Category: 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

Eugene Hiking Old Cascades Oregon

Eula Ridge to Mount June – 10/08/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 11, 2024
3 Comments on Eula Ridge to Mount June – 10/08/2024

What do you do the day after a 16.5-mile loop with 4355′ of elevation gain (post)? If you’re me, you make a questionable decision. With another sunny day in the forecast before showers moved in, I decided that I would finally check out the Eula Ridge Trail near Eugene. This 4.2-mile-long trail gains over 3000′ from Highway 58 to its end at the Hardesty Trail. The trail is very steep, so steep in fact that the Forest Service description states “After a short descent into a saddle, the really steep climb begins. This is a good place to turn back.” The saddle in question is just over 1.5-miles from the trailhead and marks the start of 16 switchbacks. The switchbacks are nowhere near as steep as the remainder of this trail. From the end of the trail it is just three quarters of a mile to the top of Hardesty Mountain (post), but there is no view from that peak. When we visited Hardesty Mountain it was on an out-and-back from the Mount June Trailhead. That hike gained approximately 2100′ of elevation. My bright idea was to combine the two to revisit Mount June where there was a view.

I set off just after 7am from the Eula Ridge Trailhead and immediately went the wrong way when I forked left on the Lawler Trail.
This trail would eventually end at the LoneWolf/Patterson Mountain Trail (post).

The small trailhead along Highway 58.

Wrong way dummy.

I got a little over a quarter mile up the Lawler Trail before realizing my mistake. The worst part was I’d climbed over 250′ in that quarter mile. I retreated to the trailhead and went right on the Eula Ridge Trail which dropped to a crossing of South Creek before climbing to a junction with the South Willamette Trail (post).

The South Willamette Trail to the right.

This trail was heavily damaged in a February 2019 storm, but it has since been cleared and was free of any blowdown for its entire length. The trail is forested with no views to speak of, but the forest is very nice. I had a lot of time to study it during my many breaks as I made my way uphill.

It was clear that mountain bikers use this trail regularly.

Near the 3.75-mile mark the trail passes a rocky spine which is actually an arch. I couldn’t see the arch from the trail, but thanks to Hike Orgon I knew it was there.

I actually waited until I was on my way down to step off trail and look at the arch.

Eula Ridge Trail sign at the Hardesty Trail junction.

I turned left on the Hardesty Trail and climbed another 240′ in 0.4-miles to a fork.

The lefthand fork leads to the viewless summit while the right is the Hardesty Cutoff Trail which bypasses the summit.

I went right forgoing the 100′ climb to the summit which would have also added a little distance to the day. In 0.2-miles I arrived at a junction with the Sawtooth Trail.

Forest below the Hardesty Cutoff Trail.

The Sawtooth Trail dropping to the right.

I briefly considered abandoning my original plan here, but it was only 9:40am. I decided to continue on, but with a turnaround time of 11:30am. If I hadn’t made it to Mt. June by then so be it. I had completely forgotten just how many ups and downs there were along the Sawtooth Trail, and how steep some of them were.
I was not looking forward to climbing back up some of these sections later.

Another saddle.

A view through the trees.

I passed the Hardesty Way Trail 1.5-miles from the Hardesty Cutoff Trail.

Just under two miles from the Hardesty Cutoff Trail the Sawtooth Trail makes two switchbacks downhill to drop below Sawtooth Rock where it enters a grassy hillside.

Mount June from the hillside.

Wallflower

I paused in the middle of the open hillside to again rethink my plan. It was now a quarter after 10am so I was fine on time but seeing Mt. June reinforced just how much more climbing lay ahead. I checked my water supply and found that I hadn’t been drinking enough. I still had close to two liters in my pack plus a Hydro Flask with extra water and a small Gatorade. I drank half the Gatorade and continued on. Two-thirds of a mile beyond Sawtooth Rock I came to a junction in yet another saddle.
Junction with the Lost Creek Trail.

The pointer for Eagles Rest (post) is the Lost Creek Trail.

Another 0.7-miles brought me to the Mt. June Trail at, you guessed it, another saddle.
I called this section “rhododendron ridge”.

The Mt. June Trail coming up from the right.

It was now just after 11am and I was facing a half mile, and nearly 550′, climb to Mt. June’s summit. I headed up and stopped at the first good sized log along the trail to finish off the Gatorade, eat some sweet and salty snack mix, and rest for a few minutes. After the break I headed up the steep trail arriving at the summit at 11:27am.

Unfortunately, the view was less than ideal. The recent warm weather had allowed the many fires still burning to pick up intensity which led to additional smoke.

If you look closely, you can see the tops of the Three Sisters poking up over the smoke in the distance. The open hillside in the foreground is the meadow below Sawtooth Rock and the hump just behind is Hardesty Mountain.

After another short break, and a change of socks, at the summit I started back. I was feeling okay on the downhills and the more level sections, but whenever the trails became at all steep my legs let me know they weren’t happy.
Heading down from the summit.

Climbing the hillside below Sawtooth Rock.

Sawtooth Rock

There was just a little smoke now and then in the forest.

The Eula Ridge Trail coming into view.

I arrived at the Eula Ridge Trail at 1:19pm and bombed down the steep trail as carefully as possible. There are a lot of loose rocks/pebbles along the trail so my trekking poles came in very handy.

There wasn’t much in the way of Fall colors along the trail, but these leaves really stood out.

Lookout Point Lake (Middle Fork Willamette River) from the trail.

There was one more small uphill on the far side of South Creek before dropping to the trailhead.

South Creek

I made it back to the car at 3:00pm. My Garmin clocked in at an even 17-miles and I estimated close to 5300′ of cumulative elevation gain.

This was a real challenge, especially the day after another difficult hike. It does make for one heck of a training hike, and I didn’t see another person the entire day. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Eula Ridge to Mount June

Tags Eula Ridge, Eula Ridge Trailhead, Hardesty Cutoff Trail, hardesty mountain, Hardesty Trail, Hardesty Way Trail, Hike Oregon, hiking, Lawler Trail, Mt. June, Mt. June Trail, Oregon, Sawtooth Rock. Lost Creek Trail, Sawtooth Trail, Sout Willamette Trail, Umpqua National Forest, Willamette National Forest

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

Hiking Oregon Salem/Albany Trip report Willamette Valley

Baskett Slough Wildlife Refuge – 05/28/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 1, 2024
4 Comments on Baskett Slough Wildlife Refuge – 05/28/2024

I extended my Memorial Day Weekend by taking a vacation day, and what better way to follow up a weekend of hiking than taking another hike. I turned to our nearest wildlife refuge and returned to Baskett Slough for a quick morning hike. This would be my fifth visit (far too few) with the most recent having been last April (post).

I started out at the Baskett Butte Trailhead and hiked up to the Rich Guadagno Observation Platform on Mt. Baldy hoping for a colorful Sunrise.

The best of the color was while I was still at the trailhead.

Checkerbloom

Common madia

Meadow checker-mallow and vetch

The platform

Too late for any color.

From the platform I headed out to the Morgan Lake Loop. There didn’t seem to be many birds around until I got to Moffitti Marsh.
There always seems to a western meadowlark or two on Mt. Baldy.

Spotted towhee

I went left to hike the loop clockwise.

Moffitti Marsh in the distance.

Geese flying over.

Snake in the grass.

Pied-billed grebes

Common yellowthroats

Gadwalls

Moffitti Marsh

Dove

Beyond the marsh the trail follows a fence line along farmland where I spotted a northern harrier. Normally these birds fly off quickly, but the one sat on his post as I slowly got close enough to get some decent zoomed photos.

When he finally flew off I continued to the Smithfield Road Trailhead then continued on the loop toward Morgan Lake.
House finch

Swallow

Sparrow

Crow

Goose family

Common yellow-throat (female)

Roses

Columbine

White-crowned sparrow

Ookow

Tolmie’s mariposa lily

After completing the Morgan Lake Loop I returned to the trailhead by completing the Rich Guadagno Memorial Loop.

Waxwing

After returning to the car I decided to check out a part of the refuge that I hadn’t seen before by driving out Coville Road to a parking area at Cottonwood Pond. It was a quarter to 8am and I wanted to avoid joining the morning rush hour traffic on the highway. It turned out to be a good decision because, as luck would have it, an American Bittern was sitting in grass near the mostly dry pond.

I watched the bittern for a few minutes then hopped back in the car and headed home. This was a 4.9-mile hike with 340′ of elevation gain.
Cottonwood Pond is in the lower left corner.

This was a nice way to end my long weekend leaving me plenty of time to do things like write these trip reports. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Baskett Slough 2024

Tags American Bittern, Baskett Butte, Baskett Butte Trailhead, Baskett Slough Wildlife Refuge, Cottonwood Pond, Coville Road, hiking, Morgan Lake, Northern Harrier, Oregon, Rich Guadagno Memorial Loop Trail, Smithfield Road Trailhead

Hiking Oregon Portland Trip report Willamette Valley

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Camas

Solomonseal

Fawn lilies

Thimbleberry

Giant purple wakerobin

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

Anna’s hummingbird

Viewpoint overlooking Kingfisher Marsh.

The trail crossed Jackson Slough on a footbridge.

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

American goldfinch

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

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

Sparrow

Purple martins

American robin

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

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

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

Pintail Pond

Northern shoveler drake and a gadwall

Green-winged teal

Geese

Killdeer

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

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

The Ash Trail.

Orange-crowned warbler

Jackson Bottom Wetlands

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

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

Noisy crow

Mourning dove

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

Western buttercups

Some houses on the wetlands border.

Golden-crowned sparrow

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

End of the trail.

Savannah sparrow

Spotted towhee

Passing Pintail Pond.

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

White-crowned sparrow

American robin

American coot

Ring-necked ducks

Wapato Marsh

Cormorants

Raised viewing platform with many tree swallow photobombs.

This couple was having quite the discussion.

The Bobcat Marsh Trail on the left.

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

NW Pond

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

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

Pied-billed grebe in NW Pond

Lesser scaups

Goose and mallards

Yellow-rumped warbler

The northern trailhead.

Viewing platform at the trailhead.

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

Cinnamon teal on Meadow Mouse Marsh

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

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

Back on the Kingfisher Marsh Loop.

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

The trail passed behind the Nature Center to some gardens.

Mason bee house

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

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

Sign for the rhododendron garden.

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

The Woodland Pond

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

Rock Creek from the Rock Creek Trail.

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

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

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

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

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

Mallards

Footbridge at the start of the Lollipop Loop.

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

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

Violets and trillium

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

Western meadowrue

Fawn lilies

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

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

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

Sparrow

Footbridge over Rock Creek.

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

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

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

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

Flickr: Jackson Bottom Wetlands and Rood Bridge Park

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

Corvallis Hiking Oregon Trip report Willamette Valley

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

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

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

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

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

Kiosk at the start of the Bob Frenkel Boardwalk.

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

Northern flicker

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

One of a couple viewing platforms off the main boardwalk.

Blackbird

Robin in the morning sunlight.

Sparrow

Hummingbird

Easter rabbit?

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

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

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

Interpretive sign along the path.

Buttercups and a bog saxifrage

The start of the boardwalk.

Three California scrub-jays

One of the scrub-jays up close.

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

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

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

Black-capped chickadee

Anna’s hummingbird

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

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

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

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

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

Mary’s Peak

The barn across the gravel road.

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

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

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

Crossing the farmhouse road to join the gravel road.

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

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

The first of many fawn lilies we’d see.

Giant white wakerobin

Toothwort

More fawn lilies

Bleeding heart

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

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

Trail pointer at Wynoochee Drive.

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

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

I count six in this photo.

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

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

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

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

Gate at the trailhead.

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

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

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

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

Looking West towards the Coast Range.

Common lomatium

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

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

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

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

Redstem storksbill

Wild iris

More fawn lilies

Candy flower

Purple deadnettle

Pacific hound’s tongue

Colorful turkey tails

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

Dark-eyed junco

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

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

One of several benches along the trail.

Oregon grape

Trillium

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

Footbridge over Mulkey Creek.

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

Toothwort

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

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

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

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

Eugene Hiking Oregon Willamette Valley

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

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

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

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

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

Map of the trails at Dorris Ranch.

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

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

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

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

Plaque on the barn.

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

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

Some signs of the ice storm damage.

Large trees around the pump house and packing shed.

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

Oregon grape near the packing shed.

Old oak tree along the path.

Purple deadnettle beneath the old oak.

Black walnut orchard just past the oak tree.

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

Violet

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

Middle Fork Willamette River

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

Mallards

Hooded mergansers

Slender toothwort

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

Chipmunk and white-breasted nuthatch

Giant White Wakerobin, Trillium albidum

The paved Middle Fork Path dead ahead.

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

Ruby-crowned kinglet

Wren

Middle Fork Willamette River

Double-breasted cormorant

Pacific hound’s tongue

Ring-necked ducks

Goose

Arriving at the Quarry Creek picnic area.

Looking back at Spencer Butte (post).

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

Common merganser drake

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

There were plenty of benches along the path.

Larkspur starting to bloom.

Springfield Mill Race

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

Disc golf course at Clearwater Park.

Nearing the parking lot at Clearwater Park.

Map of the trails at Clearwater Park.

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

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

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

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

Arriving at the boat launch area.

Heading back to the Middle Fork Path.

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

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

Western bluebirds

I believe this is a Cooper’s hawk.

Western buttercups

Daffodils

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

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

Flickr: Middle Fork Path

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

Coastal Range Hiking Oregon Portland Trip report Willamette Valley

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

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

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

Clear cut at the trailhead.

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

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

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

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

Map and information at the trailhead.

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

Starling

Lenticular clouds over Mt. Hood in the distance.

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

Egret

Path at Fernhill Wetlands.

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

Great blue heron on a post above Cattail Marsh.

American coot

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

Another great blue heron.

Red-winged blackbird

Hawk flying over Eagles Perch Marsh.

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

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

Ring-necked ducks

Buffleheads

This one might be a hooded merganser?

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

Fernhill Lake

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

Barney wetlands

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

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

Double-crested cormorant

Drying off in the sun.

Nurtia at a bench near Dabblers Marsh

Nutria

Dabblers Marsh

Green-winged teal

Great blue heron

Pie-billed grebe

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

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

Robin

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

Anna’s hummingbrid

A gaggle of geese in the field.

American kestrels manning their posts.

Purple dead-nettle

More geese coming in for a landing.

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

Spotted towhee

Rabbit

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

Mallard drake

Mallard female

Water Gardens

Northern shovelers, a mallard, and a coot.

Oregon grape beginning to bloom.

Northern shoveler

Green-winged teal pair

Path along the Research Wetlands.

Egret near the parking lot at Fernhill Marsh

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

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

Hiking Oregon Trip report Willamette Valley

Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge – 02/10/2024

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

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

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

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

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

Pointers on the levee.

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

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

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

Great blue heron

Wapato Lake

Beaver lodge

Northern shovelers and an American wigeon

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

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

Ring-necked duck and northern shovelers

Reflections in Wapato Lake

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

Lesser scaups

Ducks flying over the lake.

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

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

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

The coyote running off through the brush.

Tundra swans

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

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

American wigeons and a pair of green-winged teals.

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

Buffleheads

Iowa Hill (post) across the lake.

More buffleheads

Immature bald eagle

Sparrow

Horned grebe

Canvasbacks, another first for us.

Great blue heron on the osprey nest.

Ther heron on the nest.

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

Mallards

Red-winged blackbird

Bald eagle

Nutria

Gaston from the refuge.

Green-winged teals

Northern pintails

Mostly American wigeons and green-winged teals

On the paved path back to the parking lot.

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

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

Flickr: Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Hiking Oregon Portland Trip report Willamette Valley

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cannon Trail

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

Firelane 10

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

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

Heading up to the junction.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Wildwood Trail crossing Newton Road.

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

Climbing up to the BPA Road crossing.

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

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

Firelane 12 on the left.

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

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

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

Firelane 15 on the left ahead.

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

Blue sky and powerlines above Firelane 15.

Wildwood Trail crossing Firelane 15.

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

The fanciest bridge we crossed all day.

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

Woolly bear

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

Newberry Road Trailhead.

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

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

Crossing Firelane 15.

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

Uprooted trees along the Wildwood Trail.

Newton Road to the right of the Wildwood Trail.

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

Douglas squirrel

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

The Newton Road Trailhead in the distance.

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

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

Cars parked along Germantown Road in the distance.

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

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

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

Flickr: Northern Forest Park

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