4 min
Overview
It’s possible now to walk almost the entire Willamette River waterfront in Albany due to an interconnected trail system. Begin at the mouth of the Calapooia River and walk east along a wide bend in the river. You’ll be away from the Willamette for a few residential blocks, but eventually you’ll reach the wooded, natural setting of Simpson Park. The riverfront trail also connects directly with the Cox Creek Trail and Albany’s Talking Water Gardens. Walk past the playground and under powerlines to the line of maples above the Calapooia River. A footpath leads down to the trail along the river. A rough user tread leads left under a railroad bridge. Go right under maple, cottonwood, and ash until you reach the mouth of the river where it joins the Willamette. There’s a sand bar here that offers views downriver to the Highway 20 road bridges. You can walk back through a willow thicket to the lawns of Monteith Park: the bandstand here hosts a popular series of summer concerts. Pick up a paved path and follow it as you walk downriver. Pass a viewing platform that leads out above a dock and the sand bar. Walk by a second viewing platform as you look across the river to the forested verge that is Takena Landing Park (See the Takena Landing Hike). Take a boardwalk under the first Highway 20 bridge. A railroad runs along Water Avenue to your right. Pass under the second bridge and reach a marker for the Dave Clark Riverfront Park (Clark was Director of Albany Parks between 1974 and 2002). You'll encounter The Wheelhouse, a new office building and event center designed to fit in with the "old" waterfront, and continue on this fenced path with views of the Willamette from its steep bank forested with cottonwood, ash, and maple. There's an antique store and a brewery before you walk under a railroad trestle. There are empty lots to the right and signs warn you not to take user tracks down to the river. The trail dips to cross a willowy bottomland before rising to meet Front Avenue. Walk three blocks on Front and go righ
Trail Stats
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18 m
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Photos
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