Posted April 23, 2020
SW Trails, a homegrown-in-Hillsdale volunteer organization promoting walking and biking in SW Portland, has cancelled their monthly group hikes during coronavirus social distancing and will instead release a new self-led hike each week. For new hikes exploring different areas of SW Portland, go to swtrails.org. SW Trails urges urban hikers to follow social distancing guidelines.
Hike #1, Gabriel Park to Oleson Road, is reprinted here with permission of SW Trails.
Name: Gabriel Park to Oleson Road and SWTrail #3 return Neighborhood: Maplewood Distance: 5.2 Miles Elevation Change: 200 ft Start/End Location: SW Community Center (Gabriel Park) Map Links: Mobile Map* Browser Map
Summary: This route is 5.2 miles in the Maplewood Neighborhood with quiet side streets, lovely trees and well-kept yards to enjoy. The route wanders through a few parks along the way. It is suitable to keeping a distance from others and has 200ft in elevation change and OK for strollers. There is one set of concrete steps and one narrowish trail.
To follow this route, you can print out the map and use it to navigate, or use the Explorer for ArcGIS App on a smartphone to follow along. Directions: Begin this route at one of two entries: SW Community Center at SW Vermont and SW 45th on the street parking or in the Gabriel Park lot off Vermont. However, this route is a circle and therefore can be started at any point along the route. Starting at Vermont street head West to 52nd and jog one block to Florida and on West to 60th left to Nevada Ct step and on with a left and right out to Oleson Rd. Head South on Oleson to Hideaway park and take the trail turning South at the step up to 68th and then on to Canby, now right to the East heading back Canby turns left to become 60th and then right onto Miles Ct and right again onto 59th and South to the April Hill Park NA trail on the left. Take the trail through the park over the creek and up to the main trail and head West on Logan up to 54th taking a slight left then right onto a cut through ROW [Right of Way] trail and up to 55th now right and left on the Friends Church driveway up to Maplewood School at 52nd tuning right past the coffee house and around the corner onto the paved easement along Maplewood Rd stay on the road until left on 48th and right on Miles Ct and follow that to the end and down the trail to the Church and East across the parking lot to the trail down to 45th and across and up the other side in Gabriel PK. Now head West continuing through the park trail to a dogleg up to the new shelter (you need the online map for this turn point) do loop up to the new shelter and then back to the SWTrail 3 route through the park. Near the park exit now on paved trail take the path and zig and zag back to Vermont or the parking lot. That’s it, a great little walk, with some great scenery.