Dabney Loop Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
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- Start point: Dabney Lower Trailhead
- End point: Bonnie Brook Pond
- Hike type: Loop with spurs
- Distance: 2.3 miles
- Elevation gain: 90 feet
- High point: 100 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: In summer
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Hike Description
Richard T. Dabney was one of the original champions for the preservation of the Columbia River Gorge and a strong proponent of the scenic highway. Originally from Illinois, he invested heavily in Pacific Northwest timber and real estate and grew rich from the proceeds. In 1905, he moved to Portland, where he and his wife raised eight children. The family also acquired 50 acres on the Sandy River for a summer getaway. Upon Richard’s death in 1916, the land was given to Multnomah County. The county gifted the acreage to the state in 1945, and in 1968 a further 85 acres were purchased. The park has a short trail system that threads through the wooded bottomlands along the river as well as the bluffs above. The eastern section of the park contains a very popular disc golf course. Summer days can be very busy here, with pleasure goers coming to enjoy the expansive beaches and float the river. At other times of the year, the park is relatively quiet. Note that this is one of the few Oregon state parks that does not permit pets.
Walk to the west end of the parking area on the right of the restrooms. Drop down a paved trail to a picnic area shaded by tall cottonwoods, Douglas-firs, cedars, and big-leaf maples. The boat launch is to your right. Follow the trail to an interpretive sign about the Sandy River. You can access a beach on the river here and look downstream to the Stark Street Bridge. Then head east along a narrow paved trail that parallels the river. Look across to an island that can be accessed in the summer as well as the steep 250-foot bluffs on the opposite bank. Keep to the Sandy River Trail, and cross the wooden footbridge over Bonnie Brook. The path loops up the slope to a trail junction, where you go right. Hike along a wooded bluff with more picnic tables in a vine maple, thimbleberry, and snowberry understory. Reach the restrooms at the upper parking area. A sign here tells about the Nature’s Conservancy’s work in clearing invasive plants such as garlic mustard and clematis.
Find the River Access Trail leading down the bluff to a bottomland of cottonwood, alder, salmonberry, willow, and red osier dogwood. Cross a low footbridge and, at a trail junction, keep straight to reach the Sandy River and get a clear view to the high bluffs across the water. Look for great blue herons on the shore. You can take a trail above the bank which leads right through the dogwood/willow thickets to Bonnie Brook. There’s a small beaver dam here. In the dry months, you could cross the brook to reach the main trail, but instead head back to the River Access Trail. Now continue east along another riverside trail, which will soon bend back to connect with a path that leads east across the bottomland through young maples, cottonwoods, thimbleberry thickets and horsetails. The use trail undulates along until it reaches a fallen cottonwood at a deeply incised gully. The footbridge over the gully is damaged, so return the way you came, and go right on the River Access Trail back to the upper parking area.
Cross the parking area, and take the path leading up between stone walls to the group picnic area. Large stately beeches shade this expanse. Keep straight to cross the paved road. At a disc golf tee, find the chip trail that leads to a footbridge over Bonnie Brook. To your left is the Bonnie Brook Pond. There should be a resident pair of mallards here. The route crosses two more footbridges. Pass Tee #3, and reach the paved road. Cross it, and walk across the grass to go right on the paved trail that leads through a line of tall Douglas-firs. Pass an interesting tightly curled beech tree, and come to the middle parking area. Follow the trail along the park road and back to the Dabney Lower Trailhead, passing above Bonnie Brook on its way to meet the Sandy.
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- $5 day-use fee
- NO pets permitted
- Park open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Picnic areas, restrooms, boat launch, disc golf course
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Dabney State Recreation Area printable trail map (Oregon State Library Digital Collections)
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Dabney Loop Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Dabney Loop Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Oregon State Parks: A Complete Recreation Guide by Jan Bannan
More Links
- Dabney State Recreation Area (Oregon State Parks)
- “Dabney State Recreation Area, Oregon” (The Columbia River: A Photographic Journey)
- Dabney State Park (Portland Family Adventures)
- Dabney State Park (Outdoor Project)
- Biography of Richard T. Dabney (Oregon Biographies)
Contributors
- bobcat (creator)