29 min
Overview
Trails on the Boring volcano Powell Butte connect to the Springwater Corridor, just south of the park, using which you can make a loop back to the Powell Butte Trailhead on a neighborhood trail. This route takes you through a variety of habitats: You’ll get views of Cascade volcanoes from Powell Butte’s open, meadowy summit, descend through a lush Douglas-fir/cedar forest, and hike next to restored wetlands on Johnson Creek before getting more volcano views on the return. From the parking area, take the paved trail up from the Visitor Center/restrooms. You’ll get a view east to Mount Hood, and pass a spur leading to benches that look towards Mount Saint Helens and Silver Star Mountain. Go left on the Mountain View Trail from Junction #5. Pass through a row of walnut trees to make a left at another junction to cross a gravel road at a trail junction. Make a sharp switchback right in a grove of alders, and walk above a concrete lined ditch as you get more views north to Mount Saint Helens. Young Douglas-firs shade the trail, and below you’ll see the expansive meadow that covers Reservoirs #1 and #2, the latter completed in 2014. Switchback to the junction with Summit Lane, and head left (east) past an old orchard to the “mountain finder” at the summit of Powell Butte. On a clear day, you should see Mount Saint Helens, Mount Rainier, Silver Star Mountain, and Mount Adams in Washington. Looking east, there’s a view to Mount Hood with Gresham Butte and Gabbert Hill in the foreground. Mount Scott and Clackamas Butte are the prominences to the south and southwest. Return to the junction with Summit Lane, and go left. Stay left at the Douglas-fir Trail-Summit Lane-Meadowland Lane Junction, and then make a right at the Summit Lane-Hawthorn Trail Junction. Descend through the meadow on the Hawthorn Trail getting views of Clackamas Butte and Mount Scott. Pass through a ponderosa pine plantation and enter Douglas-fir/big-leaf maple woods. Make three wide mountain biker loops, and traverse down the slope in a sword fern,
Trail Stats
0.0 km
146 m
193 m
0 m
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Photos
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400px-PowellButteJohnsonCreekMap
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250px-Along_Johnson_Creek%2C_Springwater_Corridor
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250px-Douglas-firs%2C_Hawthorn_Trail%2C_Powell_Butte
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250px-At_the_Mountain_Finder%2C_Powell_Butte
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400px-Mt