Fleece: Mountain Hardwear; Leggings: Betsey Johnson (similar); Shoes: Adidas (old, new version here)
With the weather setting (what must be) sunshine records for Oregon, Ben and I have been trying to get out more. We've been dedicating at least one day of the weekend to outdoor exploring. While last weekend we went on a picnic to Cathedral Park, the weekend prior we decided to try out a new (to us) hike in Forest Park. For non-Oregonians, Forest Park is the giant park just north of Portland that spans 40 miles and contains tons of dense hiking, mountain biking, dog walking trails. There are some beautiful views of forest, bird watching spots, pretty views of the mountains, and just general Northwest beauty abounding.
The BPA Road trail was recommended by the Portland Monthly's "best Forest Park hikes" and it's definitely more of a stroll/walk than a hike. The hike starts off of NW Skyline Road and is accessed near the North end of Forest Park (closer to St. Johns/Sauvie). There's a little loop you can pull into off of the street to park and then the trail starts right off to the right of some residential properties. It's a rather wide and well-maintained road as it's the access point for the Bonneville Power Association to maintain their power lines that run down through this area of the park. About a 1/2 mile in you can start to see gorgeous views of Mt. St. Helens. The trail meanders downhill through some clear areas, past a monument dedicated to people that helped save a "hole in the park" from development, and intersects with quite a few firelanes. It also intersects with the Wildwood trail (a long, beautiful trail that goes across the park) at about the 1/2 mile mark. At about a mile, you come to a clearing in the trees where there's a picnic bench and a view of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, and through the trees you can see Mt. Hood. You can watch ships come in and out of port in the Willamette river and see for many miles. All around gorgeous on a sunny day.
After reaching our viewpoint, Ben and I decided to hike back to the Wildwood trail and take it North to explore some pretty views of creeks and spring foliage. We walked for about another mile out along the Wildwood trail until it intersected a Firelane and then turned around and headed back to the car. All in all we only did about four miles of walking but it was so quiet, beautiful, and crisp that it was energizing for the coming week!
Do you have any favorite local hikes?
With the weather setting (what must be) sunshine records for Oregon, Ben and I have been trying to get out more. We've been dedicating at least one day of the weekend to outdoor exploring. While last weekend we went on a picnic to Cathedral Park, the weekend prior we decided to try out a new (to us) hike in Forest Park. For non-Oregonians, Forest Park is the giant park just north of Portland that spans 40 miles and contains tons of dense hiking, mountain biking, dog walking trails. There are some beautiful views of forest, bird watching spots, pretty views of the mountains, and just general Northwest beauty abounding.
The BPA Road trail was recommended by the Portland Monthly's "best Forest Park hikes" and it's definitely more of a stroll/walk than a hike. The hike starts off of NW Skyline Road and is accessed near the North end of Forest Park (closer to St. Johns/Sauvie). There's a little loop you can pull into off of the street to park and then the trail starts right off to the right of some residential properties. It's a rather wide and well-maintained road as it's the access point for the Bonneville Power Association to maintain their power lines that run down through this area of the park. About a 1/2 mile in you can start to see gorgeous views of Mt. St. Helens. The trail meanders downhill through some clear areas, past a monument dedicated to people that helped save a "hole in the park" from development, and intersects with quite a few firelanes. It also intersects with the Wildwood trail (a long, beautiful trail that goes across the park) at about the 1/2 mile mark. At about a mile, you come to a clearing in the trees where there's a picnic bench and a view of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, and through the trees you can see Mt. Hood. You can watch ships come in and out of port in the Willamette river and see for many miles. All around gorgeous on a sunny day.
After reaching our viewpoint, Ben and I decided to hike back to the Wildwood trail and take it North to explore some pretty views of creeks and spring foliage. We walked for about another mile out along the Wildwood trail until it intersected a Firelane and then turned around and headed back to the car. All in all we only did about four miles of walking but it was so quiet, beautiful, and crisp that it was energizing for the coming week!
Do you have any favorite local hikes?