Bush's Pasture Loop Hike

Overview

Ninety-acre Bush’s Pasture is not far from Oregon state capitol building and, while there’s much going on in this park – including Willamette University’s stadium and baseball diamond, a soapbox derby track, a botanical garden and historic home, and several playgrounds – a stroll around the area also takes the visitor through lovely oak woodlands carpeted with blooming camas and fawn lilies in spring. In addition, the neighboring Deepwood Estate has its own formal garden and natural area next to Pringle Creek as well as a beautiful Victorian home. You may also encounter some of the local fauna: aggressive ground squirrels might beg for treats and “angry owl” signs caution about a resident barred owl that attacks walkers and joggers in a territorial rage. Asahel Bush II was an early Salem newspaperman and banker originally from New England. He purchased the property which the park now covers in 1860. The City of Salem acquired most of the land from his heirs in the late 1940s. Upon the death of his last child, Asahel Bush III, in 1953, the Bush House itself came under city management. From the parking area, walk up the slope to a park-like bench of Oregon white oak carpeted with camas lilies, which will be in full bloom in mid-April. Make your way to the right on a paved path to pass by the entrance to Willamette University’s McCulloch Stadium. You’ll reach a wide “road” that is actually the Salem Soap Box Derby track. Go left here, and then veer off to the right where you see a path ascending the slope. You’ll reach the Bush Barn Art Center, which holds free exhibits, and the Bush House, a Victorian mansion in Italian style completed in 1878. The house was built for Asahel Bush, the founder of the Oregon Statesman newspaper, precursor to Salem’s Statesman Journal. Walk around the house to admire the exterior. The house is a museum of 19th century furniture and décor, and guided tours (entrance fee) are conducted in the afternoons five days a week most of the year. On the west side of the house, there’s an ol

Trail Stats

Photos

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