Alder-Wildwood Loop Hike

Overview

This is a short loop for those needing an outing in nature before going on to other activities in the city. The route passes through mainly deciduous forest, so the prime time to hike it is in the fall, when the big-leaf maples will be putting on a spectacular display. You’ll use the Alder Trail, completed in 1980, and walk along the remains of a canal dug out for the 1905 Lewis & Clark Exposition. Hike in from the parking pullout and head left at the first junction on the Keil Trail. There’s a memorial plaque set in a stone here. Hike up to the top of a rise, the high point on this hike, and go left at the sign for the Dogwood Trail. Drop down the slope past a pole fence protecting a replanted area. You’ll pass the biggest conifers on the hike here, some stately Douglas-firs, in a carpet of sword fern and Oregon grape. Reach the Wildwood Trail at the Wildwood and 53rd Trailhead and continue left (north) on that trail. You’ll now hike along a slope that is primarily composed of deciduous red alder and big-leaf maple with a few assorted conifers: Douglas-fir, western hemlock, grand fir, western red-cedar. Pass the 9 ¼ mile marker on the Wildwood Trail and reach the Wildwood-Alder Trail Junction. Descend the Alder Trail on a slope of the trees that gave this path its name. Cross a small creek and traverse on a level contour. Head into a gully and cross a footbridge before dropping to the Leif Erikson Drive-Alder Trail Junction. A plaque here commemorates the completion of the Alder Trail in 1980. Go right on Leif Erikson: you're at the 1 ½ mile point of the road. There’s deep gully down to your left. Hike around to another gully where Leif Erikson cuts into the bedrock of the Tualatin Hills – the rocky faces are now festooned with licorice fern. Pass the 1 mile marker at a cottonwood, and then reach the Leif Erikson Drive-Dogwood Trail Junction. Ascend the Dogwood, crossing a footbridge and switchbacking twice under maple trees shading a carpet of sword fern and invasive ivy. The trail rises up a ridge cre

Trail Stats

Photos

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