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Whipple Creek Loop Hike

From Oregon Hikers Field Guide

Hilborn's Stone Mill, Stone Mill Loop, Whipple Creek Park (bobcat)
Equestrian gathering on the Stone Mill Loop (bobcat)
Castle's Gazebo, Dynee's Trail (bobcat)
Regarding a large Douglas-fir, South Ridge Loop (bobcat)
The suggested route around Whipple Creek Park (bobcat) Courtesy: Caltopo
Nettles

Contents

Hike Description

Whipple Creek protects a 300-acre stand of native forest in the north Vancouver area just west of the Clark County Fairgrounds. There are over five miles of trails here, going up and down through shallow gullies and mixed woodland, and a good loop can be made around the perimeter. The remains of a stone mill and other relics of rural living are some of the highlights. Be prepared to step aside for horses: The park is a very popular riding destination because of its proximity to a boarding stable. Many trails are now graveled and are not as muddy as they used to be; other trails may be closed in the winter. Find your own way via the map (see link below), or follow these directions.

Walk south from the parking area on the North-South Trail passing Raspberry Lane, which comes in from the right. Once you enter the Douglas-fir woods, you'll pass North Ridge Way on the right and make two switchbacks down into a thicket-filled gully to cross a bridge. You'll pass the junction with Whipple Creek Way and drop to cross another footbridge over the salmonberry-choked north fork of Whipple Creek. Keep left at the next junction, and continue up a slope to make a left onto Everson's Cutoff Trail. This wide trail, a former road bed, takes you directly to the Stone Mill Loop, where you'll make a left. You'll find yourself hiking along one of Whipple Creek Farm's fences, where friendly equines might greet you. Stay left on the main trail, and drop into a draw before rising into a dense wood of young maples under a canopy of Douglas-firs. Wind around under hazel bowers before looping down to Hilborn's Stone Mill. Only the stone walls of this 1960 mill, a project by the landowner of the time to generate electricity for his property, remain.

At the next junction, keep right on the North-South Connector Trail to head up Springboard Hill. Take the short tie trail down to Dynee's Trail on your left, and then make a left to take the spur down through the blackberries to a stone weir and then a licorice fern- and moss-roofed gazebo on Whipple Creek's south fork. Return up Dynee's Trail to the South Ridge Loop, and go left. This trail undulates along under tall old-growth Douglas-firs. Notice a large hazel opposite an octopus-like maple. Keep left at the Burl Cutoff, which is lined with western red-cedars, and cross a field with a lone picnic table. After descending through ivy-carpeted woods, turn left at a junction to drop to a footbridge over the North Fork Whipple Creek. Turn left on North Ridge Way, and hike up the bluff to the junction with Custards' Chimney Loop, where you make a right.

You'll see Custards' Chimney on your left. This stone relic was part of a house constructed by Ken Custards in the 1930s. Stay right at an unsigned junction, and drop to a cedar bottomland, where you cross a boardwalk. Keep right at the next two junctions (these trails lead to private property), and then angle down the slope, eventually making five switchbacks to rejoin North Ridge Way at large rotting stump hosting a red huckleberry bush. Go left to cross a running creek, and then rise up the slope on a gravel tread. Take the short Rabbit Hole Loop on your left to wind around through a grove of red-cedar and join the Cedar Loop. Make another left, and then go left again on Raspberry Lane. This trail leads out to an expanse of ryegrass where there used to be a raspberry field. You'll make a left on the North-South Connector Trail to return to the trailhead on 21st Avenue.


Maps

Regulations or restrictions, etc

  • Park open 7 a.m. to dusk
  • Dogs on leash
  • Share trails with horses and cyclists

Trip Reports

Related Discussions / Q&A

Guidebooks that cover this hike

  • Urban Trails: Vancouver by Craig Romano
  • Afoot & Afield: Portland/Vancouver by Douglas Lorain

More Links


Contributors

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Oregon Hikers Field Guide is built as a collaborative effort by its user community. While we make every effort to fact-check, information found here should be considered anecdotal. You should cross-check against other references before planning a hike. Trail routing and conditions are subject to change. Please contact us if you notice errors on this page.

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