Trail at Aumsville Ponds County Park

This was a spur of the moment after dinner hike. We only had about an hour to work with, so we skipped our usual bike ride to this location, just over a mile from our home. It is located off of Mill Creek Rd. in Aumsville. Turn South onto Bishop Rd, then right onto Bates Rd. The park entrance will be on your left. It is officially closed for the winter, and is open from May 1- October 31 from 8am-sunset.
Aumsville Ponds County Park is a 77 acre wetlands area, consisting of small ponds, the largest of which is Young Lake. Eight years ago, the Northwest Youth Corps forged trail nearly 1 mile long that fully encircles the pond. It includes a couple of bridges, some stairs, an observation deck, and a few tangent trails leading to the water's edge. In addition to the trail, there is a small island about 10 ft from the pond's bank. Thanks to local kids, there is usually a gathering of large stones and branches stretching the distance, allowing dry passage to the island. During the summer, you might also enjoy the rope swing tied to a tree on the island, allowing you/your children to swing out into the water. The pond is stocked for fishing, and there are always several ducks, geese, and other birds wading through the pond, flying above it, or meandering around it. Dogs are not allowed.

Total Distance: < 1 mile
Trail Type: Loop
Trail Appearance: Dirt, gravel 
Trail Elevation: Mostly level, a few dips w/ stairs
Atmosphere: Quiet, birds
View: Pond, trees
Extras: Island, rope swing

Difficulty: Easy
My Rating: *** 
Kid Ratings: ****; ****; ****

Jawbone Flats at Opal Creek

I've been anxiously anticipating the day that we'd actually have enough time to go on this hike. I was excited when we finally had a totally free Saturday, a real rarity around here. Not only that, but it was even sunny and a little warm {at least in comparison to the weather we'd been having}.
Just like the Henline Trail hike, you'll find this one by following Hwy 22 to mile marker 23, and turning onto North Forth Rd {directly across from Swiss Village restaurant}. After 14 miles of pavement you will enter the Willamette National Forest where the road turns to gravel. You are now on Forest Road 2209.
After approx 1.5 -2 miles you will see a turn-off on the right towards Three Pools. Stay to the left on Forest Road 2209. Continue another 4 miles to the Opal Creek/Jawbone parking area and trail head. 

Parking day passes are supposedly available at the trailhead, but there were no envelopes. I assume that they are better stocked during the summer months, when the trails are used more often. Day and annual forest passes can also be purchased at Santiam Sports Store in Mill City.When we started down the path, I realized it wasn't going to be one of my all-time favorite hikes. While the wilderness surrounding us was beautiful, the trail was a gravel road. If you've been following my blog, you'll know that gravel roads are far from the top of my 'ideal trails' list. If you're able to ignore the trail beneath your feet {or perhaps you don't mind gravel road trails}, you'll enjoy being enveloped in the forest beauty surrounding you. It is a mossy, dense forest, interspersed with little streams/waterfalls running down the mountain above you, flowing beneath the trail, and into the creek below you.
Along the way, you'll be gifted with special sights you won't find on most hikes. You'll come across an old mine on your left, and some old mining equipment on your right. A little further past the equipment, there is an old saw mill on the right {there is also a picnic table, perfect for a snack/lunch break}. We took a detour here, and walked through the old saw mill to the water's edge behind it, for a gorgeous view. It's a little bit tricky with little ones, but it's worth the view of the creek. For a safer/easier, but less spectacular view, you can take the small path off to your right just past the sawmill. 
The town itself is just over 3 miles up the road from the parking lot. There are a handful of old buildings, one of which has old appliances lining the porch. There are also vintage cars & trucks {including a fire truck} lining the road, and mining equipment scattered throughout the town. 
I was so excited to do this hike, that I jumped the gun a bit and didn't think about just how inaccessible things would be in the winter. The small town was completely shut down. It is a cool place to explore, but not on a winter day. It was much colder than I had anticipated, and we had set off a little later than we should have with kiddos. We were losing light and getting colder quickly on the way back to the car. Had we done this hike in the summer, we would have been able to explore the town more and had more of a break before making the kids trek another 3 miles back to the car. As it was, we had to rush back, and everyone was exhausted by the time we reached the parking lot again. You can browse this site for more information on the right times to go, the programs and cabin rentals they offer, and a little history on the town.

Total Distance: 6.5 miles {At least 7, including all of the detours/exploring you'll do}
Trail Type: Out & back
Trail Appearance: Gravel road
Trail Elevation: Continuous gradual incline for 3 miles
Atmosphere: Quiet, serene, birds, flowing water
View: Creek, trees, birds, waterfall, mountain
Extras: Old mining town

Difficulty: Moderate-Difficult
My Rating: *** 
Kid Ratings: ****;***;** {7 miles in the cold, with only small breaks was too much for my 6 yr old}

Shellburg Falls at the Shellburg Falls Recreation Area of the Santiam State Forest

Shellburg Falls was a hike recommended to me by multiple people, and I decided to take up the recommendation with several family members on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

To get there, take  Hwy 22 and turn north onto Fern Ridge Road. Just over a mile down the road, you'll come to a gravel parking and day-use area on the right. If the parking area is a little full {as it was on the day we were there}, there is space to pull off to the side of the road if necessary.** Here you will see a gravel road {Shellburg Rd} with a yellow gate across, barring vehicle access. From here, you will hike the gravel road for 1.25 miles. There is no dense forest or running water along your way, but instead you will meander through private property of open fields filled with cattle. The cows are not a nuisance, and the land owners seem not to mind the intrusion of hikers. In fact, we came upon a farmer who was happy to see all of our kids, and invited them over to pet the new baby calf, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Once you hike your 1.25 miles, you'll cross a short bridge above the lower Shellburg Falls. To your left is where the real trail begins. When you're on the trail, you walk into a denser, greener landscape. Only about 0.2 miles into the trail, you'll come to Shellburg Falls. It is a beauty, as most falls are. Just before you reach it, there is a small trail down to the left framed by beautifully moss-covered arching branches to a vewpoint deck. Continue along the main trail, and it will loop you around the back of the falls, before you hike a very short, but moderately steep switchback section back to high ground. Only about 200 meters past the waterfall, there are a couple of benches, perfectly placed for a snack break. Afterwards, you'll head over a small footbridge, and hike the remaining 0.25 miles to the end of the trail {during the winter, this section is quite muddy, and for us confirmed the need of real waterproof hiking shoes for our kids, instead of the running shoes they've been using}. It appeared as though the trail usually ends at a campground, however we encountered a detour forcing us to end just a little bit early. From what I gather, this is another seasonal thing, and it should be available for use from late spring to early fall. Once the trail ends {all too soon}, and you meet back up with the gravel road, it is about a 2 mile hike back to the car.

While I suppose the open fields and cattle were nice for a different kind of experience, I do not enjoy hiking gravel roads. To me, hiking is about raw nature, and gravel roads take something away from the experience for me. The trail itself was fantastic, albeit far too short. I think we'll return in the summer in order to gain the closer access by car, allowing us to spend more time exploring the different trails in the area.

**From May 2-Oct 1, you can get closer access to the trails by taking Hwy 22 to a left {north} on Wagner Rd. Stay right and drive 2.5 miles. When you come to a 4 way intersection, stay straight onto  Ayer's Creek Rd. After 1 mile, take a left onto AC 100 Rd, and drive 2.8 miles further to the orange gate at Shellburg Rd on the left.

Total Distance: 3.75 miles
Trail Type: Out & back with loop
Trail Appearance: Gravel road, dirt/muddy trail
Trail Elevation: continuous gradual incline for 1.25 miles, small rises & valleys for 0.5, gradual decline for 2 miles
Atmosphere: open, animal sounds
View: Open fields, farmers, cows, waterfall, trees
Map: Shellburg Falls Recreation Area 

Difficulty: Moderate 
My Rating: ***
Kid Ratings: ****;****;***

Virginia Lake at Wapato Access Greenway

We spent a delicious lunchtime in downtown Portland with family. Since it was a beautiful (or at least dry) day, we decided to find a trail to explore before heading home. We drove about 25 minutes to a trail on Oak Island Road. This is hike #2 featured in the book I mentioned previously, Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon. On the way there, I noticed that this hike was on the book's list of "Best Hikes in Winter." Once we got there, however, we discovered that the trail we were planning on hiking is NOT open year-round. It is only available to hike April-October, therefore it's most definitely NOT a winter hike. To the book's credit, despite this error, if I had looked more closely at the page that features more specifics about the hike, I would have seen the note indicating the correct times it is open for hiking.

Once we jumped back into the car, I was determined to find something else close by so that the afternoon wouldn't be wasted. Luckily, I realized that the very first hike featured in the book was Virginia Lake, which was only a few miles away. This hike can be found just 2.5 miles past the Sauvie Island Bridge, on Sauvie Island Road. The small parking lot will be on your left, marked "Wapato Access Greenway".

This hike begins with a 0.2 mile hike, before coming to a covered picnic area. You can continue along the trail to the right, or veer left. It creates a loop around Virginia Lake, so it doesn't matter which way you go. I prefer the way we went {to the right}, because it allowed us to get most of our hike in before stopping at another picnic table along the Multnomah Channel for a snack. Just over half a mile into the hike, you'll come to a small dip in the trail and cross over the wooden bridge at the far end of the lake. As the hike continues, you'll stray a little farther from the lake, and a little closer to the Multnomah Channel. You'll find a small "exploration trail" or two along the way that will take you up to the water's edge {these special exploration trails are always exciting for kids to discover}. About a mile beyond the wooden bridge, you can detour about 100m off to the right to Hadley's Landing. This is where you'll find the other picnicking area, and likely a few fisherman fishing off the Channel's dock. Shortly thereafter you'll come to a bird blind viewing dock on the left, just before concluding your loop back at the covered picnic area.

Total Distance: 2.2 miles
Trail Type: Loop
Trail Appearance: Wide, well maintained, gravel, rutted vehicle access pathway
Trail Elevation: Relatively flat, a few small rises
Atmosphere: Birds chirping, ducks quacking, dogs barking, distant road noise
View: Lake, trees, birds, neighboring houses, industrial junkyard at Hadley's Landing
Extras: Information plaques and bird identifying markers along the trail

Difficulty: Easy
My Rating: ***
Kid Ratings: ****;***;****