Gee Creek in Abrams Park (bobcat)

Shed on 23rd Place, Gee Creek Ridge (bobcat)

Red flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum), Abrams Park (bobcat)

The loop above Gee Creek (not a GPS track) (bobcat) Courtesy: Google Maps

• Start point: 23rd Place Trailhead
• End point: Abrams Park
• Trail Log:
• Hike Type: Loop
• Distance: 1.8 miles
• Elevation gain: 185 feet
• High Point: 215 feet
• Difficulty: Easy
• Seasons: All year
• Family Friendly: Yes
• Backpackable: No
• Crowded: No

Hike Description

This short neighborhood loop in the fast-growing Clark County community of Ridgefield allows you explore a wooded ridge east of the town center. The route loops down through Abrams Park and follows, for a short distance, little Gee Creek, which has seen a restoration that brought back a more natural ecosystem. This loop can be done in conjunction with some of the short hikes on the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge: the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge Hike, the Carty Lake Hike, or the Kiwa Trail Loop Hike.

Walk back from the parking pullout and take a paved road up the hillside above Reiman Road. This used to be N. 23rd Place, but is now a greenway. There’s a creek running down to the right that is wooded with alders. You'll see a wooden shed on the left before the path emerges at N. 3rd Way. Keep straight up on a sidewalk past 4th Way. Before you reach 5th Way, 23rd Place is crossed by a paved trail marked by a No Motor Vehicles sign. Going right takes you to a play area, so make a left and walk along between fences on the paved path. There’s a housing development on the right and small pastures and holdings on the left. Pass a fenced wetland on the left and enter a blackberry-choked gully. The trail undulates a little before you pass a junction with a pipeline corridor. Now head into a forested gully. The woods on the left are Douglas-fir, cedar, grand fir, and big-leaf maple. The trail becomes gravel along a dense line of cedars. There’s a T-junction at a housing development. Drop down to the left on a foot trail under cedars, maples, and grand fir. Pass under mature Douglas-firs and switchback four times in a woodland blooming with toothwort, violet, and trillium in the early spring. The trail emerges at the ball fields of Abrams Park.

Walk straight to where the road access to Abrams Park, the home of Ridgefield Little League, crosses Gee Creek. Make a left before the road bridge. There’s a kiosk next to the trail that offers information on the Gee Creek Restoration Trail. Walk the gravel travel under creekside alders, and then cross a footbridge over Gee Creek. The trail undulates under alders, cedars and maples next to the creek, heads away from it, and then reaches a junction. Go left here up to Pioneer Street.

Turn left on Pioneer and walk back up along the verge towards your vehicle, crossing Gee Creek in the process.

Maps

• Maps: Hike Finder

Fees, Regulations, etc.

• Respect private property signs
• Dogs on leash

Trip Reports

• Search Trip Reports for Gee Creek Ridge Loop Hike

Related Discussions / Q&A

• Search Trail Q&A for Gee Creek Ridge Loop Hike

Guidebooks that cover this hike

• none

More Links

• Gee Creek, Ridgefield, Washington
• Abrams Park (Facebook)
• Abrams Park (Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership)

Contributors

• bobcat (creator)