Soon you'll pass a short spur, labeled "2008 Landslide Viewpoint," that leads to a view up to the sheer bluff above. The path then heads up a set of steps and makes a traverse in mossy woods: note the large cedar stumps with springboard notches. The tread, which is soft and soggy in the wet season, rises to a spot which overlooks the Wood Duck Pond. Pass the junction with the Cedar Knoll Trail, which comes in from the left. The trail follows an old road bed in a dense understory. The slope forest here is dominated by western red-cedar, western hemlock, Douglas-fir, red alder, black cottonwood, and big-leaf maple. Walk back towards the woods, and find the signed Maple Ridge Trail heading into the mossy forest. A couple of fishermen are in the river here. Walk all the way down to the boat ramp parking area. On the other side of an alder-forested island is the main channel. There’s a still water channel of the Clackamas here that displays good reflections. Rounding the bend, continue along the verges of the expansive disk golf course. Before you reach a bend, you'll see the Riverbend Trailhead to your left. The trail recrosses the park entrance road and drops down a slope in shady mixed forest to reach the level of the river. To descend to the Clackamas, go right on the Riverbend Trail. Come to a junction: ten yards to the right is the Riverbend Trail. Then cross the paved road that leads to the Riverbend Day-use Area. Pass the wooden water tank you saw from above, and cross the campground road. Drop down a slope and hike under shady maples. Ignore the first trail splitting off to the left, but go left on the second one otherwise, you’ll find yourself in the Kingfisher Group Camp Area. The Vortex Trail continues across the road to eventually connect with the Rivermill Trail in the Riverside section of the park (See the Milo McIver Riverside Loop Hike.), but go left down the road track. The trail then traverses and rises past moss-limbed Douglas-firs to a bench and a road. The trail leads into trees to a small parking area, where you'll find a trail leading into the woods on the left side of a gated road.įollow this new section of the Vortex Trail, constructed by Trailkeepers of Oregon in 2018-19, as it winds down to a view through the trees of a mossy water tank. In fact, this meadow has seen other action as well: a model airplane airstrip, no longer used, can be found in the middle, and an episode of Grimm was filmed here in 2017. As you hike through the meadow, with some stately oaks on the fringes, imagine the smell of pot hanging in the air and naked or half-naked bodies grooving to the tunes. Arrive at the bottom of the bluff, and cross the Vortex Meadow, site of the America’s only state-sponsored rock concert. An old barbecue grate allows you to step over a trickling creek. Cross a substantial footbridge and traverse down. The trail drops down the slope under Douglas-fir, red-cedar, and big-leaf maple in a lush understory dominated by hazel, vine maple, and sword fern.
Near the plaque honoring Milo McIver, the graveled Viewpoint Trail, constructed in 2016-17 by volunteer groups, including Trailkeepers of Oregon, leads into the mixed forest of the high bluff (This trail replaces one on the other side of the viewing area that got washed out almost every year). The Clackamas River winds below, with Mount Adams to the left and Mount Hood front and center.
The Riverbend Loop takes you down from a view of the Cascade Range, across the Vortex Meadow - site of a state-sponsored rock concert in 1970 - to the Clackamas River and then back up a leafy, forested slope to the viewpoint on a high bluff 300 feet above the river.įor a shorter loop of 3.4 miles with less elevation gain, begin your hike at the Riverbend Trailhead, and skip the Vortex Loop and the Viewpoint Trail leading up to the McIver Memorial Viewpoint Trailhead.įrom the parking area, walk down past the gazebo to the new (2017) viewing area. The trail system is interconnected, but most visitors choose one of two loops: the one described here on the west side of the park and the Milo McIver Riverside Loop Hike on the east side. This is a full-service park, with campgrounds, boat launches, a disk golf course, horse trails, picnic areas, and even a fish hatchery. The park named in his honor is not on a freeway, however, but lies nestled along a couple of wide, sweeping bends in the Clackamas River near the town of Estacada. During his tenure as Chair, McIver developed Oregon's freeway system to be recognized as the best in the nation at that time. McIver was a member of the Oregon State Highway Commission from 1950-1962, and Chairman of the Commission for the last four years of his term.
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