Snag Boat Bend Loop Hike

Overview

The Snag Boat Bend Unit of the William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge was added to the refuge system in 2000 after a land transfer from the Nature Conservancy, which had purchased the area from private landholders. An oxbow lake, Lake Creek – an old meander of the Willamette River - is the centerpiece of the property. A short boardwalk leads to grassy trails and road tracks. There’s an observation blind over Lake Creek, and some trails can be accessed only in the dry months, when it becomes possible to walk a low causeway over Lake Creek to connect back with the main trail. There’s a large blue heron rookery closer to the Willamette (The trails do not get too close to it), an osprey nest, and evidence of beaver activity although the rodent you’re more likely to see during the day is the exotic nutria. From the parking area, take the boardwalk through a dense thicket of willows. Make sure you have binoculars with you so you can spot migrants, such as warblers, in the spring and fall. The boardwalk soon becomes a mowed path lined with Armenian blackberry, cottonwood, Oregon ash, and big-leaf maple. Presently, you will come to a picnic table overlooking the Lake Creek oxbow. Continue on the grassy path and pass a spur leading right to the water. This is the beginning of the loop trail, but it is not possible to cross here in times of high water. Keep walking along the mowed trail as a field appears on your left. Take the diversion to the observation blind on the right. This is a worthwhile spot to sit and wait for wildlife to appear: you have a good chance of seeing ospreys, great blue herons, and western pond turtles. Return to the main trail, and continue on a road bed to a four-way junction. This is the junction of the Blue Heron and Dike Trails. Go left here to follow the Blue Heron Trail along the edge of a field. Soon, you'll veer right, still keeping to edge of an open area, with the flood plain of Snag Boat Bend to your left behind a screen of alders and cottonwoods (Back there, somewhere, is the he

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