3 min
Overview
In 2003, the City of Salem bought the Union Street Railroad Bridge (opened in 1913) from Union Pacific for $1 and spent $3.2 million converting it into a bicycle/pedestrian path that connects the east and west banks of the Willamette in downtown Salem. You may now walk the riverbank cottonwood corridor at Wallace Marine Park and then safely cross the river to enjoy the attractions of Salem’s Riverfront Park. At low water, beaches are exposed at the base of the bridge on the Willamette’s west bank and balmy weather sees throngs from the state capital enjoying time near the water. In August 2017, the Peter Courtney Minto Island Bridge was dedicated to connect Riverfront Park with Minto-Brown Island Park, thus extending walking/cycling opportunities in these three riverside parks (see the optional extension described below and the Minto-Brown Island Loop Hike). If you are walking around Riverfront Park first, first head along the path paralleling Front Street to the beautiful and classic carousel. Pass the restrooms and the playground, then some picnic tables, the Gerry Frank Rotary Amphitheater (under construction in 2020), and finally reach the Eco-Earth Globe and the Peter Courtney Minto Island Bridge. The Eco-Earth Globe is a repurposed "acid ball," 85 feet in circumference and once used by Boise Cascade to hold gases and liquids used in the paper-making process at their now closed mill. Ceramic artists created a colorful globe with painted clay images to give new life to this symbol of local industry. Looking along the waterfront on both sides of the Willamette Slough, it's difficult to imagine that for over 100 years, this area was the site of noisy pulp and paper, lumber, and flouring mills, with pilings all along the shores and smoke stacks spewing clouds of vapor. If you're not doing the optional loop described below, turn around and walk downriver to overlook the Willamette Slough and pass an amphitheater. At the statue of a fisherman, a path leads down to the public dock, which is the home port for t
Trail Stats
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Photos
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