Spring Valley State Park, Oregon -4/16/2016

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CampinCarl
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Spring Valley State Park, Oregon -4/16/2016

Post by CampinCarl » April 18th, 2016, 4:27 pm

Given the name of the park, we had an appropriately spring-like outing on this first in a series of “family-oriented” dawdler hikes with the Chemeketans. For our first loop, we followed the perimeter trail to the TCC trail through the forest, then back out the sunny side of the perimeter “trail” to our snack break. Our efforts along the west edge of the perimeter trail led us through a grassy field where the trail was not so well-defined, resulting in soaked shoes and socks. After a few minutes to dry out and have a snack back at the car, we headed to the south and hiked the Upper Spring Valley Trail, where we enjoyed a profusion of camas, Oregon iris, and what I believe to have been monkeyflower. A wonderful trip to a quiet place, and just the right length for the kids. Total hike mileage was about 2.3 miles, very minimal EG.
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Last edited by CampinCarl on April 18th, 2016, 4:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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CampinCarl
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Re: Spring Valley State Park, Oregon

Post by CampinCarl » April 18th, 2016, 4:28 pm

A few more wildflowers from the day :)
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sprengers4jc
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Re: Spring Valley State Park, Oregon -4/16/2016

Post by sprengers4jc » April 19th, 2016, 7:02 am

Thanks, Carl! We will add this one to our list of easy but pretty hikes with our dog :)
'We travel not to escape life but for life to not escape us.'
-Unknown

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kelkev
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Re: Spring Valley State Park, Oregon -4/16/2016

Post by kelkev » April 19th, 2016, 4:12 pm

Good stuff, Carl. Spending quality time out in the woods with family is as good as it gets.
"Going to the mountains is going home."
— John Muir

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BigBear
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Re: Spring Valley State Park, Oregon -4/16/2016

Post by BigBear » April 20th, 2016, 9:11 am

Internet is not very useful in finding this park, it keeps coming up in Nevada. However, I was able to find it between West Salem and Dayton. The trail map conveniently cuts off the "mileage to Salem" to make you guess how far north it is.

Looks like an interesting winter hike option.

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kaltbluter
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Re: Spring Valley State Park, Oregon -4/16/2016

Post by kaltbluter » April 20th, 2016, 9:51 am

BigBear wrote:The trail map conveniently cuts off the "mileage to Salem" to make you guess how far north it is.
I have a map of that area here. It's about 10 miles North of Salem. Right across the river from the Willamette Mission Park.

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CampinCarl
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Re: Spring Valley State Park, Oregon -4/16/2016

Post by CampinCarl » April 20th, 2016, 11:00 am

Sorry about that, yeah not very easy to find.

Here is a link from the Salem Area Trail Alliance, who worked with OPRD to build the trail system. This map is also posted on the kiosk at the parking area:

http://www.salemtrails.org/spring-valley/

It is also in the Willamette River Water Trail as Spring Valley Access.

http://willamettewatertrail.org/map/spr ... ey-access/


It's a nice little park if you're in the area or live close like I do. You can also mountain bike here.

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