Cardwell Hill-Fitton Green Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- 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
As early settlers populated the low valleys of the eastern foothills of the Coast Range, a need was recognized for a direct route from the Luckiamute River valley to the nearest "large" town, Corvallis. Benton County surveyors drew up a plan and constructed County Road No. 10, now known as the Cardwell Hill Road. The road was never more than a fairly rough, narrow track used by wagons and early automobiles, but it saw important use from 1856 to 1865, when Fort Hoskins, an outpost near the western boundary of the vast Siletz Indian Reservation, was staffed (See the Fort Hoskins Loop Hike). Still a county right-of-way, the section of the Cardwell Hill Road described here has been closed to vehicles for decades. More recently, a 308-acre section of logged-over mixed forest hillside and wildflower meadows was acquired by the Greenbelt Land Trust and Elsie Fitton Ross and Charles Ross: this parcel of land, the Fitton Green Natural Area, is now administered by Benton County Parks and is being restored to its native state. For hikers, these roads and trails are a rare opportunity to experience the foothill forest and savannah. An in and out option keeps you to the trail sections, but you can also end with a quiet loop through Corvallis' leafy western suburbs.
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.
Note that there is a plan to try and get an easement and build a trail from Fitton Green to cross the ridge and join the Mulkey Creek Trail, which connects to the Bald Hill trail system.
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- No fee
- Dogs on leash
- Interpretive signs
- Cardwell Hill Road is a right-of-way through private property: Stay on the road.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Maps of Benton County Natural Areas & Parks with Trails (Benton County Parks)
- 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
- Corvallis Trails by Margie C. Powell
More Links
- Fitton Green Natural Area (Benton County Parks)
- Fitton Green Cardwell Hill Road Trail (The Right Trail)
- Fitton Green Access Trail (The Right Trail)
- Allen Throop Loop Trail (The Right Trail)
- Fitton Green Access Trail (The Right Trail)
- Cardwell Hill Right of Way (Local Hikes)
- Fitton Green Natural Area (Local Hikes)
- Fitton Green Walk (Oregonhiker's Weblog)
- "Cardwell Hill Road once a vital tie" (Corvallis Gazette-Times)
- Pioneer Trails from Corvallis to the Coast (Benton County Museum)
- Fitton Green Open Space – Natural Area Management Plan (Benton County)
Page Contributors
- bobcat (creator)