4 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Sierra Club’s ‘50 Hikes’
gets an upgrade
Book urges exploration of
Clatsop, Tillamook forests
forests, use the hikes in this book to remind your-
self of Oregon’s innate majesty, to discover new
favorite trails, and, most importantly, to find the
inspiration it takes to preserve a forest ecosystem as
threatened and fragile as the Clatsop and Tillamook
woods.”
By EDWARD STRATTON
FOR COAST WEEKEND
B
etween the North Coast and Portland metro
area are more than 500,000 lush, rugged
acres of the 44-year-old Clatsop and Tilla-
mook state forests, nearly two-thirds of the forest-
land managed by the state.
The Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club is urging
public exploration and protection of the forests
in “50 Hikes in the Clatsop and Tillamook State
Forests,” coming out early next year online and in
local bookstores.
The book is largely an update of the Sierra
Club’s 2001 publication “50 Hikes in the Tillamook
State Forest.”
“We want future generations to be able to stand
in awe of the towering trees,” the book’s introduc-
Hiking the rivers
EDWARD STRATTON PHOTO
The Sierra Club’s new hiking and forest guide, “50
Hikes in the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests,” is
slated to hit bookstores and online March 1.
tion says. “Hence this second edition of 50 Hikes,
which now includes the beautiful, yet heavily
logged, Clatsop State Forest. If you love your local
The Sierra Club takes readers through the geo-
logical and cultural history of the region, formed
by subduction of the Juan de Fuca Plate under
North America, inhabited for about 10,000 years by
Native Americans and first explored by Europeans
starting in the 16th century, before launching into a
series of hikes based around river drainages empty-
ing into Tillamook, Nehalem and Youngs bays.
The guide starts along the Wilson River, running
through 355,000 rugged acres burned in a series of
massive forest fires between 1933 and 1951, and
Continued on Page 15
JOSHUA BESSEX PHOTO
A new hiking guide by the Oregon chapter of the Sierra Club features hikes along the Nehalem River in southern Clatsop County.