TRAILHEAD NW Springville Road and Bridge Avenue
DISTANCE 3.5 miles round trip
DURATION Two hours and fifteen minutes
ELEVATION A total change of 1010 feet, with a low point of 235 feet and a high point of 1245 feet
CONDITIONS The Ridge Trail is new and well built, and NW Springville Road, though more than 165 years old, is graveled and well maintained.
FROM DOWNTOWN This hike begins 6.9 miles from West Burnside and Interstate 405. Driving north on Highway 30 (also called St. Helens Road), continue past NW Saltzman Road and beneath the St. Johns Bridge. Turn left at the traffic light immediately after the bridge. This puts you on NW Bridge Avenue (the access road to the bridge). After passing NW Germantown Road, turn right onto NW Springville Road and park anywhere along it. I usually park right down at the bottom.
TriMet: From downtown, take bus 17 (NW 21st Avenue/St. Helens Road). Disembark at Bridge Avenue and Springville Road (bus stop 599). You will alight from your bus at the trailhead.
On this excellent walk, lovely stands of mature Douglas fir stretch from Highway 30 to the summit and back.
Although this trail can be accessed from the top of Springville Road, off Skyline Boulevard, This hike begins at the intersection of Springville and Bridge Avenue (the access road to the St. Johns Bridge), immediately off Highway 30. Walk up Bridge Avenue, crossing the bridge that is immediately south of the Springville intersection. Just beyond the end of the bridge balustrade, a trail
From the bottom of Springville Road, turn south to cross the bridge on Bridge Avenue. Just beyond the end of the uphill balustrade a trail leads back up into the woods, providing convenient access to the Ridge Trail.
leads back into the woods providing a convenient shortcut to the Ridge Trail.
The official entrance to the Ridge Trail is located just south of where the St. Johns Bridge debouches on the western bank of the Willamette. A small set of stairs with signage to indicate the beginning of the trail leads up the reinforced embankment. This trail offers some fantastic views of the Willamette River and St. Johns Bridge
The bridge is named after the community of St. Johns, located across the river from our vantage point. The area was originally settled by the reclusive James Johns, who left Linnton in 1852 to pioneer Portland’s northernmost ferry with a single rowboat.
With its graceful gothic arches, 400-foot-high towers, and 1207-foot main span, the St. Johns Bridge was and remains one of Oregon’s architectural treasures. It was only through some very serious lobbying by the residents of St. Johns that this bridge was built in the first place. Penning verses and putting on vaudeville skits, the neighbors urged their Portland colleagues to replace the ferry with a bridge. “We’ve been patient and that you will allow,” went a jingle, “but we’re fed up with that ferry, and we want a bridge right now.”
Contrary to popular legend, the St. Johns Bridge was not designed by Joseph Strauss, designer of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was designed by Holton Robinson and David Steinman, who celebrated their achievement by promptly flying a stunt plane over and under the bridge. Due to the bridge’s proximity to the airport in Swan Island, some recommended painting it with yellow and black stripes to make it more visible to aircraft. However, the builders thumbed their noses at this garish suggestion and on St. Patrick’s Day announced that the bridge would be painted a pale green to match the verdant hills that meet its western end.
Standing on that very slope, you will now turn your steps upward along the main trail. In a short distance you will enter a stand of tall Douglas firs. This lower part of the park is home to lots of wildlife, so keep your eyes open.
It’s also a good place to find some interesting mushrooms. One of the most common is the orange milky cap (Lactarius aurantiacus). This bright orange mushroom can be found throughout the fall in Forest Park’s conifer and mixed woods. The cap, which is 1–3 inches across, is rounded when dry but flat and viscid when wet. It’s also identifiable by the fact that it bleeds a white milky substance when cut, hence the genus name.
Another easily recognizable mushroom occasionally found in Forest Park is fly agaric (Amanita muscaria). You will be familiar with it as the nasty poisonous mushroom from Disney movies—it has a bright red cap dotted with whitish spots. The common name refers to this mushroom’s peculiar fascination to houseflies. Break up a fly agaric, place it in a shallow bowl with a bit of water, and flies will converge to drink the liquid. The effect is fatal, how ever: they soon take off into a frenzied flight that ends in death. Death in humans is rare from fly agaric poisoning, but ingestion of this mushroom will certainly produce unpleasant side effects, including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Orange milky cap (Lactarius aurantiacus)
About halfway up to Leif Erikson Drive you’ll find a primitive bench located just off the trail for the quiet contemplation of the huge trees that surround you. Since this is a newer trail, you should find it in good shape and without too many visitors as it ascends to Leif Erikson Drive.
From Leif Erikson Drive the Ridge Trail ascends the ridge that carries Fire Lane 7 in a southeasterly direction into the park. Many trails descend from this ridge: Fire Lane 7a, the Hardesty Trail, the Ridge Trail, the Trillium Trail, and finally Springville Road. This hike takes you up the Ridge Trail.
The Ridge Trail crosses the Wildwood Trail at about 850 feet in elevation on its way to the crest of the ridge.
Once the Ridge Trail crests the promontory, it joins Fire Lane 7. Follow Fire Lane 7 back up the ridge and to the gate at the top of Springville Road.
Should you prefer to start this hike from the top, this is where you would begin. I recommend going down Springville Road and ascending by means of the Ridge Trail, as Springville Road is very steep and the Ridge Trail more lenient on the hamstrings.
Once you’ve reached the gate, turn right and follow Springville Road back down the wooded slope. The grade is quite steep, and the views through the woods can be lovely. Due to the graveled surface the going is rocky but not muddy—very helpful for this downhill trek.
As the population of Portland increases, so does competition for various recreational uses of Forest Park’s trails, including this one.
Cross the Wildwood Trail a short way down the slope at an elevation of 990 feet.
At about 650 feet elevation you will cross Leif Erikson Drive. Just to the south of this intersection (on the uphill side of Leif Erikson) you might spot the ruined foundations of an old homestead. All around are groves of fruit trees that have been swallowed up in the encroaching forest. No doubt these fruit trees provided the ingredients for home-distilled spirits during Prohibition, as bootlegging was widespread throughout this area at that time.
Continue down Springville Road and after about a quarter of a mile you’ll hit the final gate on the lower side. A private residence is located just beyond the gate, tucked into the woods to the south of Springville. It is fenced and clearly marked, but dogs might be attracted to the residents’ chicken coop, so make sure to keep your beasts under control.
After another quarter of a mile you will reach the lower gate. It is usually open, although it warns drivers not to proceed beyond it. Below this is a small cluster of homes, a hidden community whose roots nearly predate the founding of Portland.
Springville Road was first built by the farmers and founders of the Springville community around 1846. Over the years the road’s alignment often shifted, but Springville was considered to possess “the most even grade of any of the other four roads that lead from the Mountain down to the river road.” By 1868 it had been surveyed and made into a county road. Today it remains an important fire lane and happens to be one of the most convenient ways to get to the center of the park quickly.
