By John Sparks

Distance: 3.1 miles / Elevation gain: 440 feet

Bald Hill is a 755-foot prominence in the bucolic southwestern outskirts of Corvallis where oak woods rub against cattle pastures.

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2020 Update: This program is now being run by Trailkeepers of Oregon. To learn more and sign up, visit the Trail Ambassadors page.

By Cheryl Hill, Board Member, Trailkeepers of Oregon

“Where is the waterfall?” a man asked me in the Multnomah Falls freeway parking lot. I pointed over his shoulder to Oregon’s tallest waterfall, which could not be heard over the freeway noise. (more…)

By Cheryl Hill, Board Member, Trailkeepers of Oregon

After a week of sitting inside at my desk job I need time out on the trail. I hike for fresh air, hearing birds sing, smelling the forest, viewing sweeping vistas and colorful wildflowers.

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By Megan Zabel Holmes, Board Member, Trailkeepers of Oregon

I couldn’t believe my luck when, the first time I left the house with my new telephoto lens, I stumbled upon this great blue heron at Orenco Woods Nature Park.

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By John Sparks, Board Member, Trailkeepers of Oregon

Distance: 10.1 miles / Elevation gain: 75 feet

In 8,000-acre Cottonwood Canyon State Park, Oregon’s second-largest state park, a jeep track travels along the side of the John Day River to access a cattle corral nestled under a cliff of columnar basalt.

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By Paul Gerald, Board President, Trailkeepers of Oregon

I have been kicking around Trailkeepers of Oregon for five years now, and what has happened in that time is simply amazing.

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By John Sparks, Board Member, Trailkeepers of Oregon

When winter gloom broods over Oregon’s interior, it’s good to keep an eye on the weather forecast for southern Oregon Coast towns like Brookings, Gold Beach, and Port Orford.

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By Susan Schen, Crew Leader, Trailkeepers of Oregon

The Reinhart hoe is a tool used for grubbing, especially the digging and scraping of dirt by TKO volunteer crews to create and shape trail tread. Sometimes called a “rhino” or “bendy shovel,” the tool was invented in the 1970s by Gordon Reinhart, a fire and recreation officer with the US Forest Service on the Umatilla National Forest. The head of the tool is a square-ended curved shovel blade mounted at a 90-degree angle to the handle.

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By Cheryl Hill, Board Member, Trailkeepers of Oregon

When you’re longing to stretch your legs in the mountains but the trails are covered in winter snow, what’s a hiker to do? Try snowshoeing!

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Interview by Michael McDowell, Newsletter Editor, Trailkeepers of Oregon

The 2017 Eagle Creek Fire in the Columbia Gorge cleared the ground of vegetation in many places and opened up the canopy, inviting colonization by any species of plant able to establish itself in the ash-rich soil. In the aftermath of the fire, Friends of the Columbia Gorge have trained and sent out many volunteers to remove invasive plants and help native species reestablish themselves.

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