Vineyard Mountain Loop Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
,_Nettleton_Road,_McDonald_S.F..jpg)
- Start point: Lewisburg Saddle Trailhead
- End point: Vineyard Mountain
- Hike type: Loop
- Distance: 3.6 miles
- Elevation gain: 585 feet
- High point: 1453 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: No
|
Contents |
Description
Completed in 2016, the multi-use Vineyard Mountain Trail makes use of short stretches of logging road as well as old user trails to reach the summit of Vineyard Mountain where, just north of the communication towers, you’ll find the chimney and floor of a cabin that had been constructed in the 1930s by Dean George Peavy of the OSU School of Forestry. The new trail has a gentle grade, and the best time for hikers here is the spring when wildflowers bloom along the trail and the forest is newly leafed out. The return route is a quick and gradual descent along Nettleton Road back to Lewisburg Saddle. The Vineyard Mountain Trail is connected with the trails in the Peavy Arboretum area via Dave's Trail.
Heading north from the Lewisburg Saddle Trailhead past a gate, there’s an immediate fork in the road. To the left is William A. Davies Road, while to the right is Harry J. Nettleton Road. Take the latter, and then go right on the Vineyard Mountain Trail. You’ll hike up in a big-leaf maple/Douglas-fir forest with a sword fern/ bracken understory. Traverse the east slope of the ridge, and pass through an opening with blackberry vines and young Douglas-firs. Reach an old logging road, and make a right. You’ll get a view through a few large Douglas-firs down to Crescent Valley and across to the Cascade crest. The road ends, and the trail resumes under leafy maples.
You’ll walk through glades of spring-blooming candy flower, bleeding heart, and woods violets. Make two switchbacks up, and pass a large Douglas-fir. Rise into a denser woodland, and switchback to a junction, where you need to make a right. Hike into a mixed forest that includes white oak and Pacific madrone. Drop off the ridge crest, and notice several bearing trees and a survey marker. The trail rises, and you get your first view of the communication towers at the summit of Vineyard Mountain. Reach the ridge crest, and head up through a carpet of false-brome grass. At a junction, go right to reach a road. Make a left and then a right to get to the fenced communication tower at the summit. To the left of this area, you’ll find the remains of the Dean George Peavy Cabin from the 1930s. There’s a view from here down into the Willamette Valley north of Corvallis, but be careful also of the poison oak.
A trail from the cabin loops back to the road. Go left and then right to reach the short connector to the Vineyard Mountain Trail. Make a right, and traverse the western slope of the ridge, getting glimpses down into the Soap Creek Valley. Reach Road 5010, and make a left and then another left to begin your return down Nettleton Road. (Above this intersection, the two gates mark the boundary with private property. Dave's Trail, opened in 2018, connects this point with the Bonzai Trail and Powder House Trail at the eastern end of the forest.)
You’ll gradually descend along a steep slope on gravel Nettleton Road. At first, you hike through somewhat scrappy woodland, but then you’ll be looking down a lush slope forest of old-growth Douglas-firs and big-leaf maples. The road levels at the junction with a spur trail on the ridge crest. At the next road, which also connects with the Vineyard Mountain Trail, there’s an interpretive sign about “working forests.” About 150 yards farther, pass another logging road, and enter a middle-aged forest before arriving at the trailhead.
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Trail may experience seasonal closures during the wet season
- Port-a-potties, information kiosk, interpretive signs
- Share trails with mountain bikers
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- McDonald Research Forest: Map and Visitor Guide (Oregon State University)
- OSU College of Forestry: McDonald Research Forest Map
- Sky Island Graphics: Corvallis Area Trails (Trail not shown)
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Vineyard Mountain Loop Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Vineyard Mountain Loop Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- none
More Links
- Vineyard Mountain Loop (All Trails)
- Trail Name: Vineyard Mountain Trail (Oregon State University)
- “OSU adds trail options: Grants, volunteers expand recreation on Mac-Dunn Forest” (Gazette-Times)
Page Contributors
- bobcat (creator)