Firelane 15 Loop Hike

Overview

Located at the northwest end of Forest Park, this loop will give you a good steep hike with a chance for some solitude. Like most hikes in this park, the route is predominately in the shade of a secondary Douglas-fir forest, but the short sections along the powerline access roads provide views to the northeast. On clear days, Mount Saint Helens, Mount Rainier, the Columbia River, and Sauvie Island can been seen on this route. Since you're beginning the hike on Skyline Boulevard, you have several hundred feet of ascent on the way back, so be prepared to sweat at the end! Go around the green gate on Skyline Road, and hike along a powerline corridor. The road soon ducks into a mixed slope forest of Douglas-fir, western hemlock, western red-cedar, big-leaf maple, and red alder. Sword fern dominates in the understory. Head up to an open view to Sauvie Island, Mount Saint Helens, and Mount Rainier. Then descend again past sprawling, mossy maples to rise from a gully up to the power lines, which again offer wide-ranging views on a clear day. The road then takes a sharp right at what used to be the old trailhead and passes an open gate to enter deeper woods. At a junction, you can head up past a large Douglas-fir to Kielhorn Meadow, where there used to be a house. This also used to be an access point to Forest Park, but the current landowner has built a fence across the access road at the end of the meadow. Return to Firelane 15, and drop steeply down a sword fern/Oregon grape slope to the four-way Wildwood Trail-Firelane 15 Junction. Make a right here, and rise gradually above a salmonberry gully. You'll cross three footbridges and pass a memorial bench. The rising traverse takes you to the Wildwood Trail-BPA Road Junction, where you should turn left on the powerline maintenance road. After 40 yards, the Wildwood Trail resumes, but keep to the BPA Road. Enter the open powerline corridor, which supports dense thickets of salal, sword fern, thimbleberry, and Oregon grape. At the junction with Firelane 12, you'll see

Trail Stats

Photos

400px-Firelane15Map

400px-Firelane15Map

250px-Old_sign_at_Kielhorn_Meadow%2C_Forest_Park

250px-Old_sign_at_Kielhorn_Meadow%2C_Forest_Park

250px-Serviceberry

250px-Serviceberry

250px-Upper_end_of_Firelane_15%2C_Forest_Park

250px-Upper_end_of_Firelane_15%2C_Forest_Park

400px-FL15view

400px-FL15view

Tags