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You have arrived at the trail head of the Thayer Hiking site - a web page devoted to walking Oregon’s Tualatin Range and North Coast forests. Tie your shoe laces and get ready to “walk the wild side!”
Thayer Family Web Page
Originally this site was primarily a Thayer family web site for a branch of our Thayer clan that came to Portland in 1970. For more on who we are, you may bushwhack your way into the “Thayers” link and explore the history of our family’s activities in Oregon and around the world.
Take a Hike!
This site began as way to record my own wanderings in the Tualatin Range that extends from Portland’s “West Hills” though Forest Park and continues north into the wild slopes of the Coast Range beginning to the west of Scappoose, Oregon.
This site has become a repository for an eclectic body of information dealing with the physical aspects of Oregon’s Northwest corner, the geology and layout of the landscape, the diversity of its flora and fauna, the intricacies of its history, the stories of its inhabitants, the public issues affecting its use and accessibility, and not the least it’s a pean to the exquisite joys of exploring the remote logging roads that crisscross some of the world’s densest forests!
The approximate territory that this site encompasses extends from Portland north and west to Astoria, south to Tillamook and thence back to Portland. Not all of this area has been explored, but it is the hope of this walker to cover much of this area to discover the most rewarding hikes in this “forgotten corner” of Oregon.
One of the specific challenges that I have set for myself is to map and describe the two land routes originally envisioned when Kieth Hay originally proposed to establish a Pacific Greenway that would connect Portland with the Coast. Three routes were proposed. The water route along the Columbia, follows in the paddle eddies of Lewis and Clark’s passage. The second route envisioned a connection from the northern terminus of Forest Park all the way to Seaside, Oregon. And the final route extended south of US 26 through the Salmonberry Wilderness to Tillamook. To date, I have completed and mapped the route to Seaside passing along the flanks of Saddle Mountain and above the wizened Klootchie Spruce. I will begin to explore the southern route to Tillamook in 2009 completing that route description in 2010 if all goes well.
While not as spectacular as the Columbia Gorge, the Coast or the high Cascades, this section of Oregon has the advantage of being more easily accessible from Portland, serves as an excellent example of how “working forest” contribute to the forest riches for which Oregon is so justly famous. This is a neck of the woods where you will find loggers, hunters, mushrooms gatherers, fishermen, foresters and small towns all coexisting together. Unlike the public domain lands that have been preserved elsewhere, these forests are primarily privately owned, managed and routinely harvested. But what one may miss in terms of pristine “old growth” woods, is made up by the vast expanse of virtually empty forests where the solitary hiker may chance upon another soul once or twice a year - and then typically only as they pass you in their pick-up truck on some lonely mountain-top road.
Often asked by journalists or friends why I prefer the “working class” forests over the more spectacular sights to be found in our state and national parks, and I respond that for me the question of how people and forests can successfully coexist in a manner that provides a sustainable symbiotic relationship is one of the most critical questions facing not just Oregon but our planet. We cannot lock up all the planets natural resources, nor can we deny our rural communities the means to survive off the land. But the story of how we arrive at a sustainable balance told in terms of the forests themselves, through the health of the wildlife and plant life, chronicled in the vicissitudes of our rural communities and through the gnarly exploits of the loggers that carve a living from these forests - that’s the tale that enthralls me. There’s more to the forests that pretty meadows and lonely peaks. Oregon’s coastal forests have continued to evolve since we first started logging these slopes in the late 1800’s, and the struggle to find that acceptable balance continues leaving deep ruts across the face of this wild terrain, and across the lives of all those that depend on these lonely forest for their survival - whether four-footed or two-legged.
This site is subdivided into various pages that describe the diverse aspects of these region, and the trails and hikes I have catalogued.
History - this page explores the history of the region, relying on a diverse set of sources cobbled together from a myriad places. It contains the complete Buck Munger accounts of the founding of Forest Park, and references to many other early writing about the area.
Preservation - This page is dedicated to the proposition that we need to preserve “working forests” near Portland, because (if managed properly) it has a beneficial impact in creating diverse wildlife habitat and providing recreational access for hunters, fishermen, hikers and mountain bikers. With the increased importance of forests in sequestering carbon, it is important that our urban communities become more familiar with working forests to appreciate that intelligent forest management and harvesting is at the heart of wood’s renewable value. And furthermore the harvesting and growth of new forests contributes to the effective sequestration of carbon. Closer dialog between our urban populace and the natural resource harvesting communities is key to forging a sustainable utilization of our renewable natural resources.
Flora and Fauna - This page explore the diverse plants and animals to be found in these forests.
Geology - explores the underlying physical elements that make up and explain the contours of this landscape.
Four T - This explores a unique trail and urban transportation combination that highlights the iconic features of Portland by linking the Portland Streetcar (“trolley”) with the Aerial Tram, the Marquam Trail system and the MAX Train.
Forest Hikes 1 - contains rudimentary maps for the twenty trails that were described in my recent hiking book, “Portland Forest Hikes” published by Portland’s own Timber Press. These hikes include one hike in Portland’s Marquam Park (below OHSU), nine remote trails in the northern parts of Forest Park, and another 10 previously unknown hikes located north of Forest Park and extending up to and past Rocky Point Road located between the end of Skyline Boulevard and US 30. For a complete description of these trails, with more detailed maps please purchase “Portland Forest Hikes” in any local bookstore.
Forest Hikes 2 - is a work-in-progress that describes the next 20 or so trails that I have been mapping and cataloguing since completing Portland Forest Hikes. This sub-site serves as the working platform for the next 20 trails I am surveying that will reach from Scappoose via Vernonia all the way US 26 to Seaside. Eventually, I plan to survey and record a network of publicly accessible logging roads and trails that will connect from Forest Park all the way to Seaside and Tillamook. One route will run north of US 26 , and the other will follow the peaks in the Salmonberry wilderness above the Wilson River eventually reaching the coast at Nehalem Bay, just north of Tillamook.
The trail descriptions will be augmented with photos, old documents and pictures as well as my GPS maps and plenty of historical background on the regions and communities along the way. I’ll also add in the flora and fauna aspects and show how you can enjoy these hikes from various points along US 26 highway and Oregon’s highway 6. Eventually, I will also try to add in a facility for downloading the GPS data for each of the hikes in the universally usable “.gpx” format.
Enjoy and if you have questions give us a call at (503) 220-0755, or drop me an email at jim@thayers.org.
Jim Thayer
The background was painted by the French impressionist painter Constant Troyon in 1854 and is called, “Garde-chasse arrêté près de ses chiens” (The game keeper stops near his dogs). It hangs in the Musee d’Orsay in Paris.
The materials on this web site have been copyrighted, and may not be reproduced without express permission by the author and web master, James D. Thayer. 2004
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