Exploring the Pacific Greenway: from Portland to the Coast

Saltzman Road and Lower Maple Trail loop

“Portland Wilderness Walks” by Jim Thayer and published by Timber press will be released in the Spring of 2008. It will describe this trail in detail including professional maps, photos, comprehensive coverage of the fauna, flora and history of the area.

I have retained a brief summary of the walks on this site along with the my original maps, but would urge the interested hiker to purchase the book as it contains a much more in-depth coverage of directions and the context of each of the walks. Moreover there is much more in the book that will give more meaning to these walks than could possibly be conveyed by these funky GPS generated maps. The experience of finding, recording and understanding the significance of these walks brought me a whole new understanding of how important the wild outskirts of Portland are to our culture and to our heritage. And my hope is to acquaint you not only with some exquisite wilderness hikes, but perhaps also a new way to consider the importance of what lies on the outskirts of our fair city.

Us this site for easily downloadable rudimentary maps, but do consider investing in the book (it’s designed to fit in your pocket) for a more thorough and meaningful look at these forests. - Jim Thayer

Distance: 2.6 miles

Brief summary: Great short walk for a hot day when the cool deep forest is a welcome respite from the heat. The lower maple trail boasts some beautiful big timber that is a wonderful to see.

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During the late 1800’s and then again later in 1914 and 1937 this area was the center of much of the logging activity that eventually stripped these slopes of all the virgin old growth. As you walk through parts of these slopes you can still see the huge stumps that give mute testimony to the giants that towered over these hills. Most of these behemoths fell to stoke the settlers’ fireplaces and the steamship boilers, others served as round timbers for building log cabins. Occasionally, one can still spot evidence of the rough skidder tracks that were used in those early days to slide the logs down the ravines to tidewater where they could be collected into log rafts for easier transportation.

At the northern end of the park logging of old growth continued into the mid-twentieth century. As recently as 1951 “high lead logging” was used to extract large scale timber from the park’s steep slopes. This traditional method employs an elevated cable that is passed through an elevated pulley atop a tall tree. As this cable is reeled in the logs are dangled from this elevated line so that only the bottom end of the logs drag along the ground as they are pulled uphill to the collection point. The half-suspended log is eventually deposited at the base of the elevated hoist from whence it can be loaded on to a truck or rail car.

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