Hopkins Forest Loop Hike

Overview

These 140 acres were formerly a logged-over tree farm in the Little Buckner Creek drainage owned by Howard and Margaret Hopkins of Milwaukie. When Howard Hopkins passed away in 1989, Margaret searched for a way to keep the property out of developers' hands, and in 1990 the non-profit Forests Forever, Inc. was formed. The acreage is managed according to conservation, sustainable forestry research, and public education goals. Maintenance roads and loop trails run through various plots of forest, including a natural riparian corridor along the creek. Interpretive signs tell about different forestry practices, including even age and uneven age plantings, thinning, pruning, and cultivation of pole trees. The directions below follow the outermost perimeter of the property. At the top of the parking area, there’s a maintenance shed and the Clatskanie Mountain Fire Tower (The staircase door is locked) with its cab missing. The tower was erected in the northern Coast Range in 1954, and then moved to the Magness Memorial Tree Farm in 1984. About ten years ago, it was transferred to the Hopkins Demonstration Forest. At the south end of the parking area is Everett Hall, a meetings and events facility. Begin your hike at the kiosk near the flagpole. You can pick up maps here, and learn about some of the activities at the Demonstration Forest. Below you is a stand of Douglas-firs being carefully prepared for harvest as telephone poles. Walk down Grouse Hollow Road past restrooms, a picnic area, and Hopkins Hall. Pass through a green gate and the junction with the Hopkins Trail, your return route. Then make a left on Post Road. Here there’s a younger plantation of Douglas-firs. Continue past the junction with the Hardwood Trail, a short connector to the Red Alder Trail. Post Road descends to the brushy, maple shaded area above Little Buckner Creek. Ignore an unmarked path leading to the creek, and take the East Loop Watershed Trail leading left. Descend a set of steps, and cross the creek on a footbridge. Cedars, Douglas

Trail Stats

Photos

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