Forest Park Hike of the Month

The Jacksonville Park Rangers will be conducting the first of a series of monthly hikes in March in the Jacksonville Forest Park. These Ranger-led hikes are planned to introduce the residents of Jacksonville and the surrounding communities to the extensive network of hiking and mountain biking trails in the newest and largest Jacksonville city park. The city Parks Department and the Park Rangers have been working hard for several months to expand and enhance the trail system, using an Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Local Government Grant plus donated funds to build trails, bridges, kiosks, and add new trail signs and maps.

The trail system now totals 10 miles of trails over the Forest Park’s 1,080-acre area. The trails vary from stream-hugging trails with tumbling waterfalls to trails that traverse forested hillsides providing breathtaking views down the canyons toward Jacksonville. Other trails follow along a trail built on one of the old ditches built by the early gold miners that carried water to hydraulic mining areas to wash the gold out of the hillsides. One mountainside has at least four of the ditches running from Norling Creek around the mountain for distances up to a mile with each ditch staggered a little higher up the mountain.

The first hike will start at 10:00 AM on Saturday March 24. Everybody should meet at the entrance kiosk just inside the park entrance on Reservoir Road. Parking is available but carpooling is advised. The hike will start at the kiosk and will go up the mile-long Rail Trail which follows the 1916 historic Bullis Railroad path which along Jackson Creek canyon that was used to bring out logs.

Beautiful Stream follows the Rail Trail

Along the way you will visit the site of the train wreck that occurred when the logging train lost its brakes and rolled out of control, crashing into a 75-foot railroad trestle. Some hikers will want to return at the end of the trail, but others can cross Jackson Creek and continue up the trail system further on Norling Creek Trail. Not far up Norling Creek Trail is the Canyon Falls Trail – with its series of waterfalls and its startling different ecosystem which includes dense vegetation and large fern colonies.

Guided monthly hikes will continue through summer – to reach the kiosk, take Reservoir Road one mile from the intersection of Mary Ann Drive/Reservoir Road just ½ mile west of downtown off of Highway 238.