Tag: sandy river

Castle Canyon and Sandy River Park – 09/23/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 25, 2023
2 Comments on Castle Canyon and Sandy River Park – 09/23/2023

Some much-needed rain was forecast to arrive by Saturday afternoon. That combined with the presence of haze from the lingering wildfires had us looking for a shorter day that wasn’t focused on big views. We turned to a pair of hikes in the direction of Mt. Hood. (Originally the plan was for a third stop at Barlow Wayside Park, but it is currently closed due to the Camp Creek Fire.)

To start our day we drove to the West Zigzag Mountain Trailhead for the short, but steep, Castle Canyon Trail.
We’d parked here in 2020 when we hiked up to West Zigazag Mountian (post).

We could have parked at the Castle Canyon Trailehad but this trailhead was a bit closer and it allowed us to hike another portion of the Barlow Wagon Road.

We followed the Barlow Wagon Road Trail until we spotted a barricade. Just before the barricade we spotted a trail heading into the forest on our left.

The barricade ahead.

The trail before the barricade.

We mistakenly turned up this use trail which sported clear tread but also a good deal of blowdown.

This trail had seen maintenance at some point.

As we picked our way over and around the obstacles it became clear that we were not on the Castle Canyon Trail. A quick check of the GPS unit showed that we had turned off the Barlow Road too early. Luckily this trail crossed the Castle Canyon Trail after 0.2-miles.

There was no signage at the junction and the map on the GPS showed the Castle Canyon Trail further ahead, so we turned right on this new trail and followed it back 400′ to the Barlow Road where we confirmed that it was indeed the Castle Canyon Trail.
Trail sign along the road.

We turned around and headed up the Castle Canyon Trail arriving at signboard and wilderness registration box not far beyond the junction with the use trail.

Mt. Hood Wilderness map and information.

While the Castle Canyon Trail is only about a mile long it gains over 800′ most of it over the final three quarters of a mile.

Toward the end of the trail, we began to pass a series of volcanic rock formations.

The official trail ends at the top of a rock fin with a partially obstructed view called the Pinnacles Viewpoint.

Another use trail headed left (West) from the top of the fin passing through the forest for approximately 300′ to a second rock fin with a better view but unbeknownst to me it was home to some rather inhospitable yellow jackets.
The western fin.

Use trail along the western fin.

View up Castle Canyon.

Rock pillar across Castle Canyon.

Devil’s Peak (post) and Hunchback Mountain (post)

Looking down from the end of the rock fin.

Everything was fine while I was taking in the view but as I started back along the fin I felt a sharp prick on the back of my right hand. It took a moment to realize what had happened, but I quickly realized it was a ticked off yellow jacket. Given the terrain I was on I couldn’t move too quickly despite needing to get away from whatever nest was about. A second sting followed, this one on my calf and I was afraid one had gotten up may pant leg so I was now slapping my leg as I carefully (but quickly) retreated along the trail. By the time I’d made it back to the end of the official trail the pursuit seemed to have been abandoned and I took a moment to catch my breath.
Just after taking this picture on my way back I received my first sting.

I actually followed a use trail several yards above the end of the trail just to make sure I wasn’t being followed.

I could see Heather on the trail below so I made my way out onto the other fin which was yellow jacket free and waited for her to make her way up.

The trail on the other fin.

The Castle Canyon Trail below the rock fin.

After taking in the view from this fin we headed back down to the Barlow Wagon Road Trail and followed it back to our car.

One of two red-breasted sapsuckers on the tree.

The Castle Canyon Trail was approximately 0.2-miles East of the barricade that we’d seen from the use trail we turned up.

We liked the colors of this plant carpeting the ground along the road.

Back at the West Zigzag Trailhead.

From the trailhead we headed back to Highway 26 and followed it West into Sandy and made our way to the Sandy River Trailhead.
There isn’t much parking here but it is possible to park at nearby Sandy High School.

The Sandy River Trail follows an old roadbed downhill for a mile to the Sandy River in this undeveloped park. The Jim Slagle Loop Trail allows for an optional loop.
The upper junction with the loop trail was just 0.2-miles from the trailhead.

We stuck to the Sandy River Trail on the way down.

The Sandy River Midway Trail on the left was about 0.4 of a mile from the upper junction making a shorter loop (or figure 8) possible.

The lower junction with the Jim Slagle Trail was 0.6-miles from the upper junction.

Approximately 500′ from the lower junction we came to a trail pointer for a viewpoint.

We figured why not and followed the short path to the left to a rather obstructed view of the Sandy River.
The river is behind the trees at the top while the Sandy River Trail is clearly visible below.

After the short detour we continued down to the river where trails went in either direction. There were numerous use trails down to the riverbank, all of which were occupied by fishermen.

Since there was no open space along the river we quickly turned around and started back up to the loop trail where we turned right.

This trail climbed through the forest for almost a mile to the upper junction. The forest was nice and we spotted a large frog along the way.

From the upper junction it was just a short climb back to the trailhead.

The two hikes combined were a just under 7-miles (4.3 & 2.5 respectively). Perhaps not the most exciting trails we’ve hiked. The scenery was nice and they had enough to offer for their lengths.
Castle Canyon

Sandy River Park

I could have done without the stings, but it was a nice outing on a day when rain would finally be arriving. Hopefully it extends into Northern California to help with some of the fires down there. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Castle Canyon & Sandy River Park

Tags Castle Canyon, Castle Canyon Trail, Castle Canyon Trailhead, hiking, Jim Slagle Loop Trail, Oregon, rhododendron, Sandy, sandy river, Sandy River Park, Sandy River Trail, West Zigzag Mountain Trailhead

Hiking Oregon Portland Trip report Willamette Valley

Oxbow Regional Park and Powell Butte Nature Park

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 4, 2017
1 Comment on Oxbow Regional Park and Powell Butte Nature Park

A trip to Portland to celebrate my Grandmother’s 93rd birthday provided us an opportunity to do some hiking in the morning before the festivities began. In the previous couple of years we had taken a hike in the Columbia River Gorge before seeing Grandma for her birthday but the Eagle Creek Fire had changed those plans this year so we turned to a couple of Portland area parks instead.

We started our morning at Oxbow Region Park. We paid the $5/car day use fee and drove through the park to the boat launch near the campground.

Sign at the Oxbow Park boat ramp

After a quick trip down to look at the Sandy River we headed east on a trail marked by a hiker symbol and a sign for the amphitheater.

Sandy River

Amphitheater trail in Oxbow Park

We soon passed the amphitheater on our right.

Oxbow Park Amphitheater

On the left the banks of the Sandy River showed much erosion where an ancient forest is being exposed years after being buried by volcanic eruptions from Mt. Hood.

Eroding bank along the Sandy River

Eroded bank of the Sandy River

One of many signs along the river bank

We were on Trail M which passed by the campground before dropping down into a green forest.

Trail in Oxbow Park

The trail was near the river offering occasional views.

Sandy River

We had planned on sticking to Trail M which followed the river around past Buck Bend but encountered a closed trail sign along the way.

Closed trail in Oxbow Park

There was a trail leading to the right at the closure so we turned onto that trail instead. A lack of signage and the presence of more trails than what the map in our guidebook showed caused a bit of confusion for the next little while. It didn’t help that none of the trails in the park were showing on the GPS so we decided to wing it and just work our way in the general directions that our book showed.

Trail in Oxbow Park

Ferns in Oxbow Park

Trail in Oxbow Park

After about .4 miles of making our way to the south and west we arrived at what is labeled on the park map as Group Camping area 2.

Group camping area 2

Old outhouse

From the camping area we turned right (south) and began following the river again. We were looking for a trail (I believe it would have been Trail N) on our right that would lead us back toward the center of the park on a bit of a loop. We passed an unmarked trail to the right at a small section of wooden fence but it seemed too close to the camp so we continued on a bit further. We hadn’t gone much further when we began to second guess ourselves and turned back around. When we got back to the little fence we decided we were so close to the camping area we should explore in the other direction for just a bit.

We passed the covered picnic area and headed north along the river past a new looking bench.

Newer looking bench

Not too much further we spotted the back of the closed trail sign and realized we had inadvertently wound up on that trail after all. We turned around again and headed back past the camp and turned right at the fence. This path angled back past the camping area but was clearly not Trail N which we had not gone far enough to reach. It turned out okay though as we spotted a couple of deer along this trail near the camping area.

Trail in Oxbow Park

Black tailed deer

We continued to follow paths in the general direction shown in our guidebook (NW) and were passing along a hillside when Trail N joined from the left. This was when we knew for sure that turning at the small fence had not been the trail we had been looking for. We were now on a wide path which soon split.

Trail in Oxbow Park

Trails in Oxbow Park

We initially went right but that trail quickly arrived at the parks campground so we turned around and took the left fork. In a little under three quarters of a mile we came to an old roadbed (Trail G) at a gate post. The road was coming downhill from Alder Ridge and is the route taken by equestrians that start at the Homan Road Equestrian Trailhead. We had actually planned on starting there to avoid the $5 fee but there were “No Parking” signs all around the actual trailhead and we weren’t sure at the time about parking further away along Homan Road. It turns out that would have been okay but without knowing for sure we played it safe.

We turned up the old roadbed heading for Trail H which completes a 1.6 mile loop around Elk Meadow on Alder Ridge.

The loop was pleasant but low clouds ended any chance of views from the ridge.

Alder Loop

Foggy forest in Oxbow Park

After completing the loop we took Trail G, the old roadbed, back downhill to the junction by the gate post and turned left sticking to the old road bed until we reached a junction with the narrow Trail F forking slightly uphill to the left.

Trail in Oxbow Park

We hadn’t been on Trail F for long when we spotted a doe and fawn in the trees below.

Black tailed deer

We followed Trail F until we reached Trail D where we turned right.

This path crossed the park entrance road and brought us to Trail C along the Sandy River where we turned right back toward the boat ramp.

Sandy River

We followed this path back to our car completing a 6.3 mile hike that consisted of a lot of backtracking. It was a fun hike though as we spotted 5 deer in the lush green forests of the park.

Oxbow

We weren’t due at my Grandma’s house until 1pm and it was not quite 10am when we finished this first hike so we had plenty of time to check out another nearby park. Our second stop was at Portland’s Powell Butte Nature Park. We used google to drive to Powell Butte from Oxbow Park which took a little less than half an hour. We parked in a large parking area near the Visitors Center.

Powell Butte Nature Park

Visitors center at Powell Butte Nature Park

We set off at a signboard with a trail map just beyond the Visitors Center.

Powell Butte Nature Park map

The map was a welcome sight after the issues we’d had in Oxbow Park. Heather took a photo which was really helpful considering some of the trails had been renamed and new trails added since our guidebook had been printed.

We followed the paved Mountain View Trail uphill away from the center.

Powell Butte Nature Park

Mountain View Trail

We followed this path for .44 miles to a three-way junction where we stayed left following a pointer for .1 miles to a Mountain Finder.

Mountain finder

It was too cloudy to see most of the peaks identified by the finder but the brief descriptions of each were interesting none the less. After checking out the finder we continued on what was now the Summit Lane Trail. We stayed right at junctions on this trail for just under three quarters of a mile as it looped around open grasslands and a small group of trees left over from an old orchard where a murder of crows had gathered.

Powell Butte Nature Park

Crows in Powell Butte Nature Park

Crows in an apple tree

At a four way junction we turned left onto the Douglas Fir Trail which left the grassland and entered a forest.

Douglas Fir Trail

After .6 miles we stayed right at a junction with the Fernwood Trail.

Trail sing in Powell Butte Nature Park

In less than a tenth of a mile from that junction the Douglas Fir Trail ended at the Cedar Grove Trail.

Cedar Grove Trail sign

Cedar Grove Trail

We climbed uphill on the Cedar Grove Trail for .4 miles where we then stayed right on the Elderberry Trail. This trail ended after just over a quarter mile at the wide gravel Meadowland Lane. We turned right on this path for a quarter mile which brought us back to the four way junction where we had taken the Douglas Fir Trail earlier.

Powell Butte Nature Park

Here we turned left back onto Summit Lane for less than a tenth of a mile to the Mountain View Trail which we followed back down to the Visitors Center for a 4 mile hike. We’ll have to go back sometime earlier in the year when more of the areas flowers are blooming and on a less cloudy day to see the mountains but even without those attractions this was a really enjoyable hike.

We arrived at Grandma’s right on time and had a good time celebrating her birthday with cake and ice cream before heading back home. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Oxbow Regional Park and Powell Butte Nature Park

Tags Alder Ridge, Cedar Grove Trail, Douglas Fir Trail, Elderberry Trail, hiking, Homan Road Trailhead, Meadowland Lane, Mountain View Trail, Oregon, Oxbow Regional Park, Portland, Powell Butte Nature Park, Sandy, sandy river, Summit Lane, Trail D, Trail G, Trail H, Trail M

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Hood Area Oregon Trip report

Burnt Lake to Paradise Park Overnight

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 15, 2014
3 Comments on Burnt Lake to Paradise Park Overnight

Our latest overnight trip brought us to the Mt. Hood Wilderness where we planned to continue honing our backpacking skills. We plotted out a trip that would bring us to some new places as well as some previous favorites. The plan was to start at the northern trail head of the Burnt Lake Trail, pass Burnt Lake and climb up to East Zig Zag Mountain where we would take the Zig Zag Mountain Trail up to the Paradise Park Trail. From there we would head up to Paradise Park and camp somewhere along the Paradise Park Loop Trail near Split Rock. We’d been to East Zig Zag Mountain and Paradise Park in 2012 on separate hikes, but we had come in on different trails for those trips.

We set off from the Burnt Lake trail head shortly before 7am and quickly entered the Mt. Hood Wilderness.

The trail climbed between Burnt Lake Creek and Lost Creek for 1.9 miles before crossing and then recrossing Burnt Lake Creek. Near the 2.5 mile mark an unmarked side trail to the left led downhill to Lost Creek Falls. (Waterfalls on Lost Creek became a theme for this trip.)

The trail then veered away from Lost Creek and climbed for a mile up to Burnt Lake. Along the way we got our first glimpses of Mt. Hood.

We stopped briefly to check out Burnt Lake but decided to wait until the return trip to locate the best viewpoint of Mt. Hood from the lake shore.

From Burnt Lake the trail climbed up to the Zig Zag Mountain Trail where we took a brief detour to visit the summit of East Zig Zag Mountain. Heather decided to remain amid the wildflowers at the junction with the southern portion of the Burnt Lake Trail while I climbed up to the former lookout site.
Mt. Hood and Burnt Lake from the south trail junction:

Trail heading up East Zig Zag Mountain:

Wildflowers:

Mt. Jefferson:

Mt. Hood:

Butterfly:

Heather waiting at the junction:

After getting my wildflower fix we headed East on the Zig Zag Mountain Trail and began climbing towards Paradise Park. The trail began with a nice gradual ascent through open meadows of beargrass, huckleberry, and other bushes. It was fairly overgrown but easy enough to follow.

We then came to a forested ridge where the trail suddenly steepened – downhill! We had been at 4600′ when we joined the Zig Zag Mountain Trail and needed to get up to 5800′ in 3.7 miles to reach Paradise Park. Going down meant more climbing on the way up as well as having to climb up on the way back down the following day. There were at least 4 fairly brief but steep descents before we began climbing again. At least were some nice views of the mountain ahead of us and a view of our goal.
Paradise Park is the light green areas just above the tree line:

The Paradise Park Loop Trail passed just below the pile of boulders:

As we neared the Paradise Park Trail Junction we began to see lots of avalanche lilies, a telling sign of recent snow melt, and a few patches of snow still hanging on.

After joining the Paradise Park Trail we passed through several meadows and a nice viewpoint of the Zig Zag River before arriving at the Pacific Crest Trail in a mere .2 miles.

Zig Zag River Canyon and Mississippi Head (the rock outcropping at the center of Mt. Hood):

Oh the choices!

We crossed over the the PCT and climbed up to the Paradise Park Loop Trail which was a fairly steep .5 miles and 400′ above us. It was late August when we visited in 2012 and to this day the wildflowers in the meadow at the junction of these two trails remains the best display we’ve seen. There was little indication of the scene to come this trip as the snow was still melting off and only a few early flowers could be found. The view of Mt. Hood was still top notch though.
Late August 2012

Mid July 2014

Western Pasque Flower

Avalanche lilies and paint

We headed left at the junction and started looking for our tent site. We passed several good locations but had something specific in mind. We were looking for a site close to a water source, with a good view, but also with some shade as it was quite warm. We made our way North passing the remains of the Paradise Park Shelter, crossing both branches of Lost Creek, and passing Split Rock before we found what we had been looking for.
South Branch Lost Creek crossing

Mt. Hood from the crossing

North Branch Lost Creek crossing – The snow shelf made this one tricky as the creek was flowing under the edge of the snow.

Split Rock

Camp

After setting up camp we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening alternating between exploring the area and relaxing as we waited for sunset.
Mountain heather beginning to bloom

Cinquefoil

Shooting Star

Marsh marigolds

Western pasque flowers

Mt. Jefferson

Mt. St. Helens

East Zig Zag Mountain and some of our route from earlier in the day

Yocum Ridge on the other side of the Sandy River. The waterfall is on what appears to be an unnamed fork of the Sandy River but I’ve seen it referred to as Paradise Park Creek.

The Sandy River

Waterfall flowing down into Lost Creek

Marmot in the grass near the falls

Our shadows as the Sun was getting lower

Small waterfall on Lost Creek

Sunset

After watching the Sun go down we turned in. For some reason I wound up awake shortly after 4am so I grabbed the camera again and waited for the sunrise.
The Moon was super bright all night and a few clouds had moved in to the South by the morning

Starting to get some sunlight

Then came the colors

After a breakfast of Mountain House freeze dried scrambled eggs and bacon (yes we managed to use our stove this trip 🙂 ) we packed up camp and began our return trip. We decided to continue on the loop which would bring us back to the PCT which we could then take South back to the Paradise Park Trail junction. This would allow us to visit a few waterfalls on the way back. The first of the falls is on Rushing Water Creek as it comes down from Paradise Park. There was a nice display of wildflowers just before the falls here.

There was a trail crew from the Pacific Crest Trail Association gathered at the base of the falls that was out doing some trail maintenance.

It had clouded up and as we were passing the falls rain began to fall lightly. We decided to stop at the next set of falls to waterproof our sleeping bags just in case it started to rain harder. The next set of falls were on Lost Creek. Both branches come down within a short distance of each other and both in scenic waterfalls.
North Branch Lost Creek

South Branch Lost Creek

It was raining off and on but not very hard but then we began to hear thunder. We picked up our pace as best we could as the thunder became steadier and we started to see the flashes of lighting. We had made it to the Paradise Park Trail and were back on the Zig Zag Mountain Trail when the hike got really interesting. We came around a bend in the trail and less than 20 yards ahead of us was a black bear. We all instantly froze, even the bear for a split second before it turned in bolted back into the forest. All I’d had time to do was say “bear” before it had vanished. I had just put the lens cap back on the camera and tucked it under my shirt to keep the rain off of it so I had no chance at getting a picture. Heather went for the bear spray just to be safe but it was long gone.

We made it back to the steep sections that we were dreading without further incidents. The climb was pretty much as ugly as we’d expected but the rain had let up without ever getting too heavy so we were dry at least. Dry until we reached the overgrown section of trail that is. By the time we emerged from that section we looked and felt like we’d forded a thigh-high creek. 🙂

When we got back to Burnt Lake we headed down past campsite C where there is a great view of Mt. Hood from the lake shore.

We ticked off the remaining 3.5 miles at a brisk pace pausing occasionally to sample the salmon and blueberries that were ripening nicely along the trail.
Oval-leaf blueberries

Mt. Hood had delivered another amazing adventure. Happy Trails!

flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/sets/72157645261769389/
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