3 min
Overview
Two public access projects on both the east and west side of the Willamette River tie together a pedestrian/cycling loop where there were once busy roads (on the west side) and a blighted shoreline (on the east side). The Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade, completed in 2001, runs 1.5 miles from the Hawthorn Bridge at its south end to the Steel Bridge at its north end. Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park is Portland's central play space and hosts big events throughout the year, including the Rose Festival, the Bite of Oregon, the Waterfront Blues Festival, and the Oregon Brewers Festival. The park is a relatively recent creation: it opened to the public in 1978. Before that Harbor Drive occupied the space, but the completion of Interstate 5 through Portland relieved the need for that particular conduit. This description also includes a section of the Willamette River Greenway which runs north of the Steel Bridge, a project that may see completion in the coming years. The spur along the Willamette Greenway from the Steel Bridge to Waterline Pier is 3.2 miles round-trip. The loop without this spur is 4.7 miles. There are numerous access points for this walk. This description takes an anticlockwise direction and begins just north of OMSI at the south end of the Eastbank Esplanade, essentially right under the I-5 Marquam Bridge. Head north to pass under the Hawthorne Bridge. You’ll notice the bronze of Portland’s former mayor Vera Katz, after whom the Esplanade is officially named. The downtown skyline is across the river, with the two tallest buildings in Oregon, the Wells Fargo Tower and the U.S. Bancorp Tower, or “Big Pink,” rising prominently. Sections of columnar basalt decorate the pathway. At Salmon Street, there are public port-a-potties. Pass the curving ramp that leads up to the Morrison Bridge. Portland's first river bridge was constructed here in 1887; the current structure, completed in 1958, is the third Morrison Bridge. Continue where the walkway splits, with a steel grid to the left and concrete to the
Trail Stats
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Photos
400px-EastbankEsplanadeMap
400px-EastbankEsplanadeMap
250px-South_Waterfront_Garden%2C_Willamette_Greenway
250px-South_Waterfront_Garden%2C_Willamette_Greenway
250px-Cherries%2C_Waterfront_Park%2C_Portland
250px-Cherries%2C_Waterfront_Park%2C_Portland
250px-Pilings_and_Fremont_Bridge%2C_Willamette_Boardwalk
250px-Pilings_and_Fremont_Bridge%2C_Willamette_Boardwalk
250px-Train_on_the_Steel_Bridge%2C_Willamette_Boardwalk
250px-Train_on_the_Steel_Bridge%2C_Willamette_Boardwalk
250px-Tina_cycles_the_floating_esplanade
250px-Tina_cycles_the_floating_esplanade
250px-Downtown_Portland_from_the_east_bank
250px-Downtown_Portland_from_the_east_bank
400px-Tilikum_Crossing%2C_Willamette_River%2C_Portland
400px-Tilikum_Crossing%2C_Willamette_River%2C_Portland