Iron Mountain-Springbrook Park Loop Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Iron Mountain Park Trailhead
- End Point: Springbrook Park
- Hike Type: Loop
- Distance: 3.4 miles
- Elevation gain: 405 feet
- High Point: 480 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: Yes
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Description
Two parks on the slopes north of Oswego Lake, Iron Mountain Park and Springbrook Park, preserve a variable mixed woodland that includes Pacific madrone and Oregon white oak. You can connect the two using quiet neighborhood streets. The Iron Mountain Park trails are part of Lake Oswego's new Iron Heritage Trail, and the area was the site of the Prosser Iron Mine, which operated from 1867 to 1894. The hike directions begin from the new Iron Mountain Park Trailhead, opened in February 2021, but there are other options for accessing this loop.
From the parking area, you can walk past the restrooms and then follow the trail over a bridge that crosses a small stream. This area was part of what used to be known as Prosser's Swale or Springbrook Marsh, an area much altered over the decades. To your left, you can see a large pond, a remnant of the marsh and reached by a short trail and boardwalk past a play area. Behind the pond are the large equestrian center and corrals of the Lake Oswego Hunt.
Once across the bridge, make a right on a new trail to begin the loop. You'll head along on a new graveled trail under a canopy of Douglas-firs. The trail parallels Iron Mountain Boulevard just to the right. When you reach a junction, bear left to begin an ascent of the forested Iron Mountain bluff in several short, tight switchbacks which replace what was once a steep user trail. You'll come to a junction with the old wagon road turned railroad bed which served to take ore from the Prosser Iron Mine. Bear left here, and hike along the bluff to reach another junction. Here, take the main path where it continues to the right and keep rising below an oak-forested hillside. The wagon road was originally paved with black slag from the blast furnace on the Willamette River, and you may be able to discern a few chunks in the tread. When you reach a picnic table and overlook platform, you'll get a view across to Cooks Butte (described in the Luscher Farm-Cooks Butte Loop Hike). Oswego Lake is barely visible beyond a low ridge. Interpretive signs tell about the Prosser Iron Mine. A couple of horizontal shafts went into the hill behind the signs, but they have been covered up.
When you come to Glen Eagles Road, head up to the right. At the junction with Prestwick Road, turn right and head around to Crest Drive, turning left and dropping to Wembley Park Road. After crossing the road, bear left on a paved sidewalk along the rim of Springbrook Park. The White Oak Trail leads in on the left before the first house. At the junction with the Sword Fern Trail, go right under maples, cherries, and cottonwoods, with an understory of Indian plum, sword fern, holly, ivy, and Oregon grape. Keep left at the junction with the Trillium Trail, and cross a boardwalk in a wet area. Then you'll need to bear left at the junction with the Mahonia Trail. Stay right at the next two junctions, and at a T-junction with the Ninebark Trail, turn right. This trail leads north, with spurs leading to the the Uplands Elementary School on your right. At a four-way junction with the Snowberry Trail, keep straight and head up along the boundary of Springbrook Park. The trail hooks left to reach the Cedar Trail.
Pass the spur out to the Sundeleaf Drive Trailhead, and then stay left at the junction with the Thimbleberry Trail to head downhill. This is a deciduous woodland of big-leaf maple, cherry, sword fern, Indian plum, and Oregon grape. At the next junction, keep straight onto the Vine Maple Trail and then walk straight ahead at the four-way junction with the Snowberry Trail. To your right, you'll see the large covered shed that houses indoor tennis courts. The Vine Maple Trail drops into a dip and passes junctions with the Ninebark, Indian Plum, and Sword Fern trails before heading up to Wembley Park Road. Bear right on a paved sidewalk, and cross to the left side of Wembley Park at the junction with Fir Ridge Drive. After you pass Glen Eagles Road, go left on Twin Fir Road. Walk one block, go left on Edgemont Road, and hike to a dead end.
At the dead end, find a trail heading down to the right into Iron Mountain Park in a mixed woodland of Douglas-fir, big-leaf maple, western hemlock, and western red-cedar. The trail switchbacks down four times and heads across a footbridge over a small creek. There's a low horse jump here, labeled #8, and you can see the corrals of the Lake Oswego Hunt below. (Below this spot is the Brookside Road Trailhead, an alternative trailhead for this hike that offers easy access from Lake Oswego.) Stay on the wide main trail and ignore the little trail leading down to the Hunt. At a junction, head right on a new trail that contours the slope above the Hunt's oval and jump area. Soon, you'll reach the bridge near the Iron Mountain Park Trailhead; here, turn right to return to your vehicle.
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Restrooms, picnic tables, play area
- Dogs on leash
- Park hours 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- City of Lake Oswego Trails and Pathways (Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation)
- Springbrook Park (City of Lake Oswego)
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Iron Mountain-Springbrook Park Loop Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Iron Mountain-Springbrook Park Loop Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Urban Trails: Portland by Eli Boschetto (Springbrook Park)
- Take a Walk: Portland by Brian Barker (partial)
More Links
- Iron Mountain Park (Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation)
- Iron Mountain Park Master Plan Report (Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation)
- Iron Mountain Park is OPEN (Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation)
- Iron Mountain Park Soft Trails are OPEN (Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation)
- "Lake Oswego's new Iron Heritage Trail offers walkers and bicyclists glimpses of the city's industrial past" (The Oregonian)
- Oswego Iron Heritage Trail (Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation)
- The Prosser Iron Mine (Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation)
- Iron Mountain Trail (Property Blotter)
- Springbrook Park (Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation)
- Friends of Springbrook Park
- Springbrook Park Loop (All Trails)
- The View from Springbrook Park, Lake Oswego, Oregon (Ed Chinn)
Page Contributors
- bobcat (creator)