Skinner Butte Loop Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
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- Start point: Pearl Street Trailhead
- End Point: Owen Rose Garden
- Hike Type: Loop
- Distance: 3.1 miles
- Elevation gain: 270 feet
- High Point: 682 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: Yes
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Contents |
Description
In 1846, Eugene Skinner arrived in Oregon and staked a claim on the south bank of the Willamette River that included a forested basalt prominence. His wife and daughter arrived via the Applegate Trail the next year. Skinner built a log cabin and operated a trading post and ferry. In 1848, Skinner and Judge Risdon platted a new town, standing at the top of the basalt prominence to mark the north-south meridian from it to Spencer Butte. Skinner’s wife Mary called the new settlement ‘Eugene City,’ and the name has stuck. The basalt prominence became Skinner’s Butte, now Skinner Butte, but still known to many locals by the former name. Most of the area is now a city park where you can stand in the same place as Skinner and Risdon looking over downtown Eugene, see a replica of the Skinner Cabin, gawk at a Gothic mansion, stroll the south shore of the Willamette River, and visit a charming rose garden. There is a maze of trails on the north side of Skinner Butte. These directions will take you over the top from downtown Eugene to the Willamette River.
Walk up Pearl Street, and go left on 3rd Avenue above the 18 story Ya-Po-Ah Terrace Retirement Apartments. Ya-Po-Ah’s construction in 1968 raised a public protest that resulted in laws restricting the height of buildings within the city. Thus, the apartment complex remains the tallest building in Eugene 50 years later! There’s a resident’s garden just to the west of the property, and visitors to the area should keep an eye open for the flock of wild turkeys that sometimes pop out of the Skinner Butte woods and forage on the lawns. Ya-Po-Ah was the Kalapuyan name for Skinner Butte and means “very high place.”
Stay left to arrive at the Shelton McMurphey Johnson House, a Gothic mansion visible from downtown Eugene also known as the “Castle on the Hill.” The house is part of Skinner Butte Park and is open to the public for an admission fee six days a week. The residence is named after the three familes that owned it since its construction in 1888. Walk around the house, and continue west to the stepped trail that leads up a wooded slope under Douglas-firs and big-leaf maples. Reach 3rd Avenue again, and walk up to your left to the junction with the Skinner Butte Loop Road. Pick up the weathered stone steps that lead up a grassy slope, and keep right for the Big O. You can look back to see Spencer Butte dominating Eugene’s southern hills. The Big O soon appears below you. This emblem of the University of Oregon first appeared in 1908 and is now in its fifth iteration. It has been the target of visiting athletic teams over the decades and has experienced gaudy new coats of paint, kidnappings, and even dynamitings. Local lore (Who’s counting?) claims that there are over 200 coats of paint on the current version: In addition to rivals’ vandalism, repainting the O has become a homecoming tradition. Look down beside the trail, and you’ll see a plaque memorializing the “Illuminated Timber Crosses 1936 – 1964.” During these years several wooden Christian crosses, lit on special occasions, were placed on Skinner Butte by private citizens. They were replaced in 1964 by a tall concrete cross, but its religious significance resulted in lawsuits and its eventual removal to Eugene Bible College in 1997. A tall flagpole that flies a United States flag has taken its place. To the east of the parking area on top of Skinner Butte is the covered Skinner Butte Reservoir, and views extend over the downtown area to Spencer Butte. Look for the bald eagle nest in a Douglas-fir as well!
Walk to your left past a kiosk, and take up the paved trail. From a junction, a spur trail leads down in shady forest to the Big E, constructed in 1915 to emulate the Big O but celebrating Eugene High School, the city’s only high school at that time. Now with five high schools, and with none retaining that name, the Big E is almost forgotten and unseen under a canopy of maples. Trails leading on from here end up in transient camps, so return to the paved path, and make a left. Look for a stone marker on the right side of the path that commemorates the “Million Gallon Reservoir 1906-1973.” This reservoir was once below the summit meadow you see to your right. Reach a viewpoint looking west and then a trail junction. A new trail of many steps leads down to the The Columns, a popular climbing wall in a former quarry on the east side of Skinner Butte. Keep right to head down under a canopy of oak, maple, and Douglas-fir through thickets of ocean spray, hazel, and snowberry.
After a switchback, go right at a junction, and switchback again under tall Douglas-firs. In early summer, look for tiger lilies blooming. At the next junction, go right again, and then keep left at another junction for River Play. Switchback, and come to Cheshire Avenue. Cross the street to the big parking area for Skinner Butte Park.
Head left along a sidewalk. You can see the big River Play children’s area to your right. At the Skinner Cabin, a replica of the original cabin which stood on the west side of Skinner Butte, you can read about the Applegate Trail and Eugene Skinner’s land claim. Take a paved trail that leads past River Play and restrooms to the Willamette River, where you can go left on the Riverbank Path. Pass under the I-105 Bridge, and turn left to enter the Owen Rose Garden.
This public garden, obviously, is best visited in spring and summer. Over 400 varieties of rose will be in bloom during these seasons, and circular paths take you through the garden. When you’ve enjoyed the visual feast, albeit with the roar of I-205 traffic above, return to the Riverbank Path, and walk east back under the freeway.
Then make a right on a path that heads south to become a sidewalk along Washington Street. Turn left on 1st Avenue, and walk four blocks on Lincoln Street. You can see The Columns ahead of you; on a sunny day, there will be sport climbers here. At Lincoln Street, look for the stone marker that marks the site of Eugene Skinner’s original cabin. Then walk south on Lincoln two blocks to Shelton McMurphey Boulevard. Go left along this wide street to pass below the Shelton McMurphey Johnson House and the Ya-Po-Ah Terrace to reach Pearl Street and your car.
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Restrooms, picnic tables, play area
- Dogs on leash
- Parks open 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
- Interpretive signs
- Shelton McMurphey Johnson House open Tuesday-Friday 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.; Weekends 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. $6 admission
Maps
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Skinner Butte Loop Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Skinner Butte Loop Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Urban Hikes Oregon by Adam Sawyer
- Best Easy Day Hikes: Salem and Eugene by Adam Sawyer
- Oregon Townscape Walks by Tyler Burgess
More Links
- Skinner Butte Park (Eugene Parks)
- Skinner Butte (Wikipedia)
- Skinner’s Butte History (Skinner’s Butte)
- “Founder’s wife suggests unique name for city of Eugene” (Oregon Live)
- Eugene Skinner (Wikipedia)
- Skinner’s Butte Reservoirs (Skinner’s Butte)
- Big O&E (Skinner’s Butte)
- Skinner’s Butte Log Cabin (Skinner’s Butte)
- Skinner Butte Park (Outdoor Project)
- Skinner Butte – Hiking, Views of Eugene (Eugene Outdoors)
- Skinner’s Butte (Summit Post)
- “New hiking trail unveiled at Skinner Butte” (KMTR)
- Skinner Butte Park Draft Master Plan (Eugene Parks)
- Shelton McMurphey Johnson House
- Shelton McMurphey Johnson House (Eugene Parks)
- Owen Rose Garden (Eugene Parks)
Page Contributors
- bobcat (creator)