River View Loop Hike

Overview

A network of social trails, now numbered with laminated signs, criss-crosses this densely wooded slope acquired by Portland Parks and Recreation from the River View Cemetery in 2011. There is no “river view”, the name coming from the cemetery, which sold the land anticipating a drop in demand for burial space. The area was logged in the 1880s and then again in the 1950s, and the routes follow old logging roads as well as loops and steep descents created in the past couple of decades by mountain bikers. You’ll cross heavily eroded gullies, and invasive species are very evident, especially at the upper (western) end of the property. Lower down, ivy has been pulled and severed where it grew 50 feet or more up trees, and native plants have reestablished themselves. A plan has been put in place to establish a perimeter trail system and decommission some of the paths that run through the center of the natural area. For the time being, both mountain bikes and dogs are controversially banned from the park in order to allow recovery to take place. Be aware that you cannot park along Palatine Hill Road. Park along the sides of nearby Brugger Street or Corbett Lane. Summer and fall hikers should wear protective clothing as there are blackberries overhanging the trail on the return part of the loop. Enter the natural area at Brugger Street and Palatine Hill Road. You’ll pass an impressive grand fir on your way to a six-way junction. Trail 3B, your return trail, comes in from the right. Trails 1, 7, and 6 drop down the slope ahead of you. For a loop around the perimeter, take Trail 4 on your left. Hike under a canopy of big-leaf maples through an understory of weedy species, especially ivy, creeping buttercup, large-leaf avens, and nipplewort. Keep on the main trail, and then stay right at a closed trail that leads into the cemetery; at some point, Trail 4 will have passed onto River View Cemetery property. Descend a ridge through a carpet of ivy, and then curve back in to cross a big gully on an old logging track. Note

Trail Stats

Photos

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