The trails presented on this website are a continuation of the trail selections first compiled by Jim Thayer and published in the trail guidebook, Portland Forest Hikes, published by Timber press in the Spring of 2008. Many of you may be familiar with a companion 
website located at “www.thayers.org”- a site mostly dedicated to chronicling the exploration and documentation of a vast web of logging roads and trails extending from Portland’s Forest Park – all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
Beginning in mid-2010 the 100 pages of trail descriptions published on the “thayers.org” site will slowly be replicated and republished on this “Foresthiker.com” site. The purpose of this move is not merely to consume all my spare time, but also to allow for a more technically adept delivery of materials to the hiking community – such as allowing interactive capabilities, “smarter” search capabilities and the ability to download “.gpx” files for each of the trails. This new website has been built up using WordPress, an advanced content management platform that allows me, an amateur netizen, to support a wider array of functions that I could not otherwise design or support.
I hope that Foresthiker.com will soon become your destination of choice when inclement weather or busy schedules prevent you from being out in the woods!
The “thayers.org” website originally featured a collection of 20 trails that resulted from my exploration of what has been referred to as the “wildlife corridor” that sustains the continuing bio-diversity of Forest Park. Starting from the northern end of Forest Park I alternately rambled and bushwhacked my way north along the eastern flank of the Tualatin Range nearly all the way to Scappoose. That effort resulted in the discovery of 10 new trails that I explored and described in Portland Forest Hikes.
Once having crossed Rocky Point Road (just south of Scappoose) , I realized that ahead of me lay miles of untrammeled forest lands. In short, I had arrived at the end of the “wildlife corridor” and from here on I was looking at the vast expanse of Oregon’s North Coast forests. Rocky Point road effectively marked the northern end of the “wildlife corridor” and the northern boundary of the 20 trails collected in Portland Forest Hikes. Only one trail extends north of Rocky Point Road, and that’s the Joy Creek Loop located near the bottom of the road. Otherwise, this Rocky Point Road which also marks the northern end of Skyline Boulevard, marked the completion of my initial project.
But by this time, I was hooked on exploring these vast forests and I wanted to follow the forests to wherever they led. I needed a new excuse for my ramblings…That’s when I recalled the “Pacific Greenway” project that 
Keith Hay had proposed to the Friends of Forest Park. During the waning years of the 1980’s Keith proposed emulating the “Mountains to Sound” project that had succeeded in linking Seattle’s hinterlands to the coast. This gigantic effort had involved the establishment of a corridor of donated lands, easements and trails linking the slopes of the Cascades to the pristine beauty of Puget Sound. Keith had even secured funding from the Nature Conservancy to scope the magnitude of a proposed network of trails linking Portland and the Oregon Coast.
The Pacific Greenway organization is still listed in the National Environmental Directory as being headed up by Keith Hay. It is described as, “a far-sighted effort to create and preserve one or more important natural and recreational corridors between the Pacific Coast and the Portland Metropolitan region. Only motorized routes to the coast presently exist. The extension of Portland’s present open-space system to the Pacific, east to Mount Hood and the Pacific Crest Trail, and south along the Willamette Greenway, is a goal of the Greenway project. What resulted from Keith’s original scoping study was a plan for three trails to connect Portland to the coast, much like the trails linking Seattle’s hinterlands to the coast. The scoping project produced a map showing three possible routes to the coast. The first “Pacific Greenway” trail linked the Portland area to the coast via the aquatic route along the Lower Columbia – the route that Lewis and Clark took. Keith eventually described this route in his book “Columbia River Water Trail”, also published by Timber Press. The picture attached 
provides a glimpse of the Clatsop villages what the water route would have come across.
The final two routes were shown as heading westward from the northern end of Forest Park, along the hills flanking the northern boundary of Washington County. The northern route was depicted as heading north from Forest Park. The southern route was indicated as crossing US 26 west of Banks and heading towards either the Wilson River, or Salmonberry corridors. These two putative routes are reflected in Metro’s planning maps for regional trails.
In 2005 when I completed my initial hiking guide, Portland Forest Hikes I adopted an ambitious new goal: to walk the entire length of the two land routes to the coast. I started with the northern leg that curves around the top of Washington County, then parallels US 26, passing near Saddle Mountain and descends north of Seaside. But on the southern route, I decided to use the now abandoned Tillamook Railroad line that parallels the beautiful Salmonberry river. The Salmonberry corridor lies closer to the main stem of the westbound trail and it has no motorized traffic to mar the beauty of the passage. This route crosses US 26 and cuts through the hills to Cochran Pond which marks the headwaters of the Salmonberry. It follows the treacherous route of the old railroad over the next 18 miles of river to where the Salmonberry joins the lower Nehalem River before it spills into Nehalem Bay, just north of Tillamook.
In most cases, except along the Salmonberry, I sought the routes that went along the height of land, and wherever possible I choose roads that had little or no traffic, only using paved roads when passing through populated areas. The trails in this 2nd collection of forest hikes has been surveyed over the last five years, and represents a publicly accessible route using logging roads and trails that traverse the hills and mountains of Columbia, Washington, Tillamook and Clatsop Counties between Portland and the Pacific Ocean.
As in the previous trails described in Portland Forest Hikes, these trial descriptions include details instructions on the trail including my own maps, frequent color photos, and a comprehensive coverage of the fauna, flora and history of the area.
Jim Thayer
Good luck with your project
Where can I find this book, Jim?
thanks for all the leg work
I am really interested in hiking the greenway trail this summer. From the back-side of Scappoose over to Seaside. Probably with a small group. How long would you estimate it would take a small group of mostly novices? Is the route fairly well detailed in your book? GPS way points and such?
TIA!
My rough estimate is that it would take about 5 days. If you’re interested I can assemble a .gpx file for the segments that comprise the “northern” route.
Any info files you can share would be great!
JerryWatts55@Yahoo.com
Have you had a chance to gather that GPS info? I found an outfit that will custom-print a topographical map with way-points. That, and a compass, and my own GPS, and I’m fairly confident I’ll only make 3 or 4 catastrophic wrong turns.
Also, I was talking to a friend of mine that works for Oregon Department of Forestry. He says that the salmon-berry grade has been demolished by weather. Have you heard or seen same?
The Salmonberry grade has been demolished from the perspective of the train, but it’s alive and well for foot traffic. Many of the side tributaries have washed out the grade, but follow the arrows marked in blue spray point – thank the taggers for that piece of help. You can see their more intricate handiwork on the bridges as you go along. I’ve recorded some of their work on the website.
BTW, it looks like they will soon do a rails to trail conversion for the Salmonberry – hurray. Of course, it will take another 10 yeras to complete the work to make it really accessible for sensible hikers – not like me!
Are you the person that contacted OPB about hiking the complete trail this summer? If so, let’s get together so I can gover some of the “tricky” spots.
I recently ran into Jim on one of my regular walks with the dogs and he told me about this web site. Thank you Jim this is great.
I would love to get my hands on “Portland Forest Hikes” can anyone point me in the right direction to finding it?
Try Powell’s or Amazon.com for the book, or rendezvous with me and I’ll hand you a copy!
BTW, i’m going to try to add in the new hikes heading north from the Scappoose to Vernonia Road. You missed a great hike – the crest of the hill was just beyond where you turned off, and it was really beautiful looking out at Mt. St. Helens in the distance.
Jim
Hi Jim,
Just back from Europe and received your email about using my lithographs on your website. We actually met briefly when you gave a talk at Powell’s on Hawthorne for your Portland Hikes book. While I am no longer doing the lithographs, I’m happy to have them on your site, and would also like to know about some grand old beautiful trees and hidden gems in our area. Drop me an email and we’ll see what we can work out.
Thanks,
Angelita
Thanks for this site! I’m out in Banks and feel the itch to explore the area around my home. There’ isn’t much available about this area (save the Sierra Club Tillamook guide) and this site is a nice adjunct to that. Now, to get more maps
) !
Where did you get hold of the Sierra Club Tillamook maps that you refer to?
I generally use a program called Topofusion and it accesses the Terraserver that provides incredibly detailed topo maps. I’m working on providing my trails as uploadable .gpx files soon. So that you can use programs like Topofusion of Google maps to show you the different routes.
She might be referring to “50 Hikes in the Tillamook State Forest” which is a book published by the Columbia Group Sierra Club in 2001, making it somewhat out of date since the ’07 storms. It’s organized broadly by drainages (Wilson, Trask-Tualatin, Miama-Kilchis, and Salmonberry-Nehalem), then individual hike, usually with small maps.
We got ours at Powell’s, but I have also seen it at smaller local shops and occasionally in REI.
Jim, You gave a talk to our Rhododendron Club a few years ago and we certainly enjoyed your presentation and have enjoyed your book. I am going to give a talk on the Logie’s of Logie Trail and Cowaniah since he lived at the bottom of Logie trail. I am researching Historic Helvetia getting ready for a book. I found your website very helpful. I was going to send you the maps of the Indian campsites in Washington County. I don’t remember if you ever got them? You referred to them as villages, however, they were just campsites the people used on their spring and summer rounds gathering foods—at least that is what the “experts” say since so little is really known about them. Anyway, I want to source your website and your books. Keep in touch. How is your new book going? PS my father-in-law was a lumberman back in the day and I have some wonderful photos of him and the huge trees in the Tillamook burn. I don’t know if you are doing just the really old times in logging? I’ll also pin your books in pinterest.
Love your Cowaniah story. Charles J. Cowaniah and his wife Amelia lived on Logie Trail and built the Cowaniah School for local children. I am just completing the Logie Trail part of Historic Helvetia.
Hello everyone,
I’m new to this site. Could I get some feed back on something? (I hope it’s not a pipe dream?)
I have an idea for attracting more tourism to the SW corner of our state. I call it the “Desert to Sea Hiking Trail.” Unlike the Pacific Crest Trail, you wouldn’t have to have Olympic stamina to do it. It would be an easy trail that even senior citizens could enjoy.
I’m thinking of something along the lines of Spain’s “El Camino de Santiago”.
Every year tens of thousands of tourists from all over to the world hike the 500 mile long “Camino de Santiago”. http://www.caminodesantiago.me/ These folks lay down a lot of cash at hundreds of restaurants and inns along the way.
I think Oregon can offer something better. A Desert to Sea trail would offer much more variety of scenery in only 200 miles.
Also, as we read reviews from happy travelers on “Camino de Santiago” we can see that this could easily be replicated here in Oregon with a minimal of capital investment. http://www.womensadventuremagazine.com/blog/reader-stories/walking-a-dream/
With a little bit of research a 200+ mile long hiking path could be established from some place like Christmas Lake, and on to some point at the coast. Once, established this “Desert to Sea” trail could be marketed.
More importantly, a trail of this kind would spawn hundreds of “Mom & Pop” hospitality establishments.
I’m excited to think of the potential. And I would like to be part of it.
Can anyone tell me what it would take to make this dream come true?
Thanks,
Dwight
Jim,
I’m working on a project over at PSU regarding the Salmonberry trail. Would you be available for an interview?
Thanks,
Lisa
Are either of these routes suitable for mountain biking?
The northern route is mostly good for bikes – look up the Ridge Runner’s delight route. I need to edit it, because I found a way to circumvent “suicide corner”. This is a 13 mile downhill stretch into Seaside – really cool!. But get there you have to climb 1000 feet first!
Jim
hey- jim– Glad to see you are carrying on the torch. Iwill call keith hay with whom i worked for a Pacific Greenway when i was on the board. BUT we got stopped by bill Swindells and John Hampton– remember him? he died. Now the future looks brighter! Keep a chuggin’
Maybe Cathy , Betsy and I could join you? as you suggested once. Meanwhile I will read all about it.And maybe drag son or two to go with me. I have a Jim who went to Reed C as well. WHAT is it about you guys??!!
See some of the offerings in 2013. I am going to the Wm Cronon lectures. Saw him years ago when he talked about the imptc of voles to Old Growth forests.
leslie
Forgot to add another tidbit from Barabara Walker– the 40 mile loop lady!
Fun to think that if you hike from the coast to Portland you could access the PCT trail
from Portland to the Gorge and thence to Mexico to the south or Canada to the north!!
leslie
I am totally on board with your trail pojects for the coast range mountain with one giant exeption. The rail line down the Salmonberry river should be restored for rail service for a number of reasons. Too many reasons to list, but its historical significants and mode of transportation to see the Salmonberry river is just the tip of the ice berg. It is one of a kind railroad,,, and the last of its kind in the entire coast range mountains. If there is a possibility of the rail line being restored,,,, I will do anything and everything possible to back the plan. If I had the money, I’d do it myself.
Thomas:
I appreciate your passion for rebuilding the railroad through the Salmonberry Gorge, but realize those of us that are advocating a rails to trail conversion are doing so because nearly everyone has come to the realization that this line cannot be restored. Consider these facts:
1. After the railroad was devastated in ’97 it cost $16 million to repair the line.
2. Estimates for repairing the damage from the ’07 event are in the neighborhood of $51 million. The Port of Tillamook doesn’t have that kind of money, and FEMA funds related to this disaster were already spend on other repairs – not that they would have been sufficient to cover the costs of restoring the Salmonberry route.
3. Repeated major storms in the coast range are not just likely, but they’re increasing probable and increasingly virulent. The issue is not so much whether we could repair the line, but really whether we could keep it operational. Most reasonable people have come to the conclusion that the answer to that question is “NO!” – at least for the section between Enright and the Baldwin Creek Trestle.
4. There are plans to possibly restore RR service all the way to Enright, and possibly from Buxton to Cochran Pond – and many of us involved in this project are very supportive of rail restoration – as long as it’s cost effective and maintainable. That would exclude the section from Wolf Creek all the way down to Tunnel Creek (near Enright). Where it gets rough is where the line drops down to follow the river just above the riverbed. The debris washouts from the tributaries are unavoidable this close to the river and it will destroy the infrastructure every time we get another big storm in the North Coast range. It’s just not sustainable any more!
5. As to the special qualities of this rail line – I utterly agree! But all over this nation we’re facing decisions about whether to fight mother nature or try to accommodate the inevitable. I would ask you to walk the stretch from Baldwin Creek to Tunnel Creek and see for yourself the awesome force that was unleashed on this rail line – and the utter devastation it wrought not just on the rails and bridges, but on the very canyon itself. No matter how special this line was (and I completely agree with you that it was a uniquely beautiful and valuable asset), to ignore that destructive power of the river is sheer hubris, and would also be economic folly.
But Thomas, none of this is set in stone yet. The initial feasibility study (to decide whether to proceed with a full scale engineering study) hasn’t been presented to the steering committee (mostly state agencies for now). Not until they OK the concept, will the serious work proceed.
Jim,
I found out about you and your website through Oregon Field Guide last week. Before the segment started, I was remembering mountain bike rides I went on with a couple friends 15 or so years ago from Cochran up to Standard Grade. My buddies Dan and Ray knew the area fairly well and once did an off-road mountain bike ride to the Coast – probably following a similar route through the Salmonberry Corridor, though I think they made a few wrong turns towards the end and they had a very long day on the bikes!
Your website has me itching to get out there again! I’m sending links to your site to my friends today and see if I can get a ride planned!
Thank You,
Tim
I’ve walked the segment you reference, and it’s open to the top and on past Roger’s peak. I haven’t done the western end of the range so might have to do some research to avoid your friends’ mistakes. Jim
That sounds like a good start. I’d just be happy to get back up there.
By the way, your Lumberjack posts make some interesting reading. The men that started logging the NW really earned that lumber. My grandfather and a partner owned a sawmill in Cedar Canyon in the early 1900′s. I think there is a picture somewhere of him standing atop a spar pole – tough guys they were.
Tim
I’m a graduate student at PSU doing a research project on Oregon Trails. I would greatly appreciate the participation of hikers from this website to my survey. Feel free to forward this along to any friends you think might like to respond. The comments on this blog suggest that you are all passionate hikers and your input would be extremely helpful. I’m collecting data for the 7 days.
Thank you in advance for participating!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CNMSY8G
Great info on oregon field guide. I also looked at both your sites for more info. It really looks like you have done allot of work. I am going to look for your other book ab portland forest hikes in powells books later.
Any time frame ab when u will put out another book listing the routes all the way to the coast?
I live down near Coos Bay and belong to a hiking group there and we are always doing similar things, new areas to hike and such. We have a facebook page, South coast Striders.
Thanks again.
Jeff
I saw your interview on OPB and was fascinated with this rout . Hope to see more development of the trails . Go get them forest hiker. Thanks
Ray Winger
Camas WA,
It looks like the feasibility study of the Salmonberry trail will go ahead. I wouldn’t recommend going down there at this time of year – could be dangerous with the high volume of water. jim
Hi Jim,
I just stumbled upon your website after a friend of mine and I were recently talking about ideas to thru-hike Portland to the Coast this upcoming summer. Your site came up when doing a little research on possible routes and the Salmonberry route looks promising — both in terms of distance, elevation, and the possibility of actually becoming a trail in the future. As luck had it, I was down at Rockaway over the weekend, and took an opportunity to explore up the Salmonberry River (turned back 3/4 mile or so before Enright). Of course, the river is running high and fast, but it was nice to see part of the route. Anyway, I’m curious to learn more about the route from Portland to Cochran, but am having a little bit of a hard time piecing together the different segments from your site. Is there a place I could drop you an email so we could correspond on the subject?
Thanks,
Jacob
Sure, email me at Jim@thayers.org
I really like your blog. I will definitely be doing some of these hikes come summer time. Any recommendations on hikes that are kid friendly? Come summer time we will have a two year old and a 6 month old. Thanks.
I would try some of the hikes in the Lower Columbia section, especially the Scappoose to Vernonia sections. You can even take bikes and “roll” from the summit to either Elk Creek (going westwards towards Vernonia), or to Chapman Landing or the split where the road and trail heads se towards Scappoose (heading eastwards from the summit). Since doing this way is gravity-aided even kids will like it…;-)
Scott, if your interested in coming to the beach, the Fort to Sea Trail is great, even for young kids. I’ve done the hike several times with 4th and 6th graders. It’s a 6 mile hike, takes about 6-9 hours, depending on how fast you go and what the weather is like. If you start from Fort Clatsop and only go so far as the tunnel under US 101 its a really nice, shady hike -about 3 miles. It is a lot of uphill/downhill, but fun. Even senior citizens do it. There are other easier and more difficult trails associated with the park, as well, if you want to check those out.
Jim,
I have a small group of friends that are interested in doing the hike from Portland to seaside via the northern route. My group is an experienced one hiking oregon, We have a number of long distance wilderness hikes under our belts and thought this would be a great adventure. We would like to request any info you give for this direction. We are looking to do the trip at the end of may. We would live to chat with you regarding both routes.
Sincerely,
Toby
Toby:
I suggest that we set up a time to discuss the logistics of such a trip. Due to the length of the trip there are additional considerations like where to camp, food caches, and a couple of tricky spots that I would want to give you detailed information about. I have particularly good “woods sense”, and can hike my way through to a given destination nearly blindfolded, or I know how to rely on the deer and elk trails to patch me through, but I’d like to be sure to give you the best directions at those spots that are particularly “intuitive”.
In fact, it might be good to take a couple of you and actually “recon” some of those spots. I would also recommend that you arm yourselves with good USGS maps (available from the federal building up in the Lloyd district) covering the route. They also have one map that omits the topo lines but includes most of the existing logging roads – which would cover about 90@ of the route. The other 10% are older roads, no longer recorded on current maps. I can also produce a .gpx file that you can upload into your GPS device that will guide you exactly – although it will lead you through spots where you will think you’ve either lost the trail or I lost my mind plotting such a course!
How about chatting over coffee to discuss this?
Jim Thayer
Jim, that sounds great would love to chat, please let me know what and where would work best for you.
Toby
Jim when you say a patch is intuitive I guess you mean Good Luck With That Part
Well some people have more “woods sense” than others, and know where to look. I for instance take my cues from the elk whose preferences for traversing the landscape are similar to humans. Jim
Thanks,for all your help and hard work for all who enjoy the trails. SeaTac,Washington
Hi Jim, Viewer from Vancouver, B.C.. Just watched your remarkable Trek on PBS. I
was thrilled by your dedication. Thank you for opening my eyes to something so worthy. Victoria
Hi Jim,
I enjoyed visiting your web site. I have been working with the Seaside Visitors Bureau to develop a collection of mountain bike rides in the Coast Range east of Seaside. You can see some of the rides at http://www.seasidenaturally.com. We are also working to identify a mountain bike route from Seaside to the valley. We have done one route which follows some of the routes that you have provided.
I am very interested in the project to convert the old Tillamook Bay Railroad line into a hiking/biking route. I know that Cycle Oregon has or is planning to commit some money to this as well. The would be a fantastic ride and particulary if they could connect it to the existing Banks to Vernonia trail.
I am very interested in talking with or meeting with others who share my interest in mountain biking on the logging roads in the Coast Range. There are thousands of miles of roads offering a tremendous variety of experiences. And the good news is that most of the timber management companies like the Campbell Group here in Seaside are supportive of mountain biking on their lands.
Best,
Tom Dideum
Tom:
I think the best way from Seaside would be to go over the north shoulder of Saddle Mountain using the Saddle Mountain Rd, then the East Leg Saddle Mountain Road connecting to the Fishhawk Mainline that comes out on 202. From there you can ride via Mist and Jewell to Pittsburg and thence to Scappoose. Alternatively you can ride up Cow Creek road to the very end. There you’ll have to carry the bike through about 100 yards of woods to connect with the Military Road that can connect with routes that lead to Camp McGregor. From there take Olsen road and the Eastside Grade to the Timber road. The rest is easy to figure out.
Eventually you’ll also be able to use the Salmonberry, but that will take years to complete.
Jim
Hi Jim,
We tried the Fishhawk Mainline but at least the first part of it runs across private land and we were asked to leave by the “owner”. We haven’t been able to verify that this is actually private land or if it is part of Campbell Group or Weyerhauser’s land in which case it would be OK for us to go that way and just ignore those guys with the guns.
We have used another route that follows the Norman Crossover Road from 103 to the Lewis & Clark Mainline around the south side of Saddle Mountain connecting to Lewis & Clark Road about 2 miles east of Seaside. This is also a great way to ride from Camp 18 to Seaside using the Elsie Fishhawk Crossover to go from Camp 18 to the L&C Mainline.
On this route, you have to go south on 103 about 2 miles to cross the Nehalem River. Right after the bridge you turn onto Mullenbach Road and follow it using several different logging roads to ultimately get to Vernonia. I haven’t ridden the part from 103 to Vernonia but a couple of the people that I ride with here have done it. It’s a long and tough ride. For the whole Vernonia to Seaside ride you probably need to plan on two days.
Tom
My husband and I are hoping to one year, hike from Portland to Seaside.
Our experience is day hiking (Tillamook Head, Neahkanie Mountian, Saddle Mnt. and parts of the Pacific Coast Trail). What trails in the Northwest Part of Oregon would you recommend for us to do with overnights in order to prepare for the 5 day hike from Portland to Seaside.
And most of all: When do you know you are ready?
Thank you so much!
-Ann
Ann:
One of the best ways to begin the journet would be to walk the Crown Zellerbach Trail. On the west side of the summit there is also a county park (Scaponia) where you could overnight, eventually arriving in Vernonia, or using the Banks to Vernonia trail to walk all the way out into Washington County. Anotther option would be to overnight in the park at the base of saddle Mountain and walk out to Seaside.
Where are you ready? When impatience to get on the trail overcomes you!
A Portland to Coast hike is a great idea. I work with the Lewis and Clark Nat’l Historic Park, in Warrenton, with Resource Management. There aren’t many trails that are more than a days -that I know of. I’ve heard of the PCT and think that a connection trail to that would work. I read about your proposal in Cannon Beach in the Monday Daily Astorian.
There was something I read in an older comment about RR lines. There is, I think, one going in from Astoria to Scappoose (I’m sorry if that’s spelled wrong)…maybe not quite that far. I’ll have to look into it more.
The RR from Astoria goes through Scappoose to Portland. It’s a critical line – no chance that it would be converted to hiking!
I enjoyed reading your June 19, 2012 piece on the Klickitat tribe, and particularly Chief Quately.
I can find very little research on him, or his daughter Sidnayah, who supposedly knew Phil Sheridan of later Civil War fame.
Do you know what happened to Chief Quately?–or whether he retired to the Yakima Reservation (circa 1857 or so)?
I live in Portland, now, used to live in Newport, Oregon, and am doing research.
Thanks!
Wayne Kigerl
Wayne:
I am familiar with Chief Quately and his role in working with the US Army and subsequent legal attempts to acquire land in the population depleted parts of the Umpqua Valley, but beyond that my knowledge gets pretty sparse.
I am actually more interested in Chief Kamiakin, who organized the Indian revolt of 1855, and who is also mentioned favorably in Theodore Winthrop’s book, Canoe and Saddle. He seems to have been a very reluctant warrior and was also known as a very wise Indian leader residing on the eastern flanks of Mt. Adams.
Jim Thayer
Nice site, good to speak to you
Both of the trails you have outlined end up in Seaside. Bah! What is so attractive about Tilamook?
If you are planning on using part of the old Salmonberry railroad why not use all of it running to Tilamook?
The idea should be to get from Portland to the coast.
It is a great project for volunteer groups, Scouts, youth, etc. They can do much of the work knowing it will take a lot of heavier type work. There is also the possibility of using youth detention camps. I believe there is one near highway 26 someplace or at Astoria?
Donald:
Your comments were not rejected, but I do monitor what gets posted due to the huge amount of spam that would utterly clutter the site.
Secondly, one trail goes to Seaside, but the other reaches the Pacific at Nehalem Bay, but the rail link extends it to Tillamook. Traditionally and historically, both Seaside and Tillamook represent two distinct destinations. Prior to European penetration Seaside was the home to the Clatsops, and Tillamook was the home to the distinctly different tribe sometimes referred to as the Tillamooks or Killamooks, whose linguistic heritage is Athabascan, not Chinook.
As for Scouting participation, the feasibility study is being drafted as I write and would depend upon what the final design adopted by the state will be. I’m sure there will be ample opportunity to involve the Scouts. I will look for such opportunities and get back to you if I see a chance for them to get involved.
Jim Thayer
The Tillamook Railroad is still active. Especially in the summer for the tourist season. I think the main concern after that… is that you have to use connected (or close) logging roads that are available for recreational use.
Ann:
At this point, I will leave the decision on how, or whether to extend the “trail” all the way to Tillamook to the folks that are writing the feasibility study for the Oregon Bureau of Parks. For my purposes the portion from Cochran Pond to Foss Road is the most interesting.
I know there’s talk about extending the line to Enright, but I suspect that even getting a functioning rail line to that point may be frightfully expensive given the washout at Foss Road.
There may also be an option to survey a route (using the existing logging roads) to cut over the the top of the ridge behind the hatchery. Using the Tin Shack road one can climb into the headwaters of Lost Creek, Sibley Creek and McPherson Creek. The Oregon Park Department has some land already set aside for a park in that area. More ambitiously one could hike (Indian style) along the ridge tops all the way down to Cook Creek.
I am the project for the Old Burn Cemetary, Columbia County. My ancestors homesteaded between Mist and Vernonia. ForesTree GM LLC and Longview Timberlands have proposed to vacate county roads similar to others that are identified in this website. A portion of the Cheldelin Road, portion of Alfred Parkinen road
and all of the Thomas Enneberg road. If successful I believe others will follow
including some already identified in your trails
We are looking for support to keep this from happening. The hearing is on 5/29/13 10am Columbia County Courthouse.
Thanks for your comment on the scheduled hearings to discuss the possible road vacations. Does this mean that Longview Timberlands will let them lapse entirely, or does this simple affect the accessibility? I Have to admit, though I am familiar with many of the nameless roads in the area, I do not know these three named roads. While, I understand your concern about access to family graves, as a hiker my needs can be met with a much lower level of access. Nonetheless, I will try to attend the meeting, as this development is of interest to me as well.
Jim