Mary S. Young Park Loop Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Mary S. Young Trailhead
- End Point: Cedar Island
- Trail Log:
- Hike Type: Loop
- Distance: 3.7 miles
- Elevation gain: 300 feet
- High Point: 220 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: Yes
Contents |
Description
The loop described takes you around the periphery of a 133-acre urban state park, Mary S. Young State Recreation Area, with a spur to West Linn's Cedar Island Park, reached by a floating pedestrian bridge from spring into fall. The mixed forest around the park periphery and the on the river bench supports a vibrant bird life and the hike offers a stroll along a Willamette River shoreline of volcanic rock as well as cobbled and sandy beaches.
Loop route (see map link below): Turkey Creek Trail - Riverside Loop (anticlockwise) - Cedar Island - return to parking via Riverside Trail - Heron Creek Loop
At the parking area, study the map. From here, head into woods of Douglas-fir, big-leaf maple and western hemlock. Cross the Trillium Trail and go right on the Turkey Creek Trail at a yellow fire hydrant into grand fir, big-leaf maple, sword fern and vine maple forest. At a junction, keep left under cedar trees. Ivy is everywhere. The trail descends to Turkey Creek down wooden steps and then a boardwalk. Blackberries, horsetails and skunk-cabbage grow in the gully. A rare urban population of mountain beaver lives on these slopes: keep your eyes sharp. Join the paved Riverside Loop and go left, then right around a bend and recross Turkey Creek. The trail heads below a bench in woods that have been cleared of ivy. Cross Mary S. Young Creek in a blackberry thicket and leave the trail as it curves back. Go down to the Willamette River under willows, osier dogwood and cottonwoods. The trail reaches a beach and backwater where the creek empties into the river. Shore flowers bloom here from summer into fall. Go right along the shore, passing over a rocky promontory and picking up a footpath which parallels the Riverside Loop. After the third small beach, a footbridge leads to Cedar Island.
Cross the bridge and walk along the cobbled shore of the island. Young cottonwoods form the principle growth in the middle of the island. Watch for beaver (the water-loving kind) here in the early morning or evening. Large homes line the Milwaukie bank. Closer to the tip of the island, the beach becomes sandier. Then head along the shore of the island’s lagoon, which was excavated for gravel in the past. Apparently there is great bass fishing here. The surface becomes muddier and the trail rises above the steep bank and a fishing platform. There are more fishing platforms and, at the end of the lagoon, you can head into the center of the island through willows, ash, and cottonwoods.
On the mainland again, walk inland under willows from the small beach. Head up the low bluff into the woods, keeping right on the Beaver Trail. This leads around a pump station fence and reaches the Nixon Avenue entrance to the state park. Go left back into the park, and then right when you hit the paved Riverside Loop Trail. Heading uphill past large cherry laurel bushes, take a left for a viewpoint trail which loops around a small field. There’a a bench here under Douglas-firs with a view past tall cottonwoods to the river. Back on the Riverside Loop, keep rising and take a paved trail left past the picnic area. Pass some restrooms and a covered picnic area, then the parking lot on the right, to join the bark chip Heron Creek Loop.
Walk along this trail, with playing fields to the right and homes to the left. Enter the woods, crossing Deer Foot Creek, and come to the junction with the Fern Trail. Keep left here and then veer to the right. Pass Carol’s Stop, a memorial bench, among a diverse woodland of grand fir, Douglas-fir, hemlock, vine maple, big-leaf maple, Oregon ash, western red-cedar, sword fern and ivy. Pass another junction with the Fern Trail, then cross the Trillium Trail. Cross the entrance road and continue on the Heron Creek Loop. At the junction with the Railroad Trail, keep left and head back into woods. A gully runs to the right. Switchback down and cross the gully; then switchback up then descend to cross another gully under oak, ash, Douglas-fir, cedar, grand fir and big-leaf maple. Ivy makes a thick ground cover here, but it has been pulled from the trees. Pass a big Douglas-fir and come to the junction with the Turkey Creek Trail, where you go left. Then go right at the yellow fire hydrant and head back to parking.
Historical note: Mary Hoadly Scarborough Young (b. 1891) was a wealthy resident of Lake Oswego, active in the development of parks and gardens, who purchased the property as a gift to her husband. The latter refused the gift, supposedly objecting to its extravagance. Mary left the mostly undeveloped property to the State of Oregon, rather than Lake Oswego, in her will, the story being that she objected to a speeding ticket issued by a Lake Oswego police officer. The stipulation was that the acreage be kept as near as possible to a natural state. The park opened in 1973 and is operated by the West Linn Parks and Recreation Department.
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Dogs on leash; there is a dedicated off-leash area
- Floating bridge to Cedar Island open spring into fall
- Playing fields are busy on Saturdays (and parking lots can be full then)
Maps
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Mary S. Young Park Loop Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Mary S. Young Park Loop Hike
- First blooms of the year
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Wild in the City: Exploring the Intertwine edited by Michael C. Houck and M.J. Cody
- Nature Walks In and Around Portland by Karen & Terry Whitehill
- The Willamette River Field Guide by Travis Williams
- Oregon State Parks: A Complete Recreation Guide by Jan Bannan
- Canine Oregon by Lizann Dunegan
- The Dog Lover's Companion to Oregon by Val Mallinson
More Links
- Mary S. Young State Recreation Area (Oregon State Parks)
- Mary S. Young Park (West Linn Parks and Recreation)
- Cedar Island (West Linn Parks and Recreation)
- Mary S. Young State Park (willamettestrategies)
- "Poor, Little Rich Girl" (History Snippets)
Page Contributors
- bobcat (creator)