2 min
Overview
This loop trail, a great family stroll, leads around a seasonal lake along the Multnomah Channel and under tall cottonwoods. The area is part of the Wapato Access Greenway State Park, which absolves you of the need for a Sauvie Island Wildlife Area parking permit. Waterfowl congregate on the lake and you will almost certainly see signs of beaver activity. Bring binoculars! Hike past a gate and up a maintenance road past the entrance sign. To the right are dense woods with big-leaf maples and Douglas-firs as well as hazel and lots of Armenian blackberry. Little posts around the loop identify bird species that can be seen in the area. To the left is a meadow blooming with cow vetch in the spring. A trail departs across this meadow to hook up with the loop around the lake, but taking this path will make you miss the viewing platform at the lake. Keeping right, reach a picnic shelter and keep left here under ash and cottonwood trees. A spur trail leads right to a viewing platform over Virginia Lake, which exhibits itself as a grassy expanse with a pond in the middle from mid-spring through fall. Look for the arrow-shaped leaves of wapato, or broad-leaf arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia), which blooms here in late summer. The roots of this plant were a staple of Native Americans who lived in the Columbia and Willamette River floodplains (In Europe, a similar species to this is called katniss, she of Hunger Games notoriety). From mid-fall into spring, the much-expanded lake is a haven for foraging waterfowl, including Canada geese, buffleheads, wigeons, ring-necked ducks, shovelers, mallards, gadwalls, pintails, and pied-bill grebes. Continuing on the main trail, hike down a vehicle track with thickets of willow, hawthorn, blackberry and hazel on both sides. A spur right leads to a blind from which you can see little as it is shielded by young cottonwoods. Pass a view of the pond and head back into cottonwood/ash woods. A spur left leads to Hadley's Landing, where there are a fishing dock, picnic tables and a horses
Trail Stats
0.0 km
12 m
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Photos
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400px-WapatoGreenwayMap
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160px-WapatoGreenway4
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250px-At_the_dock%2C_Hadley%27s_Landing%2C_Wapato_Access_Greenway
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250px-WapatoGreenway2
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