Outings! – Calloway Intensive Loop Trail
Welcome It’s another beautiful spring week here in Oregon, which means we made outdoors again! 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…
Outings! – Howard Creek Loop Trail
Welcome! We’re back and for the first time in a long time, we actually made it out of town and into the woods! The hiking season has officially begun! Howard Creek Loop Trail This trail is one of many in Silver Falls State Park. Most folks who visit the park go for The Trail of Ten Falls, an ~8 mile loop that legitimately visits ten different waterfalls. I’ve never done the loop all in one go, but I’ve done it in bits and pieces. It’s understandably the show stopper of the park, and where everyone wants to go, no matter the weather. But on the other side of the road from the falls are even more trails! Some wind through muddy, marshy areas, others climb up into the wooded hills, and still others meander through campgrounds and recreational “villages”. I’ve done a handful of these less popular trails (including that…
Outings! – Alsea Falls and Green Peak Falls
Welcome! For the first time, Outings! will cover an actual hike! Usually this series has reviewed a city or county park, but with Monday being a holiday I used it as an excuse to get out into the woods. I also managed to drag my spouse, our best friend Bolt, and her dog Yuki along for the ride! Alsea Falls and Green Peak Falls About an hour southwest of our house is an entire recreational site I’d never even heard of before. The Alsea Falls Recreational Area is located in the eastern side of the Coast Range, and follows the South Fork of the Alsea River. There’s a network of biking and running trails, hiking trails near the falls (which this post is about), as well as campgrounds. Swimming and fishing holes abound in the warmer months, but cold, wet weather doesn’t keep Oregonians from spending time in the park. …
Outings! – Secor Park
Welcome! That’s right folks! Outings! is back. If this is your first time reading this series, don’t fret. You can read all about it here, but the gist is this: rain or shine, I visit a local park every week and review it. It’s a way to sort of game-ify my mental health and love of the outdoors in an effort to get outside more in the “Off” season. So far, it’s working! So, where did we go this week? Secor Park This park is tucked into a neighborhood, and adjoins the neighboring school’s athletic fields, which helps it seem bigger than it actually is. There are some paved paths leading to the north and south edges of the park and out into the neighborhoods, but most of the trails are narrow bark dust tracks that wander beteween blackberry brambles. There’s a sizable playground with well-maintained, newer equipment. No lie,…
Outings! – Orchard Heights Park
Welcome! Welcome to the third installment of Outings! If you’re new here, please check out the early installments to get a sense of what this whole series is all about. Orchard Heights Park This is a lovely neighborhood park in a pretty affluent part of town. It’s tucked back behind a retirement home and some winding housing blocks. You would never expect the park to be so big or have so much to offer, which makes it quite the gem! The main area of the park has brand new tennis courts (4 full courts!), a basketball court, two baseball pitches, a children’s playground and a small, fenced off-leash area for dogs. There’s also a paved path circling all of this. And across the drive are butterfly and community gardens. All of this would be enough to rate this park pretty dang high. It just offers so much in a very…
Introducing: Outings!
Outings! is an all-new blog series where I explore the (mostly urban) outdoors and report back to you! I know I’ve talked a lot about hiking on the blog before, and particularly about how I didn’t do enough of it this summer, so this is my way to make up for it. I’ve also talked a little bit about needing to up my activity levels, especially on the weekends, so I thought this might be a good way to do that. So, what is Outings! exactly? Outings! Is… A weekly blog post where I share my thoughts and experiences with the outdoors here in my town. Salem has a lot of parks and some trails and wilderness areas nearby, and despite living here for over 10 years, I haven’t been to most of them. In an effort to be more active, give myself some weekend structure, and reconnect with my…