Salem Riverfront Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Riverfront Park Trailhead
or
- Start point: Union Street Bridge Trailhead
- End Point: Wallace Park Gravel Pit
- Hike Type: In and out
- Distance: 4.1 miles
- Elevation gain: 45 feet
- High Point: 140 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: Yes
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Contents |
Description
In 2003, the City of Salem bought the Union Street Railroad Bridge (opened in 1913) from Union Pacific for $1 and spent $3.2 million converting it into a bicycle/pedestrian path that connects the east and west banks of the Willamette in downtown Salem. You may now walk the riverbank cottonwood corridor at Wallace Marine Park and then safely cross the river to enjoy the attractions of Salem’s Riverfront Park. At low water, beaches are exposed at the base of the bridge on the Willamette’s west bank and balmy weather sees throngs from the state capital enjoying time near the water. In August 2017, the Peter Courtney Minto Island Bridge was dedicated to connect Riverfront Park with Minto-Brown Island Park, thus extending walking/cycling opportunities in these three riverside parks (see the optional extension described below and the Minto-Brown Island Loop Hike).
If you are walking around Riverfront Park first, first head along the path paralleling Front Street to the beautiful and classic carousel. Pass the restrooms and the playground, then some picnic tables, the Gerry Frank Rotary Amphitheater (under construction in 2020), and finally reach the Eco-Earth Globe and the Peter Courtney Minto Island Bridge. The Eco-Earth Globe is a repurposed "acid ball," 85 feet in circumference and once used by Boise Cascade to hold gases and liquids used in the paper-making process at their now closed mill. Ceramic artists created a colorful globe with painted clay images to give new life to this symbol of local industry. Looking along the waterfront on both sides of the Willamette Slough, it's difficult to imagine that for over 100 years, this area was the site of noisy pulp and paper, lumber, and flouring mills, with pilings all along the shores and smoke stacks spewing clouds of vapor.
If you're not doing the optional loop described below, turn around and walk downriver to overlook the Willamette Slough and pass an amphitheater. At the statue of a fisherman, a path leads down to the public dock, which is the home port for the Willamette Queen, a sternwheeler built in Newport, Oregon. Then take the sidewalk along Water Street, getting views of the river. Near the noisy Highway 22 overpass, you will see on your right the colorful Victorian homes that comprise A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery Village. One block later, come to the Union Street Bridge, now converted for pedestrian/bike use.
Cross the bridge and loop down to a gravel parking area. Signs point to the Edgefield Trail, which is really a sidewalk-style path that runs between Highway 22 and Edgefield Street in West Salem. Instead, cross the road from the parking lot to pick up a paved trail heading down the river in the cottonwood corridor on the Willamette shore. There’s a viewing area, and then the trail becomes a lane of wood chips. Offshore is a long, narrow island that joins with the mainland at low water periods. The trail, with many offshoots, eventually reaches the softball field complex at the north end of the park. You can continue here on user trails that form a confusing tangle in the woods. You'll pass the flooded Wallace Park Gravel Pit, encounter a series of mountain bike jumps, negotiate a sea of horsetails, and may end up, past a rusting car body, at private property.
Optional extension on Minto Island (4.4 miles):
From Riverfront Park, cross the Peter Courtney Minto Island Bridge, getting views up and down Willamette Slough and its confluences with the Willamette River to the north and Pringle Creek just below the Eco-Earth Globe. You'll be entering a conservation area, so stay on the paved trail. This section of Minto Island was formerly owned by Boise Cascade and harbored several industrial waste ponds which have now been drained and are being restored to a seasonal wetland. There are benches placed along the trail and interpretive signs describe the human and natural history of the area. Thickets of willow appear on the left, followed by a conifer plantation. When you reach the Minto Island Conservation Area Junction, with its kiosk and port-a-potty, head right to begin a loop.
Hike under cottonwoods along the edge of a large field until you come to a junction marked for the Willamette River. Here turn right, and dip into a natural riparian woodland with some invasive blackberry in the understory. The path turns to run along the main channel of the Willamette River with some traffic noise from busy Highway 22 across the river. Cottonwood, ash, and maple rustle overhead. At a junction with a dirt path, turn left to reach Parking Lot 3. Bear right through the parking lot, and turn left when you see the play structures. Now follow a path that parallels Minto Island Road, passing by the park's off-leash area. The lindens and maples here turn brilliant colors in the fall. After passing an open field, you'll cross the park road where it bends right. Instead of crossing a footbridge, you'll turn left. This trail has a dark slough on the right and an open field on the left. Ignore a dead-end trail leading right and pass through an ash-cottonwood swale as the trail bends left into a cottonwood plantation. At the next junction, turn right to hike past a Douglas-fir plantation and reach the Minto Island Conservation Area Junction to complete the loop. Keep straight to return to Riverfront Park in 3/4 mile.
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Riverfront and Wallace Marine parks closed 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.
- Minto-Brown Island Park open sunrise to sunset
- Dogs on leash
- Picnic tables, restrooms, playgrounds
Maps
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Salem Riverfront Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Salem Riverfront Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- The Willamette River Field Guide by Travis Williams
- The Dog Lover's Companion to Oregon by Val Mallinson
More Links
- Riverfront Park (City of Salem)
- Wallace Marine Park (City of Salem)
- Eco-Earth Globe (City of Salem)
- Peter Courtney Minto Island Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge (City of Salem)
- Gilbert House Children's Museum
- Union Street Railroad Bridge (City of Salem)
- Minto-Brown Island Park (City of Salem)
- Salem Riverfront City Park (Outdoor Project)
- Salem Riverfront Park 2018 Master Plan (City of Salem)
- "Both ends of Salem's Riverfront Park affected by amphitheater, restroom construction" (Statesman Journal)
Page Contributors
- bobcat (creator)