Mike Miller Park Loop Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Mike Miller Educational Trailhead
- End point: Emery Trail Junction
- Hike type: Loop
- Distance: 1.2 miles
- Elevation gain: 115 feet
- High point: 170 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: Year round
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: No
Contents |
Hike Description
The one-mile Mike Miller Park Educational Trail circles a square of donated forest in Newport's South Beach area. While the area has been logged in the past, some large old growth Sitka spruce still tower over a lush and mossy understory. There are usually interpretive brochures available at the trailhead. Two newer trails lead off the loop trail to double the distance of the outing: the Wilder Trail on the north side of the property leads to a newly created suburb, and the Emery Trail, named after Will Emery, the benefactor who donated the land and has helped to pay for trail development in this area, heads south from the loop to connect with 50th Street. A trail is proposed from here to lead back along 50th to the Mike Miller Educational Trailhead.
The interpretive trail heads off into a rhododendron, evergreen huckleberry, salal and wax-myrtle thicket. At the junction for the loop, keep left and walk along an old railroad grade. This railroad was used during the First World War to carry spruce logs from Yachats to Yaquina Bay. Spruce was used in the construction of early-20th century aircraft. Look for migrating newts on the trail in the spring. The trail veers off this flat track and heads up and down to cross a footbridge. Enter shady Sitka spruce, Douglas-fir and western hemlock forest. Cross a footbridge over a pond. The rooty trail heads up in mature woods of Sitka spruce and hemlock. There are plenty of benches to sit on along the trail. Pass a huge spruce and then a large root ball in an area of large hemlocks. At #7, a side trail leads to a soil pit showing the different layers. Reach the junction with the Wilder Trail. This trail offers a glimpse from a height towards South Beach and then drops to the Wilder Twin Park development on SE 40th Street.
Continuing on the loop trail, go right in old growth and at #9, a spur trail leads to the edge of the woods. Enter younger hemlock woods, planted in the mid-70s. Salal forms a dense thicket here. Begin a descent in a more open area under recently-planted spruce and cross a footbridge to ascend some steps. The trail levels in salal and then descends again in an area of blowdown. Pass the junction with the new Emery Trail (Head down through young regenerating forest near a new campus of the Oregon Coast Community College to 50th Street and then return to add another 0.6 miles to the hike) and descend more steeply in a still-open area with salal, evergreen huckleberry, hemlock and spruce. Look for an osprey nest perched on on old snag to the left. Cross another footbridge and enter a dark tunnel of young hemlocks. Walk along a short boardwalk and keep descending to a pond. Here, there’s a footbridge and a small landing. Ascend a short slope under rhododendrons and evergreen huckleberry, and then descend to the loop junction on the railroad grade. Turn left and walk back to the car.
Note that there are suburban trail connections, using the Wilder Trail from Mike Miller Park, to the Hatfield Marine Science Center on Yaquina Bay.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Mike Miller Park Trail System (Lincoln County Parks)
- Green Trails Maps: Oregon Coast Central #456SX
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- No fees
- Dogs on leash
- Campground, picnic area, restrooms
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Mike Miller Park Loop Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Mike Miller Park Loop Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- 75 Hikes in Oregon's Coast Range and Siskiyous by Rhonda & George Ostertag
- Best Easy Day Hikes: Oregon's North Coast by Lizann Dunegan
- Hiking the Oregon Coast by Lizann Dunegan
- Best Hikes With Kids: Oregon by Bonnie Henderson & Zach Urness
- 120 Hikes on the Oregon Coast by Bonnie Henderson
- Day Hiking: Oregon Coast by Bonnie Henderson
- Best Hikes with Children: Western & Central Oregon by Bonnie Henderson
- 100 Hikes: Oregon Coast by William L. Sullivan
- The Dog Lover's Companion to Oregon by Val Mallinson
More Links
- Mike Miller Park (Lincoln County Parks)
- Mike Miller Park Educational Trail Interpretive Brochure (Lincoln County Parks)
- Mike Miller Educational Trail (AllTrails)
- "It's Wilder in South Beach" (Wilder Newport)
- "Developer donates land for Mike Miller Park" (Wilder Newport)
Contributors
- bobcat (creator)