TOP TEN KID HIKES

IN THE VICINITY OF PORTLAND, OREGON



Salmon River Trail (National Scenic Trail) Twin Lakes Wading and Swimming Palmeteer View Great View of Mt Hood, Wild strawberries Clackamas River Two trails
Alder Flats Easy hike to a camp ground with tables. Elk Lake Creek Creek and old growth Opal Creek New Wilderness Area & Mining Camp. Oswald West State Park Oregon Coast.
Boulder Lake Fishing Mill Creek Eastern Oregon.

1. SALMON RIVER - US HWY 26 east from Portland to Welches. Then south on Forest Road 2618, the Salmon River Road, to Green Canyon Forest Camp. You can hike down river from the campground on the Old Salmon River Trail, or go 1/4 mile beyond the Forest Camp to the main trail head, at a bridge over the Salmon River, and hike upriver into the verdant Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness. Either way, you will find several miles of quiet flat well marked trail running along the river. In the March or April the wildflowers are glorious. Later you will share the trail with the fishermen. This is one of the first trails our children hiked (and enjoyed.) What it lacks is any very good place to wade in the river, which is too fast, and usually a bit too cold. The smallest hiker can enjoy a bit of a walk after a picnic or camp out at Green Canyon. Older children can hike upriver to a satisfying lunch stop on a hilltop with a view and the sound of the river far below. Backpacking is quite possible and the trail can be hiked from its east end near Trillium Lake south of Mt. Hood. Trail is open early spring to late fall. A Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness area map may be obtained from the Mt. Hood National Forest, and also from REI.

2. TWIN LAKES - US 26 east from Portland to Government Camp, and on beyond to the large snow park at Frog Lake Campground. The trail to Twin Lakes starts from the northwest corner of the parking lot. The young hiker has only 1.5 miles and a 500 foot gain in altitude to reach Lower Twin Lake, a satisfying endpoint. Another 0.7 miles will take you on to Upper Twin Lake, a bit quieter and smaller. Early in the season, you may find these lakes quite crowded with fishermen, but later in the season and on into October, they can be very quiet, and the lakes warm up to make nice swimming late in the season. The reward of a swim in the lake will often be enough to lure a little hiker up over that 500 foot ridge. Remember to stop often for drinks of water. This trail is also backpackable. (See number 3 below)

3. PALMETEER VIEW - US 26 to Government Camp, then US 35 to the Barlow Pass Snow Park. You will find a trail head for the Pacific Crest Trail # 2000 a few steps uphill from the snow park. Take a moment to read about historic Barlow Pass and empathize with the poor pioneers who crossed these hills without the benefit of well graded trails. Then head south on the Pacific Crest Trail. The trail ambles 1.2 miles south along a ridge overlooking the valley below, and the historic pioneer route. At 1.2 miles, turn right onto Trail #482, the Palmeteer View Trail. A short mile and a loss of 250 feet will bring you to the meadow at the foot of Palmeteer View. A spring and a small creek make this meadow an attractive, quiet camping site with ample space for safe explorations and first encounters with nature. A well chosen day in early summer may find wild strawberries, and enchanting little green frogs, and later in summer some very nice wildflower displays. You will see Trail 482 along the eastern edge of the meadow. Just before the main trail crosses the small creek at the southeast edge of the meadow, a spur trail goes up the ridge to the left (east). Follow it as it climbs 1/4 mile and a hundred feet altitude gain or so to The Viewpoint at the north end of the ridge. In spring, very good alpine wild flower meadows, and in the fall great red and gold hillsides are dwarfed by the exceptional view of Mt. Hood, and the historic Barlow Trail route. Trail 482 continues on to Upper Twin Lake at a total distance of 2 miles from its junction with Trail 2000. The Mt. Hood forest map, or the Green Trails hiking map (Mt. Hood # 462 and Mt. Wilson # 494) will reveal a number of loop possibilities between Barlow Pass and Frog Lake with little gain and less than average foot traffic. These trails are hikable from late spring into late fall. (By the way, this is not a wilderness area. These trails remain zoned for recreation, but not very securely so. Use them, or lose them!)

4. CLACKAMAS RIVER TRAILS - follow Hwy 224 from Clackamas to Estacada, then on up the Clackamas River. Two of the Clackamas River Trails are very nice hiking for young hikers. The first of these runs between Fish Creek Forest Camp and Indian Henry Forest Camp. The trail runs along the southwest bank of the river, the side opposite the road. The full trail, Trail # 715, is 7.8 miles with only a 400 foot altitude gain. A very small hiker can enjoy walking a bit from Fish Creek, as this section is quite flat. The second trail runs between Rainbow Forest Camp and Riverside Forest Camp. Rainbow Forest Camp is just beyond Ripplebrook Ranger Station, still on Hwy 224, which will become Forest Road 57. The trail head is at the far end of the campground, Trail # 723, 4.6 miles . It ends at Riverside Forest Camp which is a few miles up Forest Road 46, which meets FR 57 near Ripplebrook. Once again, the Rainbow end is fairly gentle, and makes a nice hike for small children. One caution here: there are some sharp drop-offs along this trail. Young hikers need to either be kept in hand or be secure in their knowledge of the rules of the road: walk, don't run, and stay away from the edges! These trails are both open virtually year round except during the coldest winters. In early fishing season you will share them with more than a few fishermen. Late in fall they are quiet and show gorgeous fall colors. Overnighters are possible here, but not the best choice. Few good sites and large amounts of foot traffic make these better as day hikes. We are promised that these two trails will, in the future, be linked and extended to provide eventually a link all the way to the cascade crest. A trail to look forward to indeed!

5. ALDER FLATS - Just 1/8 mile prior to reaching the Ripplebrook Ranger Station as described in #4 above, on the right hand side of the road, you will see the Alder Flats Trail head #574. The trail has little or no altitude gain, and 1.5 miles with most of the boggy spots bridged. You may notice that a numbered guide is sometimes available to the old growth and the beaver formed lake you will pass on your way to Alder Flat. The trail ends in a cluster of campsites on an isolated off road stretch of the Clackamas River. The area is popular with fishermen early in the season, but very quiet once fishing has slowed down. A very easy walk, and since there are six campsites, a quick count of the cars at the single trail head access point will give you an accurate count of whether you will find a site to camp in or not. The bogs and the unspoiled old growth provide a great deal of flora and fauna of interest to small children. Two picnic tables in the midst of tall old trees are provided at the trail head for the use of those requiring a pre-hike snack.

6. ELK LAKE CREEK TRAIL - Long drive above Estacada to access the northern edge of the Bull of the Woods Wilderness for a real wilderness experience that even a young child can enjoy. The first 2.4 miles of Trail # 559 from the trail head to the first major crossing of Elk Lake Creek, is one of the first hikes we shared with our kids. Campsites are frequent all along this trail, and it is enjoyable as a day hike, but also long enough for a several night trip. There are creek crossings to be accomplished, and early in the season, most children would be a bit overwhelmed. By August the water levels have lowered and all but the smallest new hikers could continue on beyond 2.4 miles and see some real wilderness. The full 9.6 mile trail ends at Elk Lake. Grades throughout are not excessive, gain is not overwhelming. Stream crossings are the challenge, and early spring hiking with young people is limited to the first 2.4 miles. Check these trails out on the Mt. Hood National Forest’s Bull of the Woods wilderness map, available also at REI. To reach the trail head, drive from Clackamas to Estacada to Ripplebrook Ranger Station as in #4 above. Follow Road #46 to Riverford, then turn south on Forest Road # 63. Spur 6380 will take you to the trail head. Be forewarned that these are gravel roads, and the spur road can be a bit rough, although we have found it accessible to passenger cars in past years.

7. OPAL CREEK - This is a flat, easy walk, but its distance will make it a bit daunting for the very youngest. Grade School aged hikers will find a great reward when they reach the picturesque restored mining camp at Jawbone Flats. We have described this hike elsewhere on our web page. As you walk along the closed forest road which makes the trail, you will pass old closed mining shafts, abandoned mills, and the towering old growth groves which have made this our newest wilderness area as of late last fall (1996). Other, more ambitious hiking trails take off from the Opal Creek Trail.

8. OSWALD WEST STATE PARK - If you crave a bit of the Oregon coast to share with your young hiker, this is a good place to start. A grownup would not call this a hike, and reservations through the State Parks reservation system are advisable except pre-season and post-season. This is the only walk-in state campground, and I am told, no additional walk-in camps are planned. It makes a good practice trip to load up the backpacks, and walk the short distance down into the park to your (pre-reserved) campsite. Get there early to get the more isolated sites. After setting up camp, more hiking is available, as well as an isolated beach and a nice access creek for wading.

9. BOULDER LAKE - US Hwy 26 to Government camp, Hwy 35 to White River, then turn south on Forest Road 48 . Turn North again on Forest Road 4880 to find the Boulder Lake trail head. The Badger Creek Wilderness Map available from Mt. Hood National forest, and the Green Trails maps for Mt. Hood # 462 and Mt. Wilson, # 494, will help you locate this out of the way fishing trail. The hike from the trail head to Boulder Lake is uphill, but quite short, and the reward at the end is a nice little fishing lake with several campsites. The youngest hikers can make it to Boulder Lake. More ambitious hikers can go on south to Little Boulder Lake, which is not on a spur road (yet), or up over the ridge to the Campground at Bonney Meadows. (Yes, it is on a road, but since the road is barely drivable, it doesn't diminish the hiker’s pleasure very much. ) Late in the season, after the fishermen have done their best, this little cluster of lakes makes great, quiet camping. Earlier, the climb up over the ridge to Bonney Meadows is very memorable when the meadows are in bloom. As you will clearly see on your drive in to this cluster of lakes, this area was left out when the Badger Creek Wilderness was formed. Heavy clear-cut style logging has taken a major toll on the eastern edge of this wilderness. So far, the more memorable of the trails have been spared, but it falls into the category I label 'Use it or lose it!' So fit this one in before it is lost to recreationists.

10. MILL CREEK WILDERNESS - If you are looking for something a bit farther from Portland, or if the perennial spring rains drive you into eastern Oregon for a bit of sunshine, try this one. Drive from Portland to Prineville, then on east into the Ochoco National Forest. (150 miles). Provide yourself with an Ochoco Forest Map to navigate the short distance along a mostly paved road to Wild Cat Campground. The first two miles of this very pleasant trail cross and recross the meadow lined valley of the east fork of Mill Creek. This portion makes a very pleasant hike for young people. There are suitable sites for an overnight stay, but heavy horse traffic makes this less than the greatest choice for a long stay. If you should meet a party of riders while exploring here, and you most likely will, remind your young hikers to step well off the trail and stand very still while the horses pass. For some strange reason, hikers wearing backpacks look extremely non-human to most horses. Sudden movements on the part of the hiker will be likely to spook the horse and make it hard for the rider to control. The remaining three miles of trail climb out of the valley into the upland portion of the wilderness, pass the Twin Pillars, and come out on the opposite side of the wilderness at Bingham Prairie. These are lovely, quiet woods, but they lack appeal for the young. But a camping trip to Wild Cat and some day hiking up the creek for lunch make a nice trip for a young hiker who is tired of all that west side rain. We first discovered this haven one July fourth trip when we intended to try the Salmon river but it just wouldn't stop raining, so we just kept driving till we found sunshine, and this quiet little gem of wilderness in the Ochocos.

Copywrite © 2002 by Byron Kinnaman