Spring Valley State Park/Keizer Rapids Park 03-06-16

[bobcat]

My wife and I spent a few hours down the valley on a sun and showers day: these are two 21st century parks, part of the Willamette River Greenway, that protect verges of native forest on the river, one on the west bank and the other on the east bank.

Spring Valley State Park

We took the Wheatland Ferry to get here and did the three loops – total about four miles (You still can’t find any information about this park in the state parks index). The trails have been constructed by the Salem Area Trail Alliance and serve both mountain bikers and hikers although neither was in much evidence on this day. The first trail led around a field of ryegrass, but a spur broke off into native woods along the river under cottonwood, ash, alder and maple. Spring was leafing out vigorously, with waterleaf and nettle forming a carpet. We spotted a few examples of the rarely seen sessile trillium, with mottled leaves and in bud.

The second loop is short but rises up a knoll with a viewpoint over the river. You can also get a view of winding Spring Valley Creek from a high bluff. Here there are mossy arches of hazel and soggy sedge swamps to slosh through.

The last loop takes you up from the road crossing of Spring Valley Creek and makes a traverse through a mixed woodland of grand fir and Douglas-fir with some oak and madrone. The poison oak is just leafing out: the vines snake 40 feet or more up the big grand firs. The return on this loop is a traverse on the Generator Trail above King Creek and a short steep plunge via a one-way descent.

Keizer Rapids Park

In 1843, Thomas Dove Keizur and members of his family departed for Oregon as part of the Jesse Applegate wagon party. The Keizurs forged on ahead and looked to stake claims on the Willamette upon their arrival. The small rapids here marked a shallow spot in the river, and Thomas Keizur was able to haul his wagons across to the east bank. However, not finding suitable land, he returned to the west bank and staked a claim here as did his son, John B. Keizur. The claims that the Keizurs and others made here were measured as part of the first cadastral survey in the entire Oregon Territory. The land remained underused, however, due to the frequent flooding of the river, and it wasn’t until much later that the actual town of Keizer (The family spelled its name many different ways) was established.

The northern section of this park protects a native forest with some large maples, Douglas-firs and grand firs. This is also the venue for a disc gold course, so the network of trails here is rather confusing. We hiked through the woods, keeping close to the property line. Then we dropped to a large, open cobbled area known as the Beardsley Bar. Under a drenching shower, we passed a couple of ponds before reaching the shore to get a view of the rapids, which didn’t look like much with the high water. Unable to walk along the shore, we hiked past dense thickets of willow – the debris snagged in the very tops of these shrubs and the huge logs cast 100 yards form the current shoreline attest to the big floods that sometimes sweep over the bar.

We reached a boat-in campsite and then hiked a paved path through the woods to the more developed part of the park at Walsh’s Landing. Interpretive signs here explain some of the human and natural history of the area. We reentered the woodland at the park’s amphitheater and wound our way back to the car noting the early spring blooms: a few trilliums, some violets, toothwort galore, and the Indian plum already going off.

[RobinBaker]

A good guide for Willamette River parks and trails is the Willamette River Recreation Guide, still available online at:

http://library.state.or.us/repository/2 ... 201338513/

Click the "2007" link for the PDF version.

[bobcat]

@RobinBaker: Thanks for posting the link. It's a cool and comprehensive guide although it doesn't really show trails.

Here's the trail map for Spring Valley: http://www.salemtrails.org/spring-valley/

[adamschneider]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the onions. I play disc golf at Keizer Rapids frequently, and at this time of year, the wide-open gravelly area is so thick with wild onion shoots that you can't help but smell them. (But then I'm usually down there on sunny days, when the smell might be more noticeable.)

[bobcat]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the onions.

The onions are leafing out, but it was pouring rain when we were on the bar, so we were not seduced by an overwhelming redolence.