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Camassia Natural Area Loop Hike

From Oregon Hikers Field Guide

TKO put tools to trail here.png
Flower meadows in the Camassia Natural Area (Steve Hart)
Northwestern saxifrage, rosy plectritis, and camas buds, Camassia (bobcat)
Oregon Oak (Steve Hart)
Large-flowered blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia grandiflora) (bobcat)
The loop with spurs that is described (bobcat) Courtesy: Caltopo/TF Outdoors
Poison-Oak

Contents

Hike Description

The Camassia Natural Area was purchased by the Nature Conservancy in 1962. It has been managed ever since as a natural preserve, open to the public, but with an emphasis on recreating natural habitat on this basalt scabland that was scoured by the Missoula Floods between 15,000 and 13,000 years ago. English ivy has been cleared, Douglas-firs girdled or chopped down, and rare white rock larkspur has been seeded. There is a loop trail with three major spurs leading out of the natural area as well as a short path to a pond. Camassia sees large crowds on spring weekends, when the wildflowers are in full bloom. The central loop is a one-way trail, so head counterclockwise from the junction at the trailhead.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Parking is very limited (maximum six vehicles) at the Walnut Street trailhead. During spring and summer, as well as on weekends throughout the year, you might be better off parking at West Linn's Wilderness Park and taking the trail from there into Camassia (see the Wilderness Park Loop Hike).

From the trailhead, hike a few feet to a trail junction. Pick up a guide brochure from the supply there. Turn right to begin the one-way loop. The trail follows a boardwalk through a brushy woodland with poison oak and then descends a scabland. Oregon white oak edges this open area, and in spring the camas, rosy plectritis, and blue-eyed Mary are blooming. Numbered posts for the nature walk begin to appear. A couple of spur trails lead to viewpoints, with the I-205 freeway rushing below and the Willamette River flowing beyond that, and Oregon City across the river. Then you'll come to the junction with the Bridge Trail.

The Bridge Trail descends the steep bluff into a former quarry. You can head right to cross a running creek on a footbridge with a wire mesh deck or stay left to hop over the creek. The muddy trail then passes a pond and rises to a parking area at West Linn High School.

Return to the Loop Trail, and make a right. Steps lead up to more scabland that blooms with wildflowers in spring. A spur leads right to the Osprey Viewpoint, where you'll get a clifftop view to the old quarry below and a cell tower that hosts an osprey nest. There are also madrone trees on this scarp. (There is also a very steep scramble here for the most agile down to the quarry floor, where you can connect to the Bridge Trail.) Continuing on the loop, you'll see a trail marked "High School" leading right.

Follow this path across the scabland. Then you'll descend a rocky defile to reach a raised, segmented boardwalk across a forested bog. Great camas blooms here in the spring. From here, there's a scramble down through licorice fern boulders to eventually reach the track field at West Linn High School. Return to the Loop Trail, and make a right.

A lengthy stretch of segmented boardwalk takes you across the fragile scabland. Look for buttercup, Oregon saxifrage, plectritis, and camas. Another section of boardwalk takes you to the junction with the Terrace Trail, which leads into Wilderness Park, an option for extending the hike (see the Wilderness Park Loop Hike). Otherwise, you can continue around to follow the loop back into the woods. A short trail leads down to a pond, where you can check for frogs and salamanders. From here, the Loop Trail takes another boardwalk section back to the trailhead.


Maps

Regulations or restrictions, etc

  • Dogs are not allowed in the natural area
  • Do NOT pick any flowers!
  • Stay on the trails!

Trip Reports

Related Discussions / Q&A

Guidebooks that cover this hike

  • Discovering Portland Parks by Owen Wozniak
  • Take a Walk: Portland by Brian Barker
  • PDX Hiking 365 by Matt Reeder
  • Urban Trails: Portland by Eli Boschetto
  • Wild in the City: Exploring the Intertwine edited by Michael C. Houck and M.J. Cody
  • Peaceful Places: Portland by Paul Gerald
  • Oregon Nature Weekends by Jim Yuskavitch

More Links


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Oregon Hikers Field Guide is built as a collaborative effort by its user community. While we make every effort to fact-check, information found here should be considered anecdotal. You should cross-check against other references before planning a hike. Trail routing and conditions are subject to change. Please contact us if you notice errors on this page.

Hiking is a potentially risky activity, and the entire risk for users of this field guide is assumed by the user, and in no event shall Trailkeepers of Oregon be liable for any injury or damages suffered as a result of relying on content in this field guide. All content posted on the field guide becomes the property of Trailkeepers of Oregon, and may not be used without permission.