With cooling temperatures and overcast predicted pretty much in the entire state we didn’t have a good choice for a hike. Still, Val and I needed a descent loop for a workout. Something in the 10+ mile range with descent elevation gain just to keep our hiking legs in motion. I generally overlook trail in Forest Park because most of them have very easy access so you get to share the trail with runners and city walkers. Also, you rarely get far enough not to hear he city so the sense of being out there is just not there. But I was proven wrong. Val found this loop on the Northern end of Forest Park that combines two service roads with some trail to form a pretty descent loop. It’s not visited as much because the trailhead is right on the Northwest Saint Helens Road which is like a secondary highway. When we read the description, it did say to park in the shoulder, but that meant leaving the car right there, sitting b itself in the middle of a busy road. It didn’t look like we would find it on our way back. So we made a turn on Marina Bay Road and park there which worked pretty well. The hike starts from the closed service road that quickly climbs up towards the power lines. As it winds up, you get far from the road, and the noise pretty quickly. Being an overcast and almost rainy day didn’t give us a lot of views so not much to comment on that front. WE did take a detour for and out and back, down the hill to a view point where you can see the river and the Sauvie Island Bridge in the distance. Once back on the primary loop, we continued up to a couple more viewpoints that didn’t offer anything due to cloud cover. From there the return actually felt a bit more familiar. Part of it was following the Wildwood trail that traverses the entire park until we got to Newton Road which we followed all the way down. The cool thing about this hike is that you get the distance and elevation and then you can get home quickly for well-deserved hot shower and a meal
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