Powell Butte-Johnson Creek Loop Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Powell Butte Trailhead
- End point: Schweitzer Wetland Overlook
- Hike type: Loop
- Distance: 3.6 miles
- Elevation gain: 480 feet
- High point: 635 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: At the summit area
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Hike Description
Trails on the Boring volcano Powell Butte connect to the Springwater Corridor, just south of the park, using which you can make a loop back to the Powell Butte Trailhead on a neighborhood trail. This route takes you through a variety of habitats: You’ll get views of Cascade volcanoes from Powell Butte’s open, meadowy summit, descend through a lush Douglas-fir/cedar forest, and hike next to restored wetlands on Johnson Creek before getting more volcano views on the return.
From the parking area, take the paved trail up from the Visitor Center/restrooms. You’ll get a view east to Mount Hood, and pass a spur leading to benches that look towards Mount Saint Helens and Silver Star Mountain. Go left on the Mountain View Trail from Junction #5. Pass through a row of walnut trees to make a left at another junction to cross a gravel road at a trail junction. Make a sharp switchback right in a grove of alders, and walk above a concrete lined ditch as you get more views north to Mount Saint Helens. Young Douglas-firs shade the trail, and below you’ll see the expansive meadow that covers Reservoirs #1 and #2, the latter completed in 2014. Switchback to the junction with Summit Lane, and head left (east) past an old orchard to the “mountain finder” at the summit of Powell Butte. On a clear day, you should see Mount Saint Helens, Mount Rainier, Silver Star Mountain, and Mount Adams in Washington. Looking east, there’s a view to Mount Hood with Gresham Butte and Gabbert Hill in the foreground. Mount Scott and Clackamas Butte are the prominences to the south and southwest.
Return to the junction with Summit Lane, and go left. Stay left at the Douglas-fir Trail-Summit Lane-Meadowland Lane Junction, and then make a right at the Summit Lane-Hawthorn Trail Junction. Descend through the meadow on the Hawthorn Trail getting views of Clackamas Butte and Mount Scott]. Pass through a ponderosa pine plantation and enter Douglas-fir/big-leaf maple woods. Make three wide mountain biker loops, and traverse down the slope in a sword fern, Oregon grape, vine maple understory. Pass the junction with the Fernwood Trail, and turn left onto the Cedar Grove Trail. Keep right at the Cedar Grove-South Trail Junction, and hike out of the park through a grove of western red-cedar to the Springwater Corridor-Cedar Grove Trail Junction.
Turn left onto the Springwater Corridor, a 21-mile long redeveloped railroad grade that runs all the way to Boring. Johnson Creek runs to your right, often hidden by thickets of willow, red osier dogwood, and hawthorn. Powerlines stretch overhead, and you’ll begin to pass a few semi-rural properties serviced by Martins Street on the right. Cross a driveway, and continue above the Schweitzer Wetlands. A pullout has an interpretive sign which explains the restoration of wetlands. Construction of the original Springwater Division Rail Line in 1903 constricted the flood plain and was a factor in increased flooding. In addition, in the 1930s the Works Progress Administration (WPA) lined Johnson Creek with rock and straightened its course, ostensibly to reduce flooding and create pastureland but actually exacerbating the problem. In 2007, the City of Portland restored a meandering channel, created backwaters, and removed most of the WPA’s riprap. Look down at your feet to admire the mosaics embedded in the concrete.
Continue on just past MP 13.5 on the Springwater Corridor, and make a left onto Circle Avenue. First, however, you can check out Johnson Creek from the bridge just ahead and look down to admire some of the WPA’s remaining rock work. Walk up Circle Avenue past more meadow restoration along Johnson Creek. Keep straight through two lines of reflector bollards to reach the dead end at Powell Butte Parkway. Walk ten yards down the sidewalk on the left, and find the unsigned Johnson Creek Trail leading off to the left.
Hike between fences, and bear right after passing through a sawed off log. The trail crosses a neatly planted slope behind back yards. Negotiate a blackberry thicket and pass a swing set (!) before rising up a slope under sprawling maples. Get views east to nearby Jenne Butte and Mount Hood bookended by Gresham Butte and Gabbert Hill. Grant Butte is to the left of Gresham Butte, and Larch Mountain can be seen in the distance, with Silver Star Mountain to the north. All of these, except for Mount Hood and Silver Star are part of the Boring Lava Field like Powell Butte. Go straight across Anderegg Drive, and then cross Anderegg Loop, getting a good view to Mount Saint Helens.
Enter Powell Butte Nature Park, and go left on the Anderegg Trail, which parallels the park entrance road. The Anderegg Trail is named after Henry Anderegg, a Swiss immigrant who leased the land on this portion of Powell Butte from the City of Portland in 1908. There were up to 800 dairy cows on the property as well as Percheron horses. The Andereggs’ Meadowland dairy continued operations until 1990, when cattle were no longer run on the meadows here. Keep heading up the slope, and make your way to the lot where you parked your car.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Powell Butte Nature Park Trail Map (City of Portland)
- Johnson Creek (Willamette River) (Wikipedia)
- Johnson Creek Watershed (City of Portland)
- Johnson Creek Restoration Projects Effectiveness Monitoring (City of Portland)
- “Historic barn lost in 2-alarm blaze” (KATU2)
Regulations or restrictions, etc
- Dogs on leash
- Park open 5:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Vehicle access to the parking area:
- Fall: 7:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. (Labor Day until switch to Pacific Standard Time)
- Winter: 7:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. (until switch to Daylight Savings Time)
- Spring: 7:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. (until Memorial Day)
- Summer: 7:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. (Memorial Day to Labor Day)
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Powell Butte-Johnson Creek Loop Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Powell Butte-Johnson Creek Loop Hike
- Powell Butte Trail Changes
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- The majority of the guidebooks below have not been updated to include the new trails and do not include the Johnson Creek Trail:
- Urban Trails: Portland by Eli Boschetto
- Take a Walk: Portland by Brian Barker
- 100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington by William L. Sullivan
- Easy Portland Outdoors by Teresa Bergen
- Wild in the City: Exploring the Intertwine by Michael C. Houck & M.J. Cody (editors)
- Best Outdoor Adventures Near Portland, Oregon by Adam Sawyer
- Trail Running: Oregon by Lizann Dunegan
- Mountain Biking: Portland by Scott Rapp
- The Dog Lover's Companion to Oregon by Val Mallinson
- Best Hikes With Dogs: Oregon by Ellen Morris Bishop
- Canine Oregon by Lizann Dunegan
More Links
- Powell Butte Nature Park (Portland Parks & Recreation)
- Friends of Powell Butte Nature Park
- Powell Butte (Oregon Adventures)
- Powell Butte Nature Park (Portland Running Company)
- Powell Butte History (Portland Water Bureau)
- Springwater Corridor (Portland Parks & Recreation)
- Springwater Corridor (The Oregon Encyclopedia)
Contributors
- bobcat (creator)