Category: 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
1 Comment 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

Corvallis Hiking Oregon Willamette Valley

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

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

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

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

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

The entire Turtle Flats Trail in one photo.

Viewpoint at the end of the trail.

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

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

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

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

Emerging from the trees and staying right.

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

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

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

One of several raptors hunting over the fields.

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

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

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

Mallards

Geese flying overhead.

Egret and ducks

Egrets

More egrets

Heron with the egrets.

McFadden Marsh

Egrets and a murder of crows.

Great blue heron

Red-winged blackbird

Prairie Trail along McFadden Marsh.

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

Nutria family near Bruce Road.

The nutria family.

The Prairie Trail at Bruce Road.

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

Northern flicker

Starling

Muddy Creek

Interpretive signs at the larger parking area.

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

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

California scrub-jay

Peregrine falcon?

Pigeon Butte across Cheadle Marsh.

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

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

The heron and egret

American coot

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

California quail escaping into the blackberry bushes.

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

Robin

Spur trail to the Cheadle Barn.

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

Spotted towhee

The pond and Cheadle Barn.

Ducks in the pond.

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

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

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

A successful egret and unfortunate rodent.

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

Spur trail to the summit of Pigeon Butte.

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

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

The dry ponds hosted a good number of songbirds.

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

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

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

Viewpoint bench looking toward Cabell Marsh.

Woolly bear caterpillar sharing the trail.

Gray Creek

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

More mallards

Maple Knoll on the far side of Cattail Pond.

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

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

Follow the pointer.

A cedar waxing joined by a pair of finches.

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

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

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

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

I turned left onto the Mid-Refuge Connecting Trail.

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

Authorized personnel only on the right-hand fork here.

Arriving at the junction.

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

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

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

This junction marks the start of the Intertie Trail.

Crossing Finley Refuge Road.

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

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

Signage at the Woodpecker Hill Loop.

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

Stellar’s jay

Each of these kiosks has an informational placard inside.

Near the crest of the trail.

The shelter on Woodpecker Hill.

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

Dragon fly

Signboard at the Woodpecker Hill Trailhead.

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

The back of a killdeer.

Bald Hill on the left.

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

Cabell Barn ahead.

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

Historic granary

The Cabell Lodge burned on December 13, 2023.

The lodge in April, 2021.

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

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

Geese

Pigeon Butte from the marsh.

Great blue heron towering over the ducks.

An egret along the shore to the right.

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

After a brief face off the egret moved on.

Observation blind accessed via the Homer Campbell Boardwalk.

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

Signboard at the boardwalk trailhead.

Back on the refuge road.

Muddy Creek

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

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

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

Flickr: Finley Wildlife Refuge 2024

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