Mill Hill Loop Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Mill Hill Trailhead
- End Point: Gray Creek
- Hike Type: Lollipop loop
- Distance: 2.8 miles
- Elevation gain: 110 feet
- High Point: 440 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: No
- Mill Hill Loop Hike Accessibility Information
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Contents |
Description
The William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge, named after a respected 20th century wildlife photographer and conservationist, is one of three Willamette Valley refuges set up to protect habitat for wintering waterfowl, especially the dusky Canada goose (Branta canadensis occidentalis). Several short trails in the refuge, including the Mill Hill Loop, are open all year, while others can be hiked after April 1st. Characteristic habitat here includes wetlands and riparian shrubbery at the lowest elevations and mixed forest dominated by Douglas-fir, Oregon white oak, and big-leaf maple on hillsides. There are also numerous meadows and open fields. The Mill Hill Loop is a short hike that takes you across oak savannah and some Douglas-fir woodland, with views of Gray Creek and a colorful and varied wildflower display in the spring.
From the trailhead, get a view of the Display Pond, which should have a diversity of waterfowl plying its waters. Head to your right, paralleling the refuge road, into Douglas-fir woods and come to the junction with the Intertie Trail, where you go left into an open oak savannah with serviceberry bushes blooming in spring (going right would connect you with the Woodpecker Loop Hike). Reach a gravel road and go right, strolling through an oak forest. At a junction for many destinations, go right and uphill on the Mill Hill Trail. Soon reach another junction for the loop and go right. Walk in lovely, mossy oak woods blooming with toothworts, orchids and violets in spring. Higher up, more Douglas-firs enter the mix. The trail exits these more mature woods and bends left, heading down a grassy alley bordered by young Douglas-firs with the occasional grand fir. Mosquitoes whine in profusion here during spring. Head up above marshy Gray Creek on the old road bed (look for wood ducks on the creek) and at a junction, keep right (straight) to end the loop. Soon come to the main junction and proceed left to retrace your steps to the trailhead.
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- No fee
- No dogs allowed
- Port-a-potty at trailhead
- Obey wildlife refuge No Entry signs
Maps
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Mill Hill Loop Hike
- William L. Finley Refuge 7/8/15
- William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge, 4/27/2011
- William Finley Refuge, Mill Hill Loop Trail 5-1-2010
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Mill Hill Loop Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Oregon's Best Wildflower Hikes: Northwest Region by George Werther
- Wild in the Willamette edited by Lorraine Anderson with Abby Phillips Metzger
- Corvallis Trails by Margie C. Powell
- 75 Hikes in Oregon's Coast Range and Siskiyous by Rhonda & George Ostertag
- 100 Hikes: Oregon Coast by William L. Sullivan
- Take a Hike: Portland by Barbara I. Bond
- A Walking Guide to Oregon's Ancient Forests by Wendell Wood
- A Guide to Trails in the Corvallis Area by Phillip R. Hays
More Links
- William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)
- William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge Trail Descriptions (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)
- Mill Hill Loop - Finley Wildlife Refuge (Every Trail)
- Finley NWR (Northwest Wildflowers)
Page Contributors
- bobcat (creator)