Mount Sylvania Loop Hike

Overview

Mountain Park is a Lake Oswego suburb that has been developed on the slopes of the Portland area's million-year-old shield volcano, Mount Sylvania, since 1968. Carl Halvorson, a local entrepreneur, envisioned the community as a sort of suburban utopia, and he purposefully designed it to provide greenspaces for residents. It is the largest planned community in Oregon (At the time, it was the largest urban planned community in the country), and is home to about 25% of Lake Oswego’s population. Developers focused on high-end housing near the summit; there are also sprawling apartment and condo complexes as well as community facilities for recreation. Along with the construction of roads and other infrastructure, some of the native woodland was preserved in a series of narrow greenways that wind between the various neighborhoods. A network of trails, both paved and unpaved, takes advantage of these, and tunnels keep walkers away from busy street crossings. Note: There are lots of urban trail options in this area. Use the convenient Mountain Park Trail Map to guide your wanderings. Walk into McNary Park, which actually sits atop an underground reservoir. There is a small play area here and native plantings around a patch of lawn. Head to your right and find a wide chip trail that leads down to McNary Parkway through a small thicket of woodland. Go left on the sidewalk and walk ¼ mile on McNary, crossing it at the junction with Hidalgo, to the junction with Jefferson Parkway above the Mountain Park Church. Cross Jefferson Parkway and go right 15 yards to find the steps and path leading down to the church’s parking area. Keep walking down to the bottom of the church parking lot until you reach a couple of paths labeled "Springbrook Trail, Trillium Trail" at forested Tanglewood Park. Take the path leading down into the woods on the right. This is a leafy gully dominated by big-leaf maple, Douglas-fir, hazel, and hawthorn. Cross a small creek and reach a junction with a trail map. Keep left and descend in three sho

Trail Stats

Photos

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