Difference between revisions of "Cardwell Hill-Fitton Green Hike"
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
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=== Maps === | === Maps === | ||
{{Hikemaps|latitude=45.1400|longitude=-123.2929}} | {{Hikemaps|latitude=45.1400|longitude=-123.2929}} | ||
| + | * Sky Island Graphics: ''Corvallis Area Trails'' | ||
{{TripReports|{{PAGENAME}}}} | {{TripReports|{{PAGENAME}}}} | ||
Revision as of 14:29, 17 March 2015
- Start point: Cardwell Hill East Trailhead
- End Point: Fitton Green Viewpoint
- Trail Log:
- Hike Type: In and out or partial loop
- Distance: 7.8 miles
- Elevation gain: 1075 feet
- High Point: 1,135 feet
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: No
Contents |
Description
Walk up a narrow, graveled road bed sunk five to ten feet in the forested hillside. This section of the road bed ascends through a forest of Douglas-fir, Oregon white oak, Pacific madrone, grand fir and big-leaf maple. Calypso orchids and white fawn lilies bloom along the path in the spring. Note a pair of bullet-riddled autos rusting in the bushes on the left. Pass through an open area under power lines as you continue up. The road becomes muddier and then descends. Pass a strange, many-trunked Douglas-fir in a woodland carpeted by invasive false-brome grass. Lichen-draped maples extend mossy limbs, and in spring, hound's tongue, toothwort and fawn lilies bloom among the oak leaves and clusters of poison oak. After crossing a creek, the road curves to the left and passes the Cardwell Hill-Allen Throop Trail Junction. The trail becomes grassier as you continue downhill. Note a creek to the left as the trail becomes boggier in more open woods. At a road junction, a spur to the left crosses the creek, but the trail continues straight and curves right under a crumbling embankment above the Marys River. Pass through a cleared area and see a railroad bridge over the river. There’s a small ponderosa pine plantation to the right as you head up to a junction. Continue straight, paralleling the railroad to the left. Pass through a gate in an oak savannah, walk under powerlines and head up and over a knoll crowned by an oak copse. Descend past cows in a field to the left and a small, flower-dotted seep on the right side to the gate and information kiosk at the Cardwell Hill West Trailhead.
Return to the Cardwell Hill-Allen Throop Trail Junction, and head uphill on an old road bed. Soon descend past moss-covered maples to cross a creek, and then we rise to a road junction, where you keep to the left on a scrubby, logged-over hillside of Douglas-fir, oak, grand fir and maple. The road widens as you keep heading up, passing a young stand of red alder lining a ditch on the left. In spring, the maples are bloom in dazzling yellow sprays when the sun is out. Come to an open area with a view west to Marys Peak. At the junction for the Allen Throop Loop, we go right into an oak and Douglas-fir studded grassland. Keep walking to a junction where the trail heads up to the left. This spur becomes a graveled trail which heads into a small, toothwort-carpeted oak grove and then up to a ridge line. There’s a many-windowed mansion crowning the hill, obviously not part of the park. The trail switchbacks at a view of Bald Hill, Corvallis and points south down the valley. Strawberries proliferate along the trail. A bench at the Fitton Green Viewpoint offers views in a southerly direction. The trail continues up to an old road bed, where you turn left. Descend past a sign explaining the creation of the Fitton Green Natural Area. At the next junction, you need to make choice: go left and you can return down the Allen Throop Trail to Cardwell Hill Road the way you came up; go right and you can complete a loop using suburban streets.
Loop option: Go right for the Panorama Drive Trailhead. Pass a wooden fence above a slide and come to the gate by the parking area. Head up Panorama, a wide gravel road, and then descend through a leafy neighborhood. At a junction, NW Wynoochee Drive heads right towards Bald Hill. Continue straight as Panorama becomes Chaparral Drive. Drop to a sunny saddle, passing two junctions, and then pass Skipanon Drive going off to the right. The next junction, up a slight rise, is with paved Chinook Drive. Take a left here, passing Takena Drive in mixed woods with bright-barked madrones on the left. The hill becomes steeper as it descends to Cardwell Hill Road. Turn left here, where the road becomes gravel, and walk a quarter uphill to the Cardwell Hill East Trailhead.
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- No fee
- Dogs on leash
- Cardwell Hill Road is a right-of-way through private property: Stay on the road.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Sky Island Graphics: Corvallis Area Trails
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Cardwell Hill-Fitton Green Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Cardwell Hill-Fitton Green Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Hiking Oregon's Geology by Ellen Morris Bishop
- Oregon State Parks: A Complete Recreation Guide by Jan Bannan
More Links
- Erratic Rock State Natural Site (Oregon State Parks)
- Erratic Rock State Natural Site (Wikipedia)
- Erratic Rock State Natural Site – Sheridan, Oregon (From Santiam To Coast blog)
- Glacial Erratics: Rafted Rocks of the Ice Ages (Volcanolands)
- On the Trail of Erratic Rocks (Travel Oregon)
- Going to see a rock (Archy)
- Tour Stop J - The Bellevue Erratic (Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail)
Page Contributors
- bobcat (creator)