Scappoose Dike Hike

Overview

East of Scappoose a former flood plain extends to the Multnomah Channel of the Willamette River, separated from the Columbia by Sauvie Island. Local Indians would harvest wapato and hunt waterfowl here. Euro-American settlers turned it into seasonal pasturage for dairy herds. Major flooding occurred during the winter and spring months, but it wasn’t until 1927 that work on the 9.9 mile long Scappoose Levee, administered by a public corporation, was begun, allowing conversion of the bottomlands to year-round agricultural land. Apart from Chapman Landing Park, the dike is mostly privately owned, but a section between the park and Browns Landing, excepting the Bernet Farms segment, can be walked by the public. From the trailhead, walk past the bollards on the paved track that served as a private logging railroad and then a haul road for trucks bringing their cargo to the river. This is now the first section of the Crown Zellerbach (CZ) Trail. You’ll see farm fields and then the Tualatin Mountains to the right, while below to the left is a ditch. Cherry, cottonwood, and willow line this section of the trail. You’ll cross a bridge over Dike Road and see the cottonwoods of Sauvie Island across the Multnomah Channel. When you reach Chapman Landing Park, you’ll notice the rotting pilings of the log dump and a concrete platform that once housed the loading crane. You can continue above the shoreline and below the dike through the willows on a mowed track, but at some point you’ll need to turn back or scramble up the dike (if the blackberries aren’t too profuse). Now you can begin hiking along the levee itself, elevated about 30 feet above the level of the Multnomah Channel. Views extend across the farmlands to the hills, the high point being Dixie Mountain to the southwest. When you reach the No Trespassing gate at Bernet Farms, head down to Dike Road, a very quiet rural lane, and hike along it past Bernet’s atmospheric barn, rusting collection of trucks, and Swiss-style home perched up on the dike. Past the last h

Trail Stats

Photos

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