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! – Turner Lake Park pt. I
Just a heads up, this installment of Outings! is going to look a little different, because, well… it was a different sort of outdoor adventure than I’ve done since starting this blog series. This past weekend we didn’t go for a hike, or even a walk in a nearby, new-to-us park. No. This weekend, we borrowed a couple of kayaks, putt my beloved Subaru Crosstrek to the test, and headed out to a local man-made lake for a little paddling! Preamble Now, Trev and I have been planning to buy kayaks of our own for a couple of years now, but it turns out they’re kind of expensive. And school employees don’t make all that much money, y’all. But I REALLY wanted to get out on the water on Sunday, and I happened to have a friend willing to loan us her boats for the day. So, we drove to…
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! – Woodmansee Park
Welcome! I know it’s been a minute since I’ve posted an installment of Outings!. Between the house drama and the incredibly AWFUL weather we’ve been having, it just wasn’t possible to get outdoors. But today, all that changed. Was the weather nice? No, not especially. But it was above 50º and only misting, so we made a point to get out of the house. Woodmansee Park A sprawling 30 acres, Woodmansee Park has a little bit of everything. Reservable picnic structure, full soccer field, a 9-Hole disc golf course, children’s playground equipment, two tennis courts, a basketball court, ample woodland trails, and full restrooms! It’s tucked back off a busier side road, but with so many trees and wide open spaces, you would never guess you’re in the crux of a major thoroughfare. A mix of white oak and douglas fir trees flank a spur of Pringle Creek, bringing a…
Outings! – Battle Creek Park
Welcome! As promised, I’m finally back with a new edition of Outings! Sorry for the break, but between some stressful weeks and shit weather, we just haven’t made it outdoors in while. Which, honestly, made today’s walk all the more delightful. Battle Creek Park Not gonna lie, “Park” is a bit of a misnomer. Is it, technically, a park? Yes. But it’s also, actually, a decommissioned golf course. And while that might sounds janky, it’s actually one of my favorite things about this space. A quick google this morning told me that Battle Creek Park, formerly a golf course, is now an undeveloped park used primarily for walking. Dig a little deeper, and you’ll learn that the park is slated for development to help restore wetland habitat and thus improve flood plain mitigation. I don’t know why, but that is just super cool to me. Probably because I think golf…
Outings! – Clark Creek Park
Welcome! It’s that time again, Gang! And thankfully, this week we actually got to enjoy a park uninterrupted! If you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about, please check out last week’s Outings! post. If this is your first time here and you’re wondering what in all hells is an Outings! post, start here. Clark Creek Park This city park is deceptive as hell. Your odds of simply driving by it are low, since it isn’t on any main street – the street it is on is a winding back street with older houses on larger swathes of land than is common these days. The first time I saw this park I had deliberately decided to get lost and adventure through the city. we’d just moved to Oregon and I had a lot of curiosity about roads that weren’t on a grid like in Phoenix. I can’t help it, y’all.…
Outings! – A Public Service Announcement
Welcome! Welcome to Outings! – a weekly blog series where I (and various companions) venture out into the Pacific Northwest winter to explore local parks and trails. If you aren’t caught up with the series thus far, I really recommend starting here, because today’s installment is going to be different. A whole lot different. Clark Creek Pa– Nope. We tried to visit this neighborhood park that had been on a radar for a long time. We pulled into the tiny, five-spot lot, the only car and people in sight. It was Superbowl Sunday, and pretty chilly out, so I’d hoped that our later start time – we’d slept in some – wouldn’t negatively affect us. But, within fifty feet of our car we spotted another walker and their dog coming from the north end of the park. No big deal, I thought. We’ll just turn around and take the park…
Outings! – Bonesteele County Park
Welcome! Welcome back to Outings! a blog series of off-season outdoors adventures. If this is your first foray into this series, I suggest you start here. If you’re an old hand at this, then let’s get on with it! Bonesteele County Park I drove by this park for the first time late last summer. It was all dry grass, crispy and uninviting, but I took note because of its promising location. It’s not actually in our city, but just outside the city limits. Removed enough to seem promising for a mid-winter hike alternative. Calling this a park seems like a stretch. It’s a field with a copse of conifers at one side. Now, it’s a very big field, and a pretty substantial copse. But there are basically no amenities – just a single bathroom and two picnic tables. Even the trails themselves were less maintained than they were use-hewn into…
Outings! – Bryan Johnston Park
Welcome! Welcome back to another issue(?) of Outings! This week we’re visiting a previously unknown (to us) park despite the less than ideal weather conditions. Bryan Johnston Park In a sprawling, upper-middle class neighborhood, where all the houses are just various shades of “neutral,” sits Bryan Johnston Park. The view from the on-street parking is of shining playground equipment, concrete picnic tables, and massive, looming conifer trees. It isn’t until you’re on foot, walking down that east-most paved path, that you start to get a sense of the sheer size of the park. The path turns to bark dust and flows down the hill as the field slopes south into a stand of Western Red Cedars. Then it hooks back west until you climb back up the hill to loop back to the street. Just a little exertion to keep you warm on a day like today. Back at the…
Outings! – Wendy Kroger Park
Welcome! Welcome back to Outings! – a blog series where I pick a different park/trail each week to experience and review. If you missed last week’s post, it was an actual hike(!) so you’ll definitely want to check it out. This week we’re back to exploring a new-to-us City Park. Let’s get to it! Wendy Kroger Park Tucked back on a side street of a side street, at the crux of a neighborhood and an apartment complex, sits Wendy Kroger City Park. Framed by homes on three sides, it’s west-most side abuts some sort of RV industrial business. Maybe a self-storage? I couldn’t quite tell. Point is, if you didn’t live next door and didn’t know to look for it, you may never know that this park exists. Evidence? Me! I’ve lived in this city for almost eleven years now, and have never once seen or heard of this park.…