Hike #6: Lower Macleay Park

Trailhead: Lower Macleay Park at NW Upshur and what would be NW 30th Ave if it was numbered :)

Companions: Just Tumalo

Trails hiked on: Lower Macleay Trail

Miles hiked: 1.68 miles in 45 minutes

Unique miles hiked: 0.84 miles

Total challenge miles: 10.98 miles

Weather: Almost sunny!

Amenities: The Forest Park Conservancy headquarters is at the park trailhead and there is a lovely little open field under the Thurman Ave overpass. There is a flush toilet in the headquarters building, a water fountain, a picnic table as well as dog waste bags and a trash can. There is currently construction happening on the bridge so much of the park is closed off and the water fountain is turned off in the winter, but it will be a lovely park again in the summer! This trail head is also just blocks away from the busy business district of NW 23rd Ave.

Notes:

When I tell people I love Forest Park I get one of three responses: "Me too!", "Oh, that green stuff beyond downtown?" or "Ugh, I hate Forest Park." This last sentiment is usually followed with a "So many strollers and joggers and people with Starbucks cups in their hands. Ugh. Tourists!" And this trail is one of the ones they are talking about. It is popular and crowded. With people in fancy shoes and carrying their coffee. Babies. Yes. All of that. But ya know what? It's still one of my very favorite trails because it is easy to get to, easy to walk on and spectacularly beautiful. That is why it is one of my four seasonal hikes on this challenge.

This hike happened at the end of my terrible cold and just before I got hit with a killer sinus infection. It was one glorious afternoon wedged in between two weeks of being miserable and I'm so glad I spent it in this part of Forest Park. The trail starts in a park at the end of a residential street in NW Portland and the first quarter mile of it is a paved, low elevation gain all access trail. The paved part ends with a beautiful observation area along the creek but the trail itself continues up the creek canyon.

Every step of this trail is just magnificent. There is a bridge where the trail crosses the creek right by an amazing water fall, other places where you are walking along past the cascading creek and some of the easiest to get to old growth trees in Forest Park. After 8/10th of a mile the Lower Macleay Trail meets the Wildwood Trail at a classic Portland Landmark: The Witches House. I guess some people call it The Stone House, and the truth of the matter is that it was a WPA built "comfort station", but it sure looks like a witches house, so that's what I call it. Apparently, the plumbing was destroyed in the 1963 Columbus Day Storm and the park department has since added some stairs and railings to keep people from climbing on it in unsafe ways. There is a Forest Park Conservancy trail map at the Witches House, but it has been vandalized. Jerks.

Today I just walked up to the Witches House and back. Often, I continue straight along the Wildwood Trail to where it starts to climb steeply up the canyon towards Upper Macleay Trail (another place I absolutely love in Forest Park). Turning right onto the Wildwood is another option for a longer walk but it's not a terribly exciting part of the park. Since I was feeling sick I just walked back down and took a nap.

This is not a trail to try if you want to be all alone in the woods. I actually avoid this trail on summer weekends because it gets too crowded but on MLK day Monday I wasn't alone, but it also wasn't terrible. Dealing with other people is worth it, though, for the amazing beauty of the area. I highly recommend this trail for beginning hikers, or for showing off Forest Park to someone who's not much of a walker. Even with the tourists, it's worth it.