Fort Hoskins Loop Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Fort Hoskins Trailhead
- End point: Dunn Ridge Meadow
- Trail Log:
- Hike Type: Double loop
- Distance: 1.8 miles round trip
- Elevation gain: 430 feet
- High Point: 790 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable:No
- Crowded: No
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Hike Description
This historic park encompasses the site of Fort Hoskins, one of four garrisons intended to police the eastern edge of the vast Siletz Indian Reservation, established in 1855. The reservation extended from Cape Lookout down to Winchester Bay (Reedsport). Members from all the Oregon tribes west of the Cascades were shipped or marched there, but survival was extremely difficult. With no direct road access from the Willamette Valley, women were marched over the Coast Range to pick up 100 lb. bags of flour to carry back. Four guard stations, Hopkins, Fort Yamhill (now an Oregon state park), the Siletz Blockhouse, and Fort Umpqua, were established to police Indian traffic and track down pass violators. The forts were abandoned after the Civil War and the Siletz Reservation was taken apart piece by piece to open up more coastal land to settlers. Two loops, one through a high meadow and a second loop with interpretive signs about the history of the area, take you through this park.
A 1.2 mile trail leads up through secondary Douglas-fir forest and then switchbacks up and across a hillside meadow with views across the Luckiamute valley. There have been attempts to reseed the area with native wildflowers, most notably Sidalcea and Eriophyllum (Oregon sunshine). From the restroom, head up a graveled path into shady Douglas-fir woods. At a junction, go left into dark woods. Switchback across a small meadow rimmed by oak, hazel and Douglas-fir. Reenter the forest and switchback once into a clearing blooming with foxglove in the summer. The trail switchbacks three more times going in and out of the meadow. The path rises and switchbacks twice more before dropping across the top of a large meadow at the south end of Dunn Ridge. The trail heads down the edge of the ridge with the meadow on the right. Recross the meadow and switchback into the woods. There are three more switchbacks across the meadow and then you reenter the Douglas-fir woods and complete the loop.
For the interpretive loop, walk from the restrooms above an orchard. The interpretive trail heads down the road from the covered picnic area. At a junction on the road, go right on a wide gravel path. There’s a view of the 1869 Frantz-Dunn House. Pass the site of the Fort Hoskins parade ground and more interpretive signs. At a junction, an old road bed leads down under oaks to the Frantz-Dunn House. Back at the main trail, head up past more signs. The trail rises past the foundation of the old Hoskins School (1915). Reach the bus turnaround and take a paved path back through a copse of Douglas-firs toward the restrooms.
Note: In October 2012, the Commander's House, built by General Phillip Sheridan, was moved and reassembled at Fort Hoskins after spending 150 years in Pedee, Oregon.
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Dogs on leash
- Park hours: Dawn to dusk
- Restrooms, picnic area, interpretive signs
Maps
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Fort Hoskins Loop Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Fort Hoskins Loop Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Oregon Favorites: Trails and Tales by William L. Sullivan
- Corvallis Trails by Margie C.Powell
- Wild in the Willamette edited by Lorraine Anderson with Abby Phillips Metzger
More Links
- Fort Hoskins Historical Park (Benton County)
- Fort Hoskins Park (EveryTrail)
- Fort Hoskins (Wikipedia)
- History of Fort Hoskins (Fort Hoskins)
- Fort Hoskins (FortWiki)
- "Portrait of the Past" (Gazette-Times)
- Commander's House going home to historic Oregon fort (KVAL.com)
Contributors
- bobcat (creator)