Mulkey Ridge-Fitton Green Loop Hike

Barn on Bald Hill Farm from the Oak Creek Trail (bobcat)

Great camas (Camassia leichtlinii), Oak Creek Trail (bobcat)

On the Fitton Green Connector Trail, Mulkey Creek (bobcat)

Feathery solomon-plume (Maianthemum racemosum), Mulkey Ridge Trail (bobcat)

View to Marys Peak, Fitton Green (bobcat)

The loop to Fitton Green using the Mulkey Ridge Trail (Trails in yellow; road walks in orange (not a GPS track) (bobcat) Courtesy: Caltopo

Start point: Oak Creek Trailhead (Bald Hill)
End Point: Fitton Green Viewpoint
Hike Type: Lollipop loop
Distance: 6.9 miles
Elevation gain: 1155 feet
High Point: 1,125 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Seasons: All year
Family Friendly: Yes, for older kids
Backpackable: No
Crowded: Yes, on sunny weekends

Poison-Oak

In September 2014, the Greenbelt Land Trust dedicated a 1 ½ mile connector trail between Mulkey Ridge and Fitton Green, thus opening up a loop option between the trails on Bald Hill (See the Bald Hill Loop Hike) and the system at Fitton Green/Cardwell Hill (See the Cardwell Hill-Fitton Green Hike). This is part of the Land Trust’s plan to conserve green spaces in the area and establish a greater trail network. The hike begins at the pastureland of Bald Hill Farm, now also managed by the Land Trust, and then heads up Mulkey Creek before switchbacking up to a ridge of oak/Douglas-fir forest. The trail then takes you to the grassy bald of Fitton Green, where you can get views to the central Cascades and nearby Marys Peak. To make a loop you’ll return to Mulkey Creek via gravel rural roads that see little traffic.

Cross the footbridge over aptly-named Oak Creek, and at the information kiosk, go right at the junction. At a footbridge over a tributary, you’ll enter the Bald Hill Farm Conservancy Area, which is managed by the Greenbelt Land Trust. The wide gravel trail parallels the oak-shaded creek, while to your left an electric fence separates the trail from a pasture. At a junction before a green gate, turn left to keep on the trail, which here parallels a gravel road and runs between two fences. There are nesting boxes on some of the fence posts. Up to the right, you’ll see a farmhouse and a scattering of outbuildings, including a picturesque barn. To your left, the outline of Bald Hill appears across the wide pastures that slope gently down to Mulkey Creek. Come to the Mulkey Ridge-County Connector Trail Junction, the latter trail leading off to the left in the direction of Bald Hill.

Keep straight here, and head up a low slope. Before entering a copse of oaks, look back across the Willamette Valley to the Cascades, where on a clear day, you’ll see the snowy caps of the Three Sisters. The trail crosses a farm road and reaches the gravel road you have been walking next to. Go left on the road: After passing a house, the road becomes a trail at a sign for the Fitton Green Natural Area. Enter a mixed woodland of oak, Douglas-fir, and big-leaf maple with Mulkey Creek flowing down to your left. Oregon flag irises bloom trailside here in the spring. Come to the Mulkey Ridge-Fitton Green Connector Trail Junction, and make a left.

Hike down to cross Mulkey Creek on a footbridge; then switchback up three times and make an ascending traverse in leafy woods of maple, oak, and Douglas-fir. Large stumps are the forlorn remains of the big trees that once flourished here. Deer trails criss-cross the forest on these slopes. Reach the ridge crest and a junction: there’s a great view to Bald Hill and the Coast Range from here. A spur leads left to a memorial bench and a vista over the pastures below. The main trail continues up the crest in an oak woodland where the Douglas-firs have been culled to give the oaks more space to grow. Switchback twice up a slope; notice a handful of older madrones in the forest here as well as some larger Douglas-firs. The understory has been cleared with the thinning of the Douglas-firs and there are plantings of saplings. Come to a junction: This is the beginning of a short loop that served as the end of the trail a few years ago. You can go left or right to come to another junction.

Keep going along the ridge from this junction on a trail signed for Fitton Green. The path descends along the ridge through a carpet of sword fern and false-brome grass. Pass over the head of a small gully, and cross several trickling brooks. After the trail joins an old logging road, the path undulates through oak/Douglas-fir/grand fir forest and crosses a footbridge over a babbling creek. Rise to reach a gravel track which also carries the trail. Pass a new bench with a view to Marys Peak. The gravel becomes dirt as you continue up above meadows and oak woods until you reach the Mulkey Ridge-Allen Throop Trail Junction where this grassy track meets another.

Make a sharp right, and continue up the slope through the grassy sward of Fitton Green. The trail passes through a copse of Douglas-fir and oak before turning up the slope and switchbacking in an open meadow. Come to a bench at the Fitton Green Viewpoint near a lone Douglas-fir on the shoulder of the hill. There are splendid views from here to Marys Peak and, looking past the tree to the Cascades, you should be able to make out the Three Sisters on a clear day. A pair of red-tailed hawks nests near here, so you may observe them patrolling the meadows. The trail continues from the viewpoint to a road bed. Make a hard left here below a house with a panoramic view, and gradually descend past a magnificent seven-trunked oak and a memorial plaque to Allen Throop, local geologist, educator, and trails advocate.

Descend to another road, and go right for Panorama Drive. Pass a pole fence above an old slide before reaching the kiosk at the Panorama Drive Trailhead. Continue walking up gravel Panorama Drive. Pass a private driveway and a couple of gated homes before arriving at the top of the slope. The road drops from here past some newer houses as well as Douglas-fir/oak woodland. Walk by Fir Ridge Place, and reach the junction with Wynoochee Drive. Here keep right at the trail sign to continue your descent, also on gravel. Pass Skipanon Drive and Wapato Place to find Mulkey Creek flowing to your left. The road soon crosses the creek, and you’ll come to a trail sign for Bald Hill. Take this trail as it drops below the road, and cross a footbridge in oak woods. A fence runs to your left before you reach the Greenbelt Land Trust boundary. Soon arrive at the Mulkey Ridge-Fitton Green Connector Trail Junction, and keep straight to return to the trailhead.

Fees, Regulations, etc.

Open 6:30 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Dogs on leash
Keep to trails in easement areas
No horses or bikes between Mulkey Creek and Fitton Green, October 31st to April 15th

Guidebooks that cover this hike

100 Hikes: Oregon Coast by William L. Sullivan

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bobcat (creator)

Mulkey Ridge-Fitton Green Loop Hike

Mulkey Ridge-Fitton Green Loop Hike

From Oregon Hikers Field Guide

Contents

Description

Fees, Regulations, etc.

Maps

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