page_title: Forest Park (Portland, Oregon)
section_title: Wildwood Trail
hierarchical_section_title: Forest Park (Portland, Oregon) / Recreational network / Wildwood Trail
caption_attribution_description: English: Forest Park is managed in many respects as a wilderness; unfortunately, old growth trees were logged as recently as the 1950s creating second growth areas such as this with mature Alder. Stumps are visible along the far slope. Here a tree has fallen, probably from recent winter storm winds. It likely will be allowed to naturally decompose to provide habitat for the many species living here, as well as enrich and stabilize the soil. This photo was taken from Wildwood Trail, which is also visible on the far slope.
context_page_description: Forest Park is a public municipal park in the Tualatin Mountains west of downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Stretching for more than 8 miles on hillsides overlooking the Willamette River, it is one of the country's largest urban forest reserves. The park, a major component of a regional system of parks and trails, covers more than 5,100 acres of mostly second-growth forest with a few patches of old growth. About 70 miles of recreational trails, including the Wildwood Trail segment of the city's 40-Mile Loop system, crisscross the park.
  As early as the 1860s, civic leaders sought to create a natural preserve in the woods near Portland. Their efforts led to the creation of a municipal park commission that in 1903 hired the Olmsted Brothers landscape architectural firm to develop a plan for Portland's parks. Acquiring land through donations, transfers from Multnomah County, and delinquent tax foreclosures, the city eventually acted on a proposal by the City Club of Portland and combined parcels totaling about 4,000 acres to create the reserve. Formally dedicated in 1948, it ranks 19th in size among parks within U.S. cities, according to The Trust for Public Land.
context_section_description: More than 70 miles (110 km) of trails and firelanes cut through the park. The longest trail in the park is the Wildwood Trail, of which about 27 miles (43 km) is in Forest Park and about 3 miles (4.8 km) in Washington Park. It is also the longest section of the 40-Mile Loop, a trail network of roughly 150 miles (240 km) reaching many parts of the Portland metropolitan area. The trail runs southeast to northwest from trail marker 0 in Washington Park to Northwest Newberry Road, just beyond trail marker 30 on the ridge above the southeastern end of Sauvie Island. The straight-line distance from beginning to end is about 9 miles (14 km), but because the trail includes many switchbacks and hairpin turns, it is 30.2 miles (48.6 km) long. In 2019, the City of Portland constructed Barbara Walker Crossing to allow Wildwood Trail users to safely pass over West Burnside Street. 
  Wildwood Trail begins in Washington Park near the Oregon Zoo, a light rail stop, the Oregon Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the World Forestry Center and the Hoyt Arboretum. Blue diamonds placed about 6 feet (1.8 m) above the ground appear on trees along the trail every 0.25 miles (0.40 km). The diamonds and the mileage markers above them are visible to hikers traveling in either direction on the path. In its first 5 miles (8.0 km), the trail passes near the Portland Japanese Garden, Pittock Mansion, the Audubon Society of Portland wildlife sanctuary, and the Stone House in Balch Creek Canyon. From this point west, Wildwood Trail runs through forest generally uninterrupted by buildings but crisscrossed by shorter trails, small streams, roads, and firelanes.
caption: A fallen alder assumes a bow shape near Wildwood Trail.
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