14 min
Overview
Twenty-nine-acre Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, formerly Walnut Park, is nestled in the northeastern outskirts of Corvallis against the foothills of the Coast Range. While some of the park is developed, trails also lead through natural areas, including an extensive ash swale. You can extend your outing by taking using trails and spurs beyond the official park boundary. The section of the park south of the creek is an off-leash area. From the parking area, walk to the information kiosk and trail crossroad. Go right here on a gravel track which crosses the concrete path that leads to the park playground. Keep left on the road as you walk up the slope to a large spreading oak and the Walnut Barn, now converted to a covered picnic area that can be reserved. After inspecting the barn, walk around behind it, and find the trail leading up a slope past a copse of Douglas-fir and incense cedar. A spur leads down to a memorial bench with a view over to Oak Hill. Keep up the trail along a wildflower meadow to another bench, from which you can obtain a view north to Dimple Hill. The park trail descends the meadow directly south from here to cross a short boardwalk and reach the paved central trail. You can also head north across an open space vegetated with Scots broom and young hawthorn shrubs. The trails in this space are used by mountain bikers, so they are deeply rutted. Bluebirds may be seen gliding over the space in the spring and summer months. However, blackberry is also rampant here, so you risk getting snagged unless it has been pruned back. You can angle to the left across the open space to enter a ponderosa pine plantation and eventually reach the Ponderosa Drive Trailhead on faint user trails. Otherwise, descend from the bench at the viewpoint to the central trail, and go right. This wide trail enters an ash swale that is waterlogged in the wet months. Look for small birds, such as towhees and juncos, darting about. A user trail leads off to the left, but wait until you get to a more obvious partially gr
Trail Stats
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70 m
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Photos
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