillium albidum)

The only columbine we spotted.

Fairy lanterns

In addition to identifying the trails by name, several had mile markers.

Trillium

Solomon’s seal

Toothwort

Largeleaf sandwort

Bleeding heart

At 1.9-miles the trail crossed a gravel road (Mossy Maple Connector) and leveled out as it traversed a forested hillside.

Old fungus

Oregon grape

The 2.5-mile marker on the Mossy Maple Trail.

Seasonal closure sign and map at the upper junction with the bike only Yee-Haw Trail.

Pacific hound’s tongue

Fairy slippers

Star flowered solomon’s seal

Iris

Vetch

Fringecup

After approximately three miles on the Mossy Maple Trail we arrived at a junction with the Basalt Rim Trail. The Basalt Rim Trail would be our return route so for now we turned left and climbed a small hill to a meadow in a wide saddle.

Strawberry

Shooting star

Spotted towhee

We crossed the saddle (and an access road) to pick up the Camas Crest Trail.

Small-flowered woodland-stars

Checker lily and baby blue eyes (Nemophila menziesii)

Manroot

Red-flowering currant

The Camas Crest Trail joined the humorously named Cervus Road briefly where we went left for 100 yards to find the Basalt Rim Trail.

Dogwood

On the Cervus Road passing an old quarry on the right.

The Basalt Rim Trail.

The lupine is still a week or so away from blooming.

Basalt columns

We climbed up the Basalt Rim Trail to a junction with the Cascadian Thumb Trail on the right.

Warning signs along this hiker only trail cautioned trail users of dangerous cliffs and the risk of falling.

Fawn lily

Springfield from the trail.

There is a short one-way loop at the top.

The loop passes several rocky viewpoints, and a lot of poison oak.
Looking down from one of the viewpoints.

The highest peak to the left in the distance is Mount June (post) and the peak in the center is Bear Mountain.

Mt. Pisgah (post) just across the Middle Fork Willamette River with Spencer Butte (post) behind to the right.

Biscuitroot

Another viewpoint along the loop.

The peak with two humps is Mount Nebo. With the naked eye we could just make out Tidbits Mountain (post) in the distance to the right.

Camas (and poison oak) near the viewpoint.

Finishing the loop.

Stripped coralroot.

After completing the loop we returned to the Basalt Rim Trail and turned right and made our way back to the Mossy Maple Trail.
Switchbacks leading down to the Basalt Rim Trail.

Wren

Violets

Basalt outcrops

Ginger

Arriving back at the Mossy Maple Trail.

On the way back down we took the Mossy Maple Connector Trail which was simply a fairly steep gravel road but otherwise retraced our steps to the trailhead.

Starflower

Dunn’s salamander

Mossy Maple Connector Trail (left).

The Yee-Haw Trail coming down from the left to the Mossy Maple Connector Trail.

Buttercups

Fairy bells

Meadow near the trailhead.

The hike here came in just under 8 miles with 1215′ of elevation gain, by far the most strenuous stop of our day.

From Thurston Hills it was just a 15-minute drive to our next stop at Jasper State Recreation Site. This is one of the 25 State Park fee sites requiring a $10.00 day use fee. This year we purchased a $30.00 annual pass, so this stop was in part to make use of the pass and get our money’s worth. The hike description (or lack thereof) was from AllTrails so it was no surprise when we were immediately confused as to where to go from the parking area.

There was no obvious path down to the picnic shelters so we simply headed down to a gravel road where we turned right. After passing an impressive display of Menzies’ larkspur we found an actual trail and wound up making a short (0.6-mile) loop through the woods.

Menzies’ larkspur

Western meadowrue

Bleeding heart and purple deadnettle

Completing the loop.

AllTrails showed a 1.6-mile loop that not only went through the woods but also the picnic areas of the park. Aside from a few service roads there weren’t many obvious paths/trails that we could see so we made up our route which stuck mostly to a faint grassy track along the Middle Fork Willamette River.

Faint grassy path.

Golden crowned sparrow

A section of obvious trail.

The faint path disappeared near the fenced off-leash dog area. The AllTrails loop appeared to turn around here, but since we couldn’t see even a faint path leading back around closer to the parking areas we turned around and followed the river back.
We did find this short section of what appears to have been a paved path in the grass.

This was an odd little hike but the park itself was nice. There was some playground equipment, nice picnic shelters, the off-leash dog area, and some disc golf holes. We managed to get 1.5-miles of walking in and saw some really nice larkspur along the way.

A 10-minute drive took us from the Jasper State Recreation Site to Elijah Bristow State Park. Currently this is not a fee park, which was a bit surprising to us given it has wide range of activities to offer. There are over 10-miles of trails open to hikers, equestrians, and mountain bikers along with access to the Middle Fork Willamette River for anglers and kayakers. There are several trailheads to choose from, but we parked at the Lost Creek Trailhead.

The trails here were well maintained and all official junctions were marked with posts consisting of pointers and symbols representing the trail names. That being said having a copy of the map handy was very helpful because the trail names, such as the Elk Trail, can apply to multiple spurs in the same area.

We set off past the signboard on the Elk Trail and soon found ourselves hiking along Lost Creek.

An example of the posts. Every directional arrow, including the far side that you can’t see, was for the “Elk Trail”.

Cedar along the Elk Trail.

We simply stayed left at posted junctions which brought us to the River Trail and the Middle Fork Willamette.

Candy flower and woodland buttercups

Picnic tables near Lost Creek.

Lost Creek

Not a signed junction so this is the one time we veered right.

Middle Fork Willamette River.

The River Trail turned eastward and ran parallel to the Middle Fork for a mile. For much of the mile the river was not visible however there were a few opportunities to reach the river bank.

I was hoping that there might be a turtle hiding in this photo but alas it does not appear that is the case.

We veered left here leaving the River Trail briefly to actually get a view of the river.

We hadn’t noticed the goslings in the grass until seeing the picture of the parents.

Another look at the river shortly before the River Trail turned away.

Barrow’s goldeneye

When we reached a post for the Angler’s Trail we turned right.

We stayed left again at the next junction then right at the following two. For the remainder of the hike we stayed left back to the park entrance road across from the Lost Creek Trailhead.
Left here as right led to a picnic area at the end of the entrance road.

Signpost at the second junction where we kept right.

The clouds had been stubborn all morning but by early afternoon they had mostly burned off.

We stayed left on the trail near the entrance road (across from the Channel Lake Trailhead).

ADA accessible path to a brushy wildlife viewing spot along a backwater channel.

Bufflehead and at least three turtles on the logs behind.

The Lost Creek Trailhead on the far side of the entrance road.

Our loop here came to 3.2-miles with less than 50′ of elevation gain.

A look at the relative proximity of our three stops.

On the day we wound up hiking 12.6-miles with approximately 1250′ of elevation gain, nearly all of which came at Thurston Hills. Thurston Hills was a great hike with a lot more varied scenery and wildflowers than we had expected. We are already planning on returning to Elijah Bristow to check out more of the trails there at some point. Jasper State Recreation Area was a pleasant addition to the stops, but it wouldn’t be a place that we would visit again if we were simply looking for a hike. It did however seem to be a great place to have a picnic with the family and spend a day along the river. Happy Trails!

Tags Barrow's Goldeneye, Basalt Rim Trail, Camas Crest Trail, Cascadian Thumb Trail, Dunn's salamander, Elijah Bristow State Park, Eugune, hiking, Jasper State Recreation Area, Lost Creek, Lost Creek Trailhead, Middle Fork Willamette River, Mossy Maple Trail, Oregon, Springfield, Thurston Hills, Thurston Hills Natural Area, wildflowers

Hiking Oregon Salem/Albany Trip report Willamette Valley

Silver Falls State Park – Thanksgiving 2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date December 2, 2024
1 Comment on Silver Falls State Park – Thanksgiving 2024

With November quickly coming to an end we hadn’t managed to get out on a trail yet. We skipped the first two weekends due to poor weather and then spent most of the next week at theme parks in Southern California (post). While we got plenty of walking in at the parks, I didn’t consider those days as our monthly outing. Both Heather and I came down with head colds following our return home, so another weekend came and went without a hike. The forecast was dry for Thanksgiving which provided an opportunity to get a morning hike in. I was feeling better, but Heather was still dealing with a lingering cough, so I set out alone to check out the newest trailhead at nearby Silver Falls State Park.

The North Canyon Trailhead was opened in June 2023 followed by the North Rim Trail in July 2023. I was looking forward to checking out these new features, so I parked at the new trailhead and set off following pointers for the North Rim Trail.

The route I’d planned was to take the new trail 0.8-miles to the North Falls Trailhead then take a 0.6-mile out-and-back detour on the Upper North Falls Trail to visit Upper North Falls. After returning to the North Falls Trailhead I would take the Trail of Ten Falls down into the canyon passing behind North Falls and following this trail past Twin Falls to the Winter Falls Trail where I would turn left to visit Winter Falls and then climb out of the canyon to the Winter Falls Trailhead.

At the Winter Falls Trailhead I would again pick up the Trail of Ten Falls aka the Rim Trail where I would turn right and follow it past the Nature Store. Shortly after passing the Nature Store the Trail of Ten Falls heads down into the canyon again to pass behind South Falls. The trail is also known as the Canyon Trail between this point and where it heads into the canyon near the North Falls Trailhead. I would follow the Trail of Ten Falls/Canyon Trail behind South and then Lower South Falls on the South Fork Silver Creek. The trail eventually leaves the south fork behind and then later crosses the North Fork Silver Creek before passing Lower North Falls. A short spur trail just East of North Falls leads to Double Falls on Hult Creek. After crossing Hult Creek the Trail of Ten Falls passes Drake Falls followed by Middle North Falls. I would take another short spur trail leading behind Middle North Falls before continuing another half mile to a junction with the Twin Falls Trail. Finally I would take the Twin Falls Trail uphill a half mile back to the North Canyon Trailhead. This route resulted in an approximately 8.8-mile hike with close to 1000′ of elevation gain.

I chose the route because it included roughly 1.5-miles of trail that was new to me. The new-to-me trail included the North Rim Trail, Twin Falls Trail, and a short section of the Winter Falls Trail (between Winter Falls and the Winter Falls Trailhead). I chose the direction (clockwise) because the last two times I’d visited the waterfalls I’d been going the opposite direction, so I wanted a different perspective this time around.

Onward to the pictures!
The North Rim Trail heads left at a fork with the Twin Falls Trail a short distance from the parking lot.

I stuck to the North Rim Trail here leaving another (short) trail to do next time.

The Nature Play Area along the loop trail I didn’t take.

One of two bridges along the North Rim Trail.

Railing near the North Falls Viewpoint.

North Falls from the viewpoint.

North Falls

Map located at the North Falls Trailhead.

Upper North Falls from the Upper North Falls Trail.

Upper North Falls.

The split in the Trail of Ten Falls where the Canyon Trail heads down to North Falls.

North Falls

Trail behind North Falls.

Behind North Falls.

I will always take pictures of these large boulders in the creek.

Hair ice, a phenomenon that only occurs on rotting wood when the correct mix of moisture, atmospheric conditions, and temperature combines with the fungus Exidiopsis effusa. There were quite a few occurrences this morning.

Trail marker at the Twin Falls Trail junction.

Twin Falls

Twin Falls is a tough one to get a good clear view of the full waterfall. Recent rainfall had provided good flow for this fall which helps with the visibility.

This is Twin Falls on July 7, 2006.

All the rain had the side creeks and falls flowing as well.

Nearing the Winter Falls Trail and its bridge over the creek.

The view from the bridge.

Winter Falls from the Winter Falls Trail.

Winter Falls

It’s a steep couple of tenths of a mile climb from Winter Falls up to the trailhead which warmed me up enough that I removed my beanie, buff, and made a switch to lighter gloves shortly after I’d turned back onto the Trail of Ten Falls/Rim Trail.

The forecast had called for sunny skies, but we were also dealing with an air stagnation warning. For a brief moment I thought the fog might burn off, but that never materialized and by the time I arrived at South Falls more fog had rolled in.

There are some nice big trees scattered throughout the park.

Trail of Ten Falls/Canyon Trail above South Falls.

South Falls

Behind South Falls

For a short loop just to South Falls you can cross the bridge and return to the rim.

The trail below heading for Lower South Falls.

From behind Lower South Falls. I scared a poor woman so badly as I neared the falls. She was setting her phone up on a tripod for a selfie and didn’t see me coming nor could she hear me with the roar of the falls until I was just a couple of feet away. When I said that I was just going to sneak behind her she let out the loudest scream I’ve heard in a while.

Ankle deep pools behind the falls.

Lower South Falls

The mile long Maple Trail (right) allows for a shorter loop to both the falls on South Fork Silver Creek.

This is now the North Fork Silver Creek.

Unnamed falls on a side creek.

The footbridge over the North Fork Silver Creek.

Pool below the bridge.

Lower North Falls

Footbridge over Hult Creek and the spur trail to Double Falls.

Double Falls

Back on the Canyon Trail.

More fog.

Drake Falls

Middle North Falls

Spur trail (right) to Middle North Falls.

Behind Middle North Falls.

Splash pool

The Winter Falls Trail footbridge spanning the creek ahead on the right.

Chipmunk.

I saw a few birds (and heard several more) and saw a deer on my drive through the park, but this was the only wildlife that I managed to even try and get a photo of on the hike.

Twin Falls again which meant I was nearly to the Twin Falls Trail.

Twin Falls Trail junction.

It was another stiff climb out of the canyon. There was a bench at a switchback with a somewhat obstructed view of Twin Falls.

The Twin Falls Trail leveled out near its end.

Arriving back at the junction with the North Rim Trail.

I spotted several ruffed grouse as I was driving out of the trailhead.

I really enjoyed this loop. It began and ended with waterfalls and saved Middle North Falls, which I’ve decided is my favorite of the ten, until near the end. It was also a great time of the year to visit to see the falls full from the recent rains. This was my seventh visit to the park and even with my 2022 perimeter loop (post) there are still a number of trails I’ve yet to explore away from the waterfall area. I’m already looking at possible routes for the next visit. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Silver Falls State Park Thanksgiving