Woodpecker Loop – wanderingyuncks

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

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

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

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

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

Rabbit

Sunrise view

Mt. Jefferson

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Camas and buttercups

McFadden Marsh sending up a light fog.

Wood ducks

Northern shoveler

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

Ruddy duck

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

Cinnamon teals

Female wood duck

Bald eagles on the far side of the marsh.

Blackbird

Buffleheads

Great blue heron

Green winged teals and American wigeons

Dove

Marsh wren

Heron hanging out near the Mcfadden Marsh blind.

Egrets and ducks

Egrets

Robin

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

There were actually two bitterns.

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

Their camo is so good.

American coot

Swallows

Pied billed grebe

Ring-necked duck

Cinnamon teals

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

California scrub jay

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

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

Golden paintbrush and I guess the beetle counts as wildlife.

Savanah sparrow near the Finger Ponds.

Geese in a field near the Finger Ponds.

Turkey vulture

Goose and goslings in Cabell Marsh.

Great blue heron at Cabell Marsh.

American goldfinch near Cabell Marsh.

California quail near Cattail Pond.

Pied billed grebe at Cattail Pond.

Camas along the Cattail Pond Trail.

Pacific waterleaf along the Beaver Pond Trail.

Checker lily along the Beaver Pond Trail.

Fairy lanterns along the Beaver Pond Trail.

Giant white wake-robin along the Beaver Pond Trail.

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

Turkeys along the Beaver Pond Trail near Park Headquarters.

The start and end of the Mill Hill Loop.

Yellow violets in the midst of invasive herb robert.

Bleeding heart

Gray squirrel

Star flower

Spotted coralroot

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

Mallards in the same pond.

Solomonseal

Tolmie’s mariposa lily

The forest is pretty along the Mill Hill Loop.

Poet’s shooting star

Small-flowered woodland-star

The end and start of the Mill Hill Loop.

Tough-leaved iris

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

Lomatium on the Woodpecker Loop.

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

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

Wildflowers along Bald Hill.

Wild rose

Checkerbloom

Tough-leaved iris and golden paintbrush

More turkeys along Finley Refuge Road.

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

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

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

You can almost always count on a coot though.

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

Homer Campbell Boardwalk

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

Turkey vulture flying over Turtle Flats.

Turtles at Turtle Flats!

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

Flickr: Finley Wildlife Refuge 2025

Finley Wildlife Refuge

Another weekend of snow in the mountains and rain in the valley combined with plans to get together with a friend in town from Mississippi made it a perfect time to finally visit the William L. Finley Wildlife Refuge. Located about an hour from Salem the refuge is located just off Highway 99 ten miles south of Corvallis.

There are a number of trails in the refuge, some open year round others from April 1st thru October 31st. We had planned two stops in the refuge with the first being at the Cabell Lodge located near the Cabell Marsh Overlook 1.5 miles after entering the refuge.

From the gravel parking area we followed a pointer for the Cabell Marsh Trail to the overlook.

Cabell Marsh Trail

The covered overlook provided shelter from the steady rain and an opportunity to watch the plethora of ducks on the water and a white egret on the far shore.
Cabell Marsh

Cabell Marsh

Ducks at Cabell Marsh

A seasonal trail continued beyond the overlook which we followed a short distance to a service road where we turned right.
Cabell Marsh Trail

The roadbed/trail soon arrived at the water giving us a closer look at the ducks and a great blue heron.

Great Blue Heron

After a quarter mile on the road we turned left onto the Homer Campbell Boardwalk.

The .4 mile boardwalk is open year round with a handy viewing blind located along it’s route.
Viewing blind along the Homer Campbell Boardwalk

Cabell Marsh

Ducks at Cabell Marsh

Beyond the blind the boardwalk passed through a scenic ash forest where lichen hung from the tree limbs.
Homer Campbell Boardwalk

Homer Campbell Boardwalk

At the end of the boardwalk we found ourselves at a small parking area. A short walk up the gravel road here brought us to the park’s main road (the one we’d driven in on) where we turned left. A short uphill walk toward the Cabell Barn brought us to the Fletcher House on our left.
Old barn at Finley Wildlife Refuge

Fletcher House

One of the oldest buildings in Benton County, the Fletcher house is believed to have been constructed in 1855. In 1933 the Carriage House was added when the then owner William F. Cabell remodeled the Fletcher House.

Interpretive sign at the Fletcher House

From the Fletcher House we followed a very short grassy path back to the Cabell Marsh Overlook parking area. After putting a couple of towels down on our car seats we drove .7 miles further into the refuge turning right at a sign for the Woodpecker Loop Trail. The trail began at a signboard and headed into oak woodlands.
Woodpecker Loop Trailhead

Woodpecker Loop Trail

Our plan was to link the Woodpecker Loop with the Mill Hill Loop via the Inter-Tie Trail so when we arrived at the beginning of the loop we forked right across a footbridge.
Woodpecker Loop Trail

The Woodpecker Loop is named in honor of the 5 different species of woodpeckers that can be found in the area. We were able to check one off the list when we spotted a northern flicker in a tree.
Nothern Flicker

The trail climbed gradually through the oak forest eventually leaving the tress in favor of more open grasslands.
Woodpecker Loop Trail

View from the Woodpecker Loop Trail Bald Hill

We stopped at a viewing platform around a large oak tree. On a clear day the tops of the Three Sisters and Mt. Jefferson are said to be visible but we were unable to verify that.
Viewing platform along the Woodpecker Loop Trail

View from the Woopecker Loop

Just a short distance beyond the platform a new building was being built.
New building along the Woodpecker Loop

The trail then began descending where it reentered the trees and passed over a swale on a long boardwalk.
Woodpecker Loop Trail

When we arrived at the junction with the Inter-Tie Trail we turned right following the pointer for the Mill Hill Trail.

This half mile trail led us through the forest and across a gravel road.
Inter-Tie Trail

It wasn’t entirely clear where the Inter-Tie Trail ended and the Mill Hill Trail began but based on it’s half mile length the Inter-Tie Trail either ended at the road crossing or at a trail junction just a bit further along.
Inter-Tie Trail to Mill Hill Trail

The left hand fork led to the Display Pond parking area so we veered to the right. We had just been discussing the fact that it seemed like an area where we might see one of our trail favorites, rough skinned newts, when sure enough we spotted one curled up on the trail.
Roush skinned newt

We stayed right again at a second trail junction, this one coming from the park headquarters and nature store.
Inter-Tie Trail to Mill Hill Trail

Approximately .6 miles from the road crossing we arrived at a four way junction. From the junction the Mill Hill Trail loops around Mill Hill while another path led to several other destinations.

Trail sign along the Mill Hill Trail

We forked right choosing to do the loop in a counter-clockwise direction. The forest along the trail changed a number of times on this 1.7 mile loop.
Mill Hill Trail

Mill Hill Trail

The rain had been steady all day and was only picking up as we made our way around Mill Hill. We stopped briefly at a viewpoint of Gray Creek which looked more like a pond, but for the most part just kept hiking at a quick pace.
Gray Creek from the Mill Hill Trail

We were however on the lookout for newts.
Rough skinned newt

When we arrived at the four way junction we decided to try and go back a slightly different way so we followed the pointer for Cabell Marsh then quickly turned left onto a service road. This road passed behind some refuge buildings before coming to a gate along the parking lot of the headquarters and nature store.
Finely Wildlife Refuge offices and store

A sign on the gate said the area was closed to the public so we probably shouldn’t have come down that particular road but now that we were at the headquarters we walked across the lot toward the Display Pond then turned left at a signboard for the Mill Hill Loop.

Mill Hill Trail

We passed a junction with a trail coming from the Display Pond and continued uphill.
Mill Hill Trail

We wound up meeting up with the Mill Hill/Inter-Tie Trail at the first junction we’d come to after crossing the service road earlier in the day.

We turned right, recrossed the service road, and returned to the Woodpecker Loop Trial where we again turned right to complete that loop.
Inter-Tie Trail junction with the Woodpecker Loop Trail

It was about a half mile back to the trailhead from this junction. We were now officially soaked. Our “waterproof” layers were beginning to fail and water was now reaching our base layers. Apparently 2 hours is the limit to the effectiveness of our waterproof garments. It had been a nice morning of hiking and we are now eager to go back on a nicer day when we can really take our time and enjoy the surroundings. The two hikes came in as 1.1 miles and 5.1 miles respectively which we completed in a little over 2 hours due to our quicker than normal pace.

It has certainly been a different year as far as hiking goes for us. It will be interesting to see what the final few hikes we have planned wind up looking like. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Finley Wildlife Refuge