4A ܂ WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2018 ܂ APPEAL TRIBUNE
Life in the Valley
Oregon’s 10 best hikes for the family
Abby Luschei and Zach Urness
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Doing things with children can be un-
predictable. Going to the grocery store
may seem like a feat in and of itself.
If you've ever wanted to hike with
your family but have been worried about
going into the unknown, you are in luck:
Zach Urness and Bonnie Henderson
have done just that.
And they published a book about it.
"Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon" fea-
tures 121 hikes in the state, primarily
close to the Willamette Valley and Bend,
that can accommodate a range of ages,
difficulties and abilities.
"The hikes themselves (were) all
carefully selected and have all been
hiked recently by Zach or me," said Hen-
derson, a freelance writer, editor and
author of several outdoor-related
books.
It isn't a one-size-fits-all book; it's a
detailed reference for eager-to-be-out-
doors parents giving them a place to
start.
Together, the co-authors have more
than 30 years of experience exploring
and writing about Oregon outdoors. In
the decade he has written about the
subject, Urness said he often gets asked,
"I have a family, I want to take them
somewhere amazing. But where should
I go?"
According to the authors, a "good
hike" with kids consists of not having to
hike too far to get a good payoff like a
view, waterfall or footbridge.
"I brought my daughters (1 and 3
years old) and my nephews (7 and 10
years old) on a lot of the hikes," Urness
said. "So, in addition to hiking them my-
self, I got the experience from being out
there with kids."
With more than 100 hikes to choose
from, "Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon" is
formatted to inform with ease – pick it
up, flip to the desired geographical loca-
tion and head out.
To give an idea, here are the co-au-
thor's 10 favorite hikes with kids, written
by Urness and Henderson, from every
region of the state. They've even added
a few bonus hikes just across the Wash-
ington and California border.
1: Portland area: Wapato Access
Greenway
Any excuse to go to Sauvie Island is a
good one, especially during the harvest
season, when family-friendly farms of-
fer u-pick berries, corn mazes, and
more. While you’re there, take an easy,
level walk around Virginia Lake, a wet-
land that’s dry most of the year but wet
in winter. You might spy migrating wa-
terfowl from a trailside viewing plat-
form and bird blind.
The whole loop hike is 2.5 miles, in-
cluding a short detour to Hadley’s Land-
ing on Multnomah Slough, where you
could stop to picnic and watch boats go
by.
The bridge to Sauvie Island is just 10
miles from downtown Portland; the
drive to Wapato Greenway takes anoth-
er five minutes, and there’s no trailhead
parking fee.
2: Mount Hood: Lower Twin Lake
We love the hike to Mirror Lake — and
so do a lot of other people. So drive a lit-
tle farther from Portland, past Govern-
ment Camp, and take the 2.1-mile hike
to Lower Twin Lake. It gains just 660
feet of elevation, making it doable for
most kids. All this lake mirrors is the for-
est surrounding it (and your own smiles
of satisfaction upon reaching it).
Make it a day hike and picnic at the
lakeshore. A trail encircles the lake; the
best wading is on a small bit of sandy
shoreline on the far side. Or make it a
backpacking trip and pick a campsite
among several scattered all around the
lakeshore, but avoid busy summer
weekends if you can; lots of families
choose this for a first, or annual, kids’
backpack destination.
If your group has more time and en-
ergy, Upper Twin Lake is less than a mile
by trail to the north.
3: Gorge: Columbia Hills State
Park
Because many of Oregon’s iconic wa-
terfall trails remain closed due to Eagle
Creek Fire damage, we’re going a little
outside the box with our Columbia
Gorge selection.
Columbia Hills State Park, located on
the Washington side of the Gorge near
The Dalles, features one of the best
spring wildflower displays in the North-
west, along with petroglyphs and an an-
cient ring of lava.
The great thing about hiking here
with kids is different levels of difficulty,
plus the educational possibilities. There
are also options for camping, fishing
and boating.
The most notable hike is Dalles
Mountain Ranch, with wildflowers and
Mount Hood views, on a moderately dif-
ficult 4.1-mile loop. Two other excellent
options are Horsethief Butte (1.2 miles)
and a short stroll along Petroglyphs
Trail, which features images showcas-
ing the area’s Native American history.
4: Coast Range: Sweet Creek Trail
Here’s a fun activity with kids while
exploring this charmed trail in Oregon’s
Coast Range: at the beginning of the
hike, ask them to count the number of
waterfalls they see.
Officially, there are 11 waterfalls along
Sweet Creek Trail, a 2.2-mile trek south
of Mapleton and near Florence. But
there’s so much cascading water in this
steep rainforest canyon that my nephew
Rylan decided there were really 26 wa-
terfalls.
No matter how you do it, though,
Sweet Creek is a sweet treat, with cat-
walks that go out over the water and nu-
merous places to stop and explore the
creek. Sweet Creek Falls, the 50-foot
main attraction, is powerful in winter
and becomes a popular swimming spot
in summer.
5: Crater Lake: The Watchman and
Cleetwood Cove
Oregon’s only national park show-
cases the United States’ deepest lake
glowing bright blue inside the belly of an
exploded volcano.
While there are a number of fun ac-
tivities here, two stick out. The first is a
short hike to a lookout with a bird’s eye
view of the lake, while the second takes
you down to the lakeshore, where chilly
swimming and a boat tour is possible.
The hike to The Watchman is 1.6
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miles round-trip to the lookout, with a
steep little climb. Cleetwood Cove drops
700 feet to the lakeshore and is 2 chal-
lenging miles round-trip. Boat tours are
expensive — $42 per adult and $28 per
kid — but certainly worthwhile.
6: Central Cascades: Sahalie Falls
Multnomah Falls is tall, but Sahalie
Falls is huge: the entire McKenzie River
pouring over a cliff and into a bowl. You
can see it in a short walk from the park-
ing area off Highway 126, but the best
way to see it is in a 2.4-mile loop hike
that provides views of Sahalie from both
sides of the river plus a second water-
fall, Koosah.
Oh, and there’s an awesome skinny
footbridge to cross over the river near
the start of the loop. And if there’s any
sunshine, you may see a rainbow in the
falls’ copious mist.
You might encounter mountain bik-
ers on the trail — the McKenzie River
Trail is a popular single-track route —
but they tend to be polite and accommo-
dating to hikers on this trail. There is no
parking fee (but be warned; the rest-
rooms at the parking area are notorious-
ly dirty and to be avoided).
7: Coast: Short Sand Beach
Looking for a short coastal walk with
wee ones? You can’t beat the 0.5-mile
hike to Short Sand Beach. It’s easy and it
goes through what may be the Oregon
Coast’s biggest clutch of old-growth ce-
dars — among the few that have avoided
being cut over the past century-plus.
You’ll likely be accompanied by surfers
heading to the water with their boards.
Short Sand Trail is kind of a gateway:
with older kids, consider peeling off
north to Cape Falcon, or south to the
meadows and views at Devil’s Caul-
dron. It’s all within dramatic Oswald
West State Park, a gorgeous park south
of Arch Cape and north of Manzanita.
Short Sand Beach used to have a
hike-in campground; camping is no
longer allowed, but campground ameni-
ties (ocean view picnic tables, flush toi-
lets at the trailhead and at the beach) re-
main. There’s no parking fee for this
trail.
8: Central Oregon: Sparks Lake
It’s fitting that a trail named for one of
Oregon’s preeminent photographers
would be as scenic as they come. Ray
Atkeson Memorial Trail starts along the
edge of Sparks Lake, with mirror views
of the nearby Cascades peaks, before
venturing into the adjacent lava-rock
landscape.
Take the main 1.4-mile loop, includ-
ing a short detour through a slot canyon
of tall rock walls. Or expand your hike
into Davis Canyon for a 2.5-mile loop.
Sparks Lake is near the start (if
you’re coming from Bend) of Cascade
Lakes Scenic Byway, with unlimited rec-
reation opportunities for outdoorsy
families. This is one of the easier trails
that peel off this classic Central Oregon
route.
9: E. Oregon canyonlands: John
Day Fossil Beds
Few places do indoor and outdoor
learning better than this national monu-
ment in Eastern Oregon’s canyonlands.
Lucy Urness and Matt Achor hike the
overlook trail outside the Thomas
Condon Paleontology Center.
ZACH URNESS/STATESMAN JOURNAL
The monument’s main attraction is a
trove of easy and spectacular hikes,
showcasing the iconic Painted Hills and
a geologic wonderland packed with fos-
sils.
But it’s also home to an outstanding
museum and working paleontology sci-
ence center.
I like to start a trip here by taking my
kids to the Thomas Condon Paleontol-
ogy Center, home to skeletons of saber-
tooth tigers and a prehistoric animal
known as the terminator pig. Then, we
head out to hike the canyonlands where
these fossils were discovered, in uber-
scenic spots such as Blue Basin and Is-
land in Time trails.
It’s a long drive from most Oregon cit-
ies, so take advantage by staying over-
night at a bed and breakfast or hot
springs resort.
10: Northeast Oregon: Anthony
Lake
One of the least-known mountain
ranges in Oregon is the mighty Elk-
horns. Located just outside Baker City,
on the far side of the state, these rugged
peaks actually host some great options
for hiking and traveling with kids.
It might sound like heresy, but I actu-
ally prefer the Elkhorns to the better-
known Wallowas when adventuring
with kids.
The basecamp for adventure in the
Elkhorns has to be Anthony Lake, a
stunning alpine pool above 7,000 feet
with a number of short and beautiful
hikes, including access to the iconic Elk-
horn Crest Trail.
There’s a number of different options
from the easy (2.4 miles to Hoffer Lakes)
to the very challenging (26 miles one-
way on Elkhorn Crest) and everything in
between.
Bonus: Oregon and California
redwoods
Did you know that there are old-
growth redwoods on Oregon soil? There
are indeed, and we feature the Redwood
Nature Loop and Oregon Redwood Trail
in the book. We also feature the best of
the best redwoods trail just across the
border at Jedediah Smith Redwoods
State Park.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors
writer, photographer and videographer
in Oregon for 10 years. He is the author of
the book “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon”
and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can
be reached at zurness@StatesmanJour-
nal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on
Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.