Guadalupe Loop Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
,_Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe_Trappist_Abbey.jpg)
- Start point: Abbey Trailhead
- End Point: Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine
- Trail Log:
- Hike Type: Loop
- Distance: 3.6 miles
- Elevation gain: 815 feet
- High Point: 1,065 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: No
|
Contents |
Description
There aren’t many places to walk off a tasting when you’re in Yamhill County wine country, but this serene haven north of Lafayette does offer you such a respite. The Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey sits on 1,300 acres of mixed woodland and oak savanna. The monks moved here from New Mexico in 1955. In order to support themselves, the 25 to 30 Trappist brothers who live here run a hardcover bookbindery, a bakery, a climate-controlled storage facility for local wineries, a guesthouse, and they also lease 400 acres of the property out to farmers. In 2010, the entire Abbey property became a conservation easement that protects this endangered Willamette Valley habitat. The monastery accepts overnight visitors on retreat but also day visitors who would like to walk their property. Note that when you’re in the building area or the around the ponds, please keep silent to respect the monks and those who are here on a meditative retreat.
Note that there are a confusing array of trails shown on the Abbey's map. Many of these are not maintained, and some signs are missing. While you can try to follow the directions below, it's best to simply wander up the slope as you see fit to reach the crest, where you'll get some views. Beware of poison oak!
First, go to the Abbey office to announce your presence and pick up a little sketch map of the walking options, all up the hill from the buildings. Behind the buildings, there are two ponds: take the path leading up the left side of the larger pond. The brushy Ste. Thérèse Trail follows Pond Creek up the slope. You will have to contend with some unruly blackberries as well as poison oak. Above the gully, you’ll enter an oak savanna, and reach the mowed tread of the St. Benedict Trail. There are numerous trails and junctions, but you always want to keep moving uphill, which in most, but not all cases, entails left turns.
Hike up in a shady mixed woodland of Douglas-fir, maple, oak, and Willamette Valley ponderosa. At a four-way junction, keep straight, and hike above a deeply shaded oak/Douglas-fir bowl before joining a wider pathway. Keep left and uphill to enter a dense Douglas-fir plantation. Go right at a signed junction, and then soon make a left on Zigzag Road to switchback up to the crest of the Red Hill on the Rainbow Loop. There are some open meadows here fronting the timber plantation: these offer views towards Carlton, the North Yamhill valley, and the Coast Range. A sign points out the short spur to the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, which also offers views to the Yamhill valley.
Continue along the crest, keeping left at the first junction, to descend via Slope Road in leafy woods. Keep descending through more junctions, generally keeping left until you find yourself hiking down the Trunk Road with coniferous forest to your right and a lovely oak savanna on your left. The long grass here blooms with both meadow and Nelson’s checkermallow, brodiaea, cluster lilies, centaury, and ox-eye daisy. At the junction with Rock Road, stay right to pass a quarry pond, now called St. Joseph’s Reservoir. At the next junction, you can go left along a farm track across a tributary of Millican Creek to reach the "Field of Dreams" and the monks' picnic area. Return to the junction to continue descending past the ponds near the monastery and reach the visitor parking area.
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Dogs on leash
- Check in at reception and get a free map
- Respect the contemplative nature of the site. Silence around the buildings and ponds please! No electronics, no loud noise.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey: Hiking Trails at Guadalupe Abbey (free brochure at reception)
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Guadalupe Loop Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Guadalupe Loop Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Peaceful Places: Portland by Paul Gerald
More Links
- Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey
- Trappists (Wikipedia)
- “Trappist Abbey – the perfect place to “unplug” (New Lafayette)
- “Hike to a Trappist shrine in McMinnville’s wine country” (Statesman Journal)
- BPA Footage: Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey - Carlton, OR (BonnevillePower)
- Trappist Abbey in Oregon Wine Country (Grant’s Getaways)
- Trappist Abbey (Oregon Adventures)
Page Contributors
- bobcat (creator)