14 min
Overview
New sections of the Westside Linear Trail, a paved route in a north-south powerline corridor, have recently been completed north of Highway 26 in the Bethany area. This walk takes you from Hansen Ridge Park and a raised boardwalk above Bronson Creek north to farm fields in west Multnomah County. While you’re often close to rapidly expanding new developments, the linear corridor offers a hint of the rural life that once prevailed here. A couple of short diversions in the Kaiser Woods are recommended. Take the path leading off 147th to the right of the play area, and curve past some pines to a trail junction. Bear right, and follow the trail east, where it becomes a raised boardwalk in the Westside Linear Park above a wetland of cattails and green water parsley. First, go right to follow the raised walkway as it passes above the extensive marshlands on Bronson Creek. If you have binoculars, scan the wetlands for ducks (especially mallards), egrets, herons, blackbirds, and migrants in the spring and fall. It’s a short distance south to the current (2021) terminus of this section of the Westside Linear Trail at Kaiser Road. Turn around, and now head north and uphill on the trail to pass over a bridge spanning a tributary of Bronson Creek with fenced back yards on both sides of the powerline corridor. Cross 147th Avenue, and look for two stately incense cedars framing an access path to Werner Lane on the left. After crossing first Laidlaw Road and then Lilium Drive, you’ll begin to gradually drop and cross Wendy Lane. From this street, hike up to a four-way junction with the Rock Creek Trail at the southeast corner of the Kaiser Woods Natural Area. For a diversion, turn left on the Rock Creek Trail and cross NW Kyle Place to follow wooded Springville Creek and reach Kaiser Road. Then, turn north on Kaiser Road, and cross both Snow Lily Drive and Twinflower Drive before taking a paved trail into the Kaiser Woods Natural Area. Pass above a couple of ponds, the second one in a wetland of ash, willow, red osier dog
Trail Stats
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70 m
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Photos
400px-BronsonCreekKaiserWoodsMap
400px-BronsonCreekKaiserWoodsMap
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250px-Entering_Kaiser_Woods%2C_Bethany
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250px-Raised_boardwalk_to_Kaiser_Road%2C_Westside_Linear_Park%2C_Bethany
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400px-Farm_fields%2C_Westside_Linear_Park%2C_Bethany