Oak Creek Loop Hike

Overview

Oregon State University's McDonald State Forest is a checkerboard of research plantings, timber plantations, and areas of the mixed natural forest native to the east side Coast Range foothills, some of it replacing the seasonal meadow burning practices of the native Kalapuyans. Signs will warn of the invasive nature of false-brome (Brachypodium sylvaticum), a Eurasian/North African grass that, unlike native species, flourishes under a forest canopy. This hike cobbles together three foot/bike trails with forest roads that are little used on weekends. In addition to false-brome, another invasive, Armenian blackberry, is common here, but the native woodland along Oak Creek and the slopes above it includes the full range of conifers and deciduous trees you'd expect in this province: some old growth Douglas-firs, western red-cedar, grand fir, Pacific yew, tall straggling Pacific madrones, red alder, big-leaf maple, and Oregon white oak. Note that the trails are hiker-only from November 1st to April 15th; thus, while this is a good low-elevation winter hike, you can also catch the early spring and forest wildflowers before the trail restrictions are lifted in mid-April. The short graveled Homestead Trail, half a mile long, begins from the parking area near the Oak Creek Biology Lab, where some of the original buildings were erected by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1940s. Walk downhill under Douglas-firs and cross Oak Creek on a footbridge. Moss-covered maples and blackberry thickets dominate. The trail bends right and heads up Oak Creek below a hillside of Douglas-fir and grand fir carpeted with sword fern and invasive false-brome grass. Oak Creek runs to the right through blackberry thickets, salmonberry, Indian plum, and moss-draped big-leaf maples and alders with a few cedars and oaks. At a junction, keep right on the wider vehicle track. At the next junction, stay right and head down, recross Oak Creek and then rise gently again. Pass through an open area planted with incense cedars and lodgepole pines.

Trail Stats

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