Hiking?

bonnt

Anybody know of any cool places to go hiking? Portland or Corvallis area? If you do, could you please rate intensity and guesstimate length?

jacobhammond

Hey, former Portland resident here (lived there for two years, currently living in Medford, OR).

There are a number of good options around the area that are really close. If you're looking for a mostly flat walk with some mild trails, check out the Sandy River Delta off of 84 by Troutdale. Also known as 1000 Acres, it's an off-leash dog park that is also great for walking, mild hiking (good place to do some mild trail running) and biking. It's almost completely flat and since the place consists of various trails and gravel paths, you can create a route of any length. I've gone up to 10 miles here on bike before without repeating a trail and could have probably gone longer.

For a bit more of a view and a challenge, definitely check out the trails in the Multnomah Falls / Columbia Gorge area. Beautiful trails and lots of options for all skill levels. My wife and I were in decent shape with some extra weight (still have it, but working on that) and ended up hiking all of the trails on the Forest Service map over a summer.

Here's a very useful map -- would be a good idea to print it out:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5227099.pdf

The Multnomah Falls hike is one of the easiest due to its short length (about a mile from the bottom to the top), though it is steep. It's also very popular and can get really busy sometimes.

The Angel's Rest viewpoint hike (on the right side of the map, 2.3 miles up) is a really nice hike with decent elevation gain and a great view from the top. Once you get up there, you can head back down or make a loop out of it by continuing along to Wahkeena Springs and either keep going or take the trail back down to the bottom and walk back to your car.

All in all, I really recommend the entire Columbia Gorge area and I miss having it so close by (we lived in Troutdale so it was only a 15 minute drive).

Finally, check out trails.com for a pretty complete map of hikes in the area. I think the free membership will give you access to the guide PDFs that are very descriptive.

One more thing: Bagby Hot Springs, south of Clackamas, is definitely worth checking out. A short (1 mile) hike to a set of tubs filled by a nearby hot spring. It's on Forest Service land and not commercially operated so it's free. http://www.bagbyhotsprings.org

Jennloella

if you've ever used the meetup.com site, theres some groups on there that meet for hikes, and after they complete a hike, they rate the venue......

bonnt

wow thanks guys!

mikajoanow

If you're into Bike riding there is the Banks Vernonia trail.

jacobhammond

Also forgot to mention that the Eagle Creek trail is well worth it too. It's a little ways past Multnomah Falls on 84 and is an amazing hike, whether you turn around at Punchbowl Falls (about 4 miles roundtrip) or go all the way to Tunnel Falls (12 miles roundtrip), where you can literally walk behind a waterfall. Really awesome.