Oregon Hikers

My wife and I were down in Independence for a quick overnight stay for Veteran's Day (Thanks B&B's for Vets!, and big thanks to the Independence House B&B for the free stay!) On our way out of town we stopped to explore the Peavy Arboretum near Corvallis.

We had never visited the McDonald-Dunn Research Forest before, and we were pleasantly surprised. The forest is over 11,000 acres and quite diverse. The Forest has four distinct management themes; even-aged, two-storied, uneven-aged, as well as reserved old-growth stands. We limited our visit to just the Arboretum on this day and we couldn't have asked for better fall hiking weather. Here are some pics from the Forest Discovery Trail.

The last bit of road before the trail.


The start of the official trail.














Finally, my wife demonstrating why they are called "Bigleaf" maples

Wow... does that ever bring back memories, Adam! I was an undergraduate at OSU in the early 80s, and spent a fair amount of time exploring MacDonald-Dunn, plus some of the other buttes in the area (some of which are privately owned). There's a surprising amount of wildlife in there, too -- we used to do nighttime owl surveys along a couple of the trails. Thanks for posting!

Tom

Wow, very cool alex. It looks like the two of you really did hit it at just the right time for a fall trip. The colors look amazing with the maple leaves everywhere. thanks for posting

Nice to highlight this area. I try to get down there at least once a year, winter or early spring. It's fun to figure out hikes using the network of roads and trails in the McDonald State Forest.

John

I've never hiked there, but I'm going to have to put this on my to-do list for next fall. Looks absolutely lovely!

What beautiful pictures. I am going to put this on my to-do list.

Hi Adam,

I'm glad that you made it to the McDonald Forest!

The Section 36 / Powderhouse loop is one of my favorites. It is beautiful any time of year, but particularly in fall (as you noted) and spring (plenty of wildflowers). My favorite spot along the trail is the "tentacle tree". I also took a photo last Sunday of the fall colors at Cronemiller Lake.