Cazadero Trail Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Cazadero Trailhead
- End point: Former Deep Creek Trestle
- Hike type: In and out
- Distance: 6.1 miles
- Elevation gain: 220 feet
- High point: 495 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: On weekends
Contents |
Description
The Cazadero State Trail is an ongoing project using railroad rights of way to connect the Springwater Corridor with Estacada and the Clackamas River. The Portland Railway, Light & Power Company’s (PRL & P) electric interurban railroad was constructed in 1903-04 to run from Linneman Station as far as the Cazadero Dam on the Clackamas, just east of Estacada (The dam was completed in 1907). Later the line was extended a little further to the vicinity of the current North Fork Dam (constructed in 1958). The line was abandoned in the 1940s, later allowing Oregon State Parks to take up the cause of a bike trail that reaches from Portland into the Cascade Range. Today, two impediments to a continuous trail are the deep canyon of the North Fork Deep Creek and another former trestle crossing over Eagle Creek. This section of the Cazadero Trail runs three miles to the site of the first trestle. While much of the former railroad grade parts rampant blackberry thickets, a scenic side trail ventures onto Metro property and takes you above the North Fork Deep Creek in a lush natural woodland. The trail today is primarily a destination for locals and their canine companions and is only busy after late morning on weekends.
“Cazadero” is a Spanish word meaning “hunting place.” The trolley stop and dam are presumed to be named after Cazadero, California.
Walk past the kiosk and row of bollards. The gravel path on the old PRLPC line makes a very gradual descent. The alder and cottonwood-shaded North Fork Deep Creek appears to your left. Pass a gated maintenance track coming in from the right, and hike a corridor lined with blackberry and shaded by Douglas firs and alders. A diversionary ditch to the left now channels water to the North Fork. Across the North Fork, you’ll see the Mountain View Golf Course. A powerline runs above the rail right of way as you descend below an ivy-choked slope of cedars and Douglas-firs. Pass a trail on your left that comes down from private property. Then, almost one mile into the hike, another trail departs from the railroad grade on the left.
Take this path along a split-rail fence into Metro’s 18-acre Deep Creek Natural Area. You’ll enter a lush woodland of big-leaf maple, western red-cedar, and Douglas-fir with a sword fern/Oregon grape understory. Spurs lead left to overlooks of the North Fork Deep Creek. At one spur, you can descend to the creek itself and look upstream to a small drop in the spate. Then the trail joins the old track of SE Peterson Road, which once serviced dwellings in this area. Continue on this track under the powerlines, with the railroad grade up to your right. The foot trail resumes near a logjam on the creek. Continue hiking through the salal, and pass under a mossy yew. Another side trail leads left to a small flat on the creek. Rejoin the railroad grade opposite a couple of rural homes.
The track proceeds through an avenue of blackberries, Scots broom, and hazel. To the left, you’ll be passing another Metro acquisition, this time of 47 undeveloped acres between the trail and creek. Large Douglas-firs tower over the sword fern slope to your right. A couple of spur trails head left for views of a deeper canyon on the North Fork. To the right, an old road track descends from above. Pass a cedar/maple flat, and reach the end of this section of the trail on a broad forested bench at the old siding of Norris at a No Parking sign (!). Just beyond a pole-and-rail fence barrier is the deep gully once crossed by the Deep Creek Trestle; here, the North Fork rushes through a blackberry thicket.
Return along the railroad grade. Bypassing the trails through Metro’s Deep Creek Natural Area, you’ll wander by an open flat near Peterson Road at the siding of Siefer that once held a homestead.
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Dogs on leash
- Park open: 7:00 a.m. – 8 p.m.
- Information kiosk with map
- Stay on the trail: respect private property
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Cazadero Trail Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Cazadero Trail Hike
- Cazadero Trail – Boring, OR
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Take a Walk: Portland by Brian Barker
- Best Bike Rides: Portland, Oregon by Lizann Dunegan & Ayleen Crotty
More Links
- Cazadero Trail (TrailLink)
- Where to Walk in Deep Creek Canyon (Clackamas County)
- Portland to Cazadero (Abandoned Rails)
- Springwater Corridor Trail – East Segment (Access Trails)
- Portland Railway Light and Power (Oregon Encyclopedia)
- Interurbans (PdxHistory.com)
- Portland Railway, Light and Power Company (Wikipedia)
- “Metro buys 18 acres of forested land along Deep Creek” (Oregon Live)
- “A historic day in Boring” (Sandy Post)
Page Contributors
- bobcat (creator)