Outings! – Calloway Intensive Loop Trail

This trail is one of many in the McDonald-Dunn Forest, an Oregon State University Research Forest at the outskirts of Corvallis. I think we could have walked all day and not set foot on every available trail. What makes this trail extra interesting is that, as part of the OSU Forestry program’s research, there are several different “forests” that the trail winds through. In about four miles we experienced coastal ferns and trilliums, valley oaks and cottonwoods, and then the sprawl of high desert ponderosa pines. 

If you’re visiting Oregon, or have a visitor with limited time, this trail is a great way to show off several different ecosystems at once. 

The Calloway Intensive Loop Trail is, well, a loop trail (my favorite). Finding which trailhead to start from was a little confusing, but it ultimately didn’t matter. We parked in some overflow parking and started on the back end of the loop. This happened to include the majority of the incline, which sucked, but is also my preference. I want to climb at the start and descend at the end. Which is, accidentally, exactly what we did.

The climb took us past a small lake before breaking off onto a smaller trail that winds down through the coastal forest. Lots of trilliums and irises were blooming, and we saw at least three banana slugs. Then we meandered into more inland woods, the kind we’re familiar with here in the valley. Stellar’s jays and bunny rabbits galore here, before the canopy broke open and grassy hills were pecked with ponderosas. 

Then we wandered out into a parking lot, and realized this was the trailhead we’d meant to park at. But, we found the connector trail and walked through some more beautiful trees before finding our car at the end of the trail, surrounded by Redwood trees.