TRAILHEAD NW St. Helens Road and the BPA Road, just north of Marina Way
DISTANCE 4.4 miles round trip
DURATION Two hours and thirty minutes
ELEVATION A total change of 840 feet, with a low point of 60 feet and a high point of 900 feet
CONDITIONS The Newton Road Loop climbs upward through some of the wildest portions of Forest Park. It is a moderate to steep grade, but you will be well compensated by the savage beauty of the gorge from which Newton Road emerges. Lower Newton Road ascends a narrow valley alongside a relatively untrammeled creek that requires a couple of easy crossings. The Wildwood Trail is fairly level and not too muddy along this stretch, and the BPA Road is well graveled, making this hike ideal for inclement weather when other trails might turn into long, narrow bogs.
FROM DOWNTOWN This hike begins 8.8 miles from West Burnside and Interstate 405. Drive north on Highway 30 (also called St. Helens Road) to Linnton. As you leave Linnton’s north end (just beyond the 55-mph sign) you’ll see a set of high-power electric lines crossing high above the highway. At this point turn left into a very short dirt access road that marks the lower exit of the BPA
Road. The entrance to Newton Road is a narrow roadway carved into the hillside. The fire lane gate is only 25 feet from St. Helens Road. There is no sign to indicate that it is a trailhead. You can either park alongside St. Helens Road or squeeze your car along the upper verge of the roadway while still allowing the gate to be opened in case of an emergency.
TriMet: From downtown, take bus 17 (NW 21st Avenue/St. Helens Road). Disembark just north of Linnton at NW Marina Way and St. Helens Road (bus stop 10291). Walk north along St. Helens Road for 500 feet until you see the gate on the west side of the road.
I especially enjoy this hike during the hottest part of the summer, since the deep forest cover along much of the trail offers shade and cooler temperatures. In midwinter, when snow and ice are present, this remote corner of the park is resplendent with a rough, savage beauty. Lower Newton is a rugged old road that climbs upward from a wild streambed through one of Forest Park’s oldest stands of Douglas fir. Via the Wildwood Trail it connects to the BPA (Bonneville Power Administration) Road, which offers a pastoral walk along a long, open ridge. At the promontory the trail offers panoramic views of the Cascades and the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers.
Past the gate a very stony fire lane rises 50–75 feet in the next 50 yards. To the right the BPA Road proceeds uphill. Continue straight ahead on Newton Road as it ascends more gradually into a forested slope with a small pasture of mostly blackberries on the left. Skirt the brambles and proceed into a deep ravine with a wild creek that flows freely across the trail at more than one spot. If the water is running you’ll be forced to jump across a few times—but nothing too difficult. No need to get your feet wet.
At the head of the ravine the path doubles back and begins to climb the southern face of the valley. Pace yourself: it’s a long, steady climb from here. The road climbs upward along the southern face of the ravine into an old stand of woods dominated by Douglas fir.
The massive logging at the beginning of the twentieth century that reduced Forest Park to shrubs and bramble bushes has also made the park a perfect example of how forests evolve through successive stages of development—from tangled thickets, to shrubs, to mixed deciduous and conifer environments, and finally to older-growth stands. The lower reaches of Newton Road are a good model of a more mature forest, with large conifers approaching two hundred years in age. Near the BPA Road you will encounter forests in which conifers have not yet been able to displace the deciduous trees; red alder and big leaf maples still dominate the hillside. In the clear-cuts along the BPA Road you can also see the initial phases of thickets and shrubs.
The Willamette and Columbia rivers and the Cascades as seen from the intersection of Newton Road and the BPA Road
As you climb out of the valley the road curves around, crosses a large fallen tree, and shortly thereafter begins to mount the eastern face of the Tualatin Mountains.
Shortly after making this turn and ascending steeply upward, you may notice a witness post survey marker that dates back to the 1854 survey conducted of the area. At the time of the original survey this part of the park was classified as “burned, second-rate timber.” This may explain the presence of morels, which thrive on burned land.
While you’re still climbing your way up Newton Road, keep an eye open for a yellow-tipped coral mushroom (Ramaria rasilispora). Otherwise known as the northwest spring coral mushroom, this fungus resembles broccoli in form but has a white base with yellow-tipped, branchlike structures that resemble coral. It can be seen in early spring.
Another popular mushroom often found on Newton Road (and throughout Forest Park) is the honey mushroom (Armillaria mellea), which grows on old stumps or logs or at the base of trees. This gilled mushroom grows in huge clusters and has both a ring and stringy white pith in the stalk. The cap is yellowish to brown with a smattering of darker hairs, often reminding me of mottled yellowish pig skin.
Newton Road continues uphill at a steady pace to where it crosses the Wildwood Trail.
Near the top of Newton Road, at an elevation of 810 feet, you will reach the Wildwood Trail. If you were to take the left-hand branch you would travel past the Newton Meadow and Fire Lane 10 to Germantown Road, some 1.7 miles due south. Proceeding further up the hill on Newton Road would quickly lead you over the top of a small rise and downhill directly to Newton Meadow, a small field that is accessible by car from Skyline Boulevard.
For this hike you will take the right-hand branch of the Wildwood Trail, which passes through some of the prettiest stands of old Douglas fir and cedar in the park. As a consequence of the many cedars found here, the Wildwood Trail is reasonably dry along this stretch. Given its distance from town, it is also relatively free of runners.
At one time the Wildwood Trail ended here, largely due to a 70-acre private in-holding, often referred to as Hole in the Park. A 1995 Metro bond measure to acquire open space helped the Friends of Forest Park to purchase this crucial parcel and thus extend the Wildwood to Newberry Road.
Although the Wildwood Trail initially turns west to head into the upper portion of a ravine, it eventually turns and traverses the northern slope of the valley. Then the trail doubles back, heading southwest, and ascends to 900 feet as it approaches the BPA Road. Look for patches of deciduous trees here: they signal unstable and rocky soil conditions.
This portion of the walk is noteworthy for its profusion of berries. During the summer and early fall months I rarely return without having gorged myself on at least three or four varieties of berries. Look for huckleberries along this path. They grow on bushlike shrubs and are typically the earliest berry for snacking, ripening in June and July.
This is also a favorite roosting ground for the bald eagles that commute to Sauvie Island each day to scoop walleyes (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) from the river and from Sturgeon Lake. Listen for their deep-throated calls—most likely a complaint about your presence preventing them from flying up the valley to their roosts. Big birds cannot simply drop down into the forest canopy to reach their homes but must fly up the valley and approach their nests from below, hence their irritation with your intrusion.
After 1.15 miles on the Wildwood Trail you will emerge onto the BPA Road. Turn right to follow this pastoral road out to the point marked by the large overhead power lines. This is an exceptional road within the park because it is among the few trails not shaded by the forest canopy; rather, it runs along a cleared ridge at the end of which the BPA power lines cross. This portion of the walk always thrills me as I try to soak up the sunshine and look forward to the downhill portion of the trail yet to come.
The BPA Road climbs to 900 feet at the point where the road passes under the BPA power lines. Although this hike turns downhill immediately before the last rise under these pylons, take a moment to walk the few extra paces required to reach the promontory. The view from beneath the pylons is among the best in the park, providing a panorama of Sauvie Island and the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers. Across the horizon you will see (from north to southeast) Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams, and Mount Hood. The channel below, once dominated by Multnomah Indians, now serves anglers catching smallmouth bass, walleyes, black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus), white crappie (P. annularis), common carp, and the occasional Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) and white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus). Three times a year runs of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), and twice a year runs of steelhead trout (O. mykiss), migrate up the lower Willamette, attracting flotillas of fishermen who span the river in “hoglines” of side-by-side fishing boats. Coho salmon (O. kisutch) and sockeye salmon (O. nerka) also migrate past the lower Willamette on their way to lay eggs at the base of the Willamette Falls.
Backtracking just about 50 feet you’ll spot where the BPA Road actually bypasses the final knoll and begins its precipitous descent down the power-line clear-cut. This is my absolute favorite section of Forest Park, especially on a summer evening when I can watch the fishermen and boaters returning home up the river. In the distance you can see the big freighters coming up the river to the Port of Portland container terminals. Directly below, freighters load their cargoes and tugboats busily boss the big Japanese car transports into place. Way in the distance Mount St. Helens occasionally lets off a plume of steam as a reminder that all of this bucolic peace is very fragile.
Walking down is quite steep, and the lower portion of this road is very stony. A number of short tracks split off from the main road, but most of them peter out under the power lines. Take it slowly and walk on the grassy verge to avoid twisting an ankle. In the summer this path takes me forever to descend as I am forced to stop every two or three paces to sample the thimbleberries (July to early September), blackberries (August to October), wild raspberries (August), and ubiquitous salal berries (usually best late in the season, August to September).
Near the bottom you’ll join up with Newton Road, and another 50 feet will bring you to the bottom gate. Be careful when backing out into traffic.