58 min
Overview
Metro’s new Chehalem Ridge Nature Park, opened to the public in December 2021, covers 1,260 acres on the crest of these hills above the Tualatin Valley. Most of the area is covered with evenly spaced planted Douglas-firs, but there are a few pockets of varied vegetation as well as some viewpoints. This hike takes you to the north end of the park, descending the western slope of the ridge to a woodland of madrones and small creeks. You’ll get views to the Gaston area of the Tualatin River valley, flatlands that once cradled Wapato Lake, part of which is now being restored as a national wildlife refuge. For a description of the other trails in the park, see the Iowa Hill Loop Hike. From the information kiosk and large map at the trailhead, bear right to reach the Woodland Trail. Also here is a display recounting the kalapuyan story of the Three Elders. One metal sculpture of an elder stands here as well. Below you, elderberries bloom in the understory in spring. Take the Woodland Trail past summer-blooming tarweed, checkermallow, and lupine. This trail circles around the head of a bowl in a Douglas-fir plantation to pass the junction with the Castor Trail. (As at all trail junctions, there’s a small map on the signpost.) Soon, the well-graded trail crosses a grassy opening with a few large oak trees along its edges. Keep left at a connector that leads down to Timber Road, and loop back to recross the meadow. A clearing in the dark woods has been replanted with grand fir and western hemlock. The trail crosses an open corridor fringed by oaks and a madrone and then passes another tie trail to Timber Road. Now you’ll be switchbacking down five times, passing a five-foot wide Douglas-fir snag and finding more cedars in the forest mix. Violets, trillium, and candy flower bloom here in spring. At the junction with Timber Road, bear left to cross Christensen Creek and then hike up on the road for 0.3 miles, passing the junction with the Ayeekwa Trail on the right. Look for blooming irises in spring. Then you’ll see t
Trail Stats
0.0 km
288 m
0 m
0 m
—
Photos
400px-ChehalemRidgeMap2
400px-ChehalemRidgeMap2
250px-Madrone_copse%2C_Madrona_Trail%2C_Chehalem_Ridge
250px-Madrone_copse%2C_Madrona_Trail%2C_Chehalem_Ridge
250px-Iris_tenax_on_Timber_Road%2C_Chehalem_Ridge
250px-Iris_tenax_on_Timber_Road%2C_Chehalem_Ridge
250px-Christensen_Creek%2C_Timber_Road%2C_Chehalem_Ridge
250px-Christensen_Creek%2C_Timber_Road%2C_Chehalem_Ridge
250px-Showy_tarweed_%28Madia_elegans%29%2C_Woodland_Trail%2C_Chehalem_Ridge
250px-Showy_tarweed_%28Madia_elegans%29%2C_Woodland_Trail%2C_Chehalem_Ridge
400px-View_to_the_Tualatin_Valley%2C_Madrona_Trail%2C_Chehalem_Ridge
400px-View_to_the_Tualatin_Valley%2C_Madrona_Trail%2C_Chehalem_Ridge
TKO put tools to trail here.png
TKO put tools to trail here.png