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McLoughlin Promenade Hike

From Oregon Hikers Field Guide

Willamette Falls from the McLoughlin Promenade, Oregon City (bobcat)
On the McLoughlin Promenade (bobcat)
Trail along the cliff at Old Canemah Park, Oregon City (bobcat)
Graves of Dr. John McLoughlin and his wife, McLoughlin House (bobcat)
Singer Creek Falls from the Grand Staircase, Oregon City (bobcat)
The walk above Willamette Falls at Oregon City (not a GPS track) (bobcat) Courtesy: Google Maps

Contents

Description

Founded on an 1829 land claim by Dr. John McLoughlin, Chief Factor at the Hudson Bay Company's Fort Vancouver, Oregon City was the first incorporated city to the west of the Rocky Mountains. The city sits on basalt terraces above Willamette Falls, one of the largest waterfalls (by volume) in North America. In 1846, Great Britain and the United States signed a treaty delineating the current boundary with Canada, and McLoughlin, the "Father of Oregon," moved to Oregon City. Soon thereafter, new settlers began arriving after traveling across the country via the Oregon Trail, and Oregon City became the capital of the Oregon Territory and then, in 1859, the newly created state of Oregon.

This walk takes you through some of this history. Begin at the 20th century Municipal Elevator, and then walk a higher terrace to get views of Willamette Falls. You'll continue upriver on the WPA's (Works Progress Administration) McLoughlin Promenade, stopping at the Museum of the Oregon Territory if you wish, to Old Canemah Park, near the site of the town of Canemah (now part of Oregon City). In the 19th century, the two settlements were connected by a portage path that served upriver and downriver traffic. Return the same way along the bluff, and visit Dr. McLoughlin's house and grave before descending the Grand Staircase to the lower terrace and your vehicle. Plans have been promulgated to officially connect the McLoughlin Promenade with Old Canemah Park and Metro's Canemah Bluff Nature Park, with side routes to the site of the Blue Heron Paper Company. The latter has been acquired by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, who have plans to develop walkways, a museum, and a tribal center there.

Walk up to the municipal elevator through a pedestrian tunnel under the Union Pacific railroad tracks. Historic holographic photographs document the construction of the current elevator in 1954 (the original elevator was built on the other side of the railroad tracks in 1915). The lift, one of only four such elevators in the world, rises 90 feet to a viewing rotunda. There is more historical information here as well as a welcome center, which is sometimes staffed by a knowledgeable volunteer. From the glass-fronted rotunda, you can view Willamette Falls, the site of the Blue Heron Paper Company Mill (closed in 2011 and currently being dismantled), on the Oregon City side, and the still-operating Willamette Falls Paper Company on the West Linn side.

Go right on the sidewalk (the McLoughlin Promenade) after exiting the elevator, and head up with a row of historic homes to your left. Below you, on the terrace above the river, is Oregon City's busy commercial area. The clifftop McLoughlin Promenade was constructed in the 1930s as a WPA project. There’s a rocky prominence at the highest point on the promenade with its own grassy sward and twisted oak. You'll get good views across Willamette Falls, the largest waterfall by volume in the Pacific Northwest, to the bluffs across the river at West Linn. Then make a gradual descent past the VFW Hall, and take a pedestrian overpass over McLoughlin Boulevard (Highway 99E). Descend the steps, and continue southwest to the Willamette Falls Scenic Viewpoint, which displays a bust of McLoughlin himself as well as other historical information. Then cross McLoughlin Boulevard to 2nd Street. If you want to visit the nearby Museum of the Oregon Territory ($8 admission; closed Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays) on Tumwater Drive, head up Second Street.

Otherwise, walk down McLoughlin Boulevard on its east side to a PGE substation with a driveway guarded by a gate. Go left here and then head along a narrow, pine- and cotoneaster shaded cobbled path squeezed against the substation fence. At the end of the fenceline, a footpath crosses a small field and then bears right up past an oak to the top of a rocky cliff in Old Canemah Park. When you reach the paved loop in the park, turn left and continue up very steeply under a Douglas-fir, grand fir and hazel canopy. Invasive ivy chokes the woodland. The trail drops to the small parking area, which is now closed to vehicles. Then you'll resume the loop under big-leaf maples to picnic tables and a fenced viewing area at the top of the basalt cliff. Willamette Falls thunders and the resulting spray rises with the paper company's emissions. Sword fern and licorice fern proliferate, and a pretty madrone serves as an accent. Keep going around the paved trail, and then take the footpath back to the power substation.

Walk back up the promenade to pass the municipal elevator, and turn left down Singer Hill Road, which follows the route of an old Indian trail up from the commercial area below. Bear left on the Grand Staircase to take the pedestrian underpass under Singer Hill Road and end up in the grounds of the McLoughlin House, a National Historic Site (guided tours only; closed in the winter season). It’s a boxy, Georgian-style building constructed in 1846. You can pay your respects at the graves of the good doctor and his wife in the grounds. Next to it is the Barclay House, also closed in winter, which has a gift shop. Walk back under the underpass, and take the Grand Staircase down. These wide stairs cross Singer Creek, which pours through a culvert and then tumbles in several concrete spillways. When you reach the tunnel at the municipal elevator, turn right to pass under the railroad tracks.


Fees, Regulations, etc.

  • Dogs on leash
  • Parks closed 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.
  • All-user restroom on Railroad Avenue at the elevator
  • Benches on McLoughlin Promenade; picnic tables in Old Canemah Park

Maps

Trip Reports

Related Discussions / Q&A

Guidebooks that cover this hike

  • Discovering Portland Parks by Owen Wozniak
  • Peaceful Places: Portland by Paul Gerald
  • Portland City Walks by Laura O. Foster
  • Oregon Townscape Walks by Tyler Burgess
  • PDXccentric by Scott Cook & Aimee Wade (Municipal elevator)
  • The Willamette River Field Guide by Travis Williams
  • Waterfall Lover's Guide: Pacific Northwest by Gregory A. Plumb

More Links


Page Contributors

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