I hesitated a bit posting a TR that was a close-to-urban hike. But what the heck, this is one of the "undeveloped" part of Eugene's Ridgeline Trail. I put that in quotes because even though the city Parks Department hasn't officially developed thi trail yet, it gets plenty of use from both hikers and mountain bikers. Much of the route shows on the official
Ridgeline Trail Map and the map on page 15 of the
Suzanne Arlie Park Master Plan is also useful. The Master Plan also has a lot of interesting info on history, vegetation, geology and the future plans for park development over the next few years.
I started off at the existing Dillard East trailhead on the Ridgeline Trail, and took the trail east up Mount Baldy. It was lightly snowing when I got going, and there was half an inch or snow up at the top. Spencer Butte was also getting snow, and there was the occasional nice view back in that direction or down towards the city. Mound Baldy, topping out at 1233', is the second-highest spot on the Ridgeline Trail, but it's not really all that much of a climb.
- Looking back at the top of Mount Baldy. I was the only one up there early in the day.
Towards the bottom of the trail down the backside of Mount Baldy, the established/improved trail makes a sharp turn to the left. Here the trail into Suzanne Arlie Park takes off, uphill and to the right. Even with snow on the ground, it was a pretty obvious trail.
- Leaving the established Ridgeline Trail
The first chunk of this runs through a forested area with plenty of moss and ferns. And since the trail hasn't been officially improved by the Parks folks, and it was a drizzly day (though the sun was out on and off, and I barely got wet), there was also plenty of mud. The mountain bike community had also been through some time after the January ice storms, because all of the blowdowns were sawed through or moved off the trail. A mile or so from the parking area the trail heads sharply down a slick hill, and comes out on a graveled road. There are lots of side trails and alternate routes in this area, but following the bike tracks made it easy to stay on the main trail.
- Nearing the edge of the first forest section
I walked up the road to the edge of the park. Here the official map shows a turn to the right to take another road - but there was an obvious trail continuing up the hill. Check out page 45 of the Master Plan and you'll see a "bike-optimized" trail planned for the north central part of the park. Well, that trail already exists, and the mountain bikers have been hard at work with shovel and chainsaw improving it. So I had a nice walk up and over the top of this hill, though some of this bit of trail has been optimized to be pretty steep. There's also plenty of flagging tape indicating future trail routes, here and elsewhere in the park.
- Odd trailside fungus
Some more road-walking from here took me up to what's planned as the primary road access to the park. Along the way I met half a dozen people with about a dozen dogs - some sort of off-leash gathering, but the dogs were mostly well-behaved. I also checked out the homestead remnants. I would be surprised if these survive in good condition once the park is more open to the public, so I was glad to see them now.
- 1920s homestead remains
- 1920s homestead chimney
Then it was off on the obvious mountain bike trail to the top of Split Rock hill, which at 990' is the high point in the park. There was enough trees and brush up there that there was pretty much no view, but it was also one of the better bits of exertion on the trail.
- Top of Split Rock hill
I followed the trail past the top of the hill. By the time I hit the next set of electrical lines I was clearly well off park property, but the trail showed no sign of ending. I decided to turn left and follow the easement back to the trail down to Lane Community College. This is actually the only stretch where the trail is signed, probably because it follows a very narrow easement. It comes out at a cell tower at the edge of LCC, where there's a parking lot just down the hill.
- At the edge of LCC
At this point I'd hiked to where I wanted to be, so I turned around and went back. I took a couple of alternate routes along the way, since I knew pretty much where I was going at this point. Just before I got back to Mount Baldy, I ran into three of the local mountain bikers who were out with shovel, saw, and mattock building some more banked turns. By the time the Parks department gets around to this trail, it will already be finished. I chatted with them for a bit and established that the split rock trail goes all the way down to McVay Highway at the edge of I-5. That means in theory I could probably walk out my front door and get to Mt. Pisgah with minimal road walking. Perhaps I'll make that Eugene To Crest hike yet!
The last alternate I took back ended up at the top of Mount Baldy, where the trail into Suzanne Arlie takes off across the meadow at a 3-way intersection of existing Ridgeline Trail, so you don't actually have to go down the backside and up the muddy side trail for this adventure - though I enjoyed that part, so it doesn't matter to me.
- Top of Mount Baldy trail access
About 8 miles total, so a good hike for a chilly morning.
