Bonnie Henderson

The request from TKO: “Write about an urban hike in Eugene-Springfield.” The two big parks with the big buttes just south of town (Spencer Butte and Mount Pisgah), with their grand summit views and big trail systems, are the obvious choices. But you wouldn’t call them urban. Instead, here’s what’s become one of my favorite close-in walks, what I now think of as the walk to Lovely. It’s right in the middle of the metro area, linking the two towns. It hangs on Pre’s Trail—a roughly four-mile, figure-eight bark chip path used by walkers and runners, with a name that commemorates UO track legend Steve Prefontaine. It’s soft on the joints and virtually flat. And it’s a choose-your-own adventure, giving you options wherever you are on your fitness trajectory.

I start at the trailhead by the DeFazio Bridge at Alton Baker Park in Eugene (lots of free parking) and follow the loop to where it ends under the I-5 freeway bridge, then loop back to where I started; you’ll see what I mean if you search for a map of Pre’s Trail. The main loop links with other trails, paved and un-, in the park, offering additional route choices. The views vary: the Willamette River and the canoe canal. Autzen Stadium. Filbert orchards. My preferred adventure used to be a basic 4-mile loop—or a double loop when I’m training for an upcoming trek, which is most of the time. Until I realized that I didn’t need to do the same thing twice to enjoy a longer long walk. 

Now I keep going past the freeway, where the path continues—part paved, part bark chip—into Springfield’s Eastgate Woodlands, then along the West D Street Greenway, then (after a short stretch of neighborhood sidewalk) a veer to the right into Island Park. 

Here’s where Lovely comes in. At the south end of Island Park, follow S. Mill Street past the boat ramp and out the park’s entrance. Then walk up A Street one block to the traffic light, cross, and backtrack one block to Lovely, a vegan-leaning, fermentation-forward cafe open all day, from your morning Kyoto fog tea latte (or cup of joe) to your evening old fashioned, with or without beet juice, all of it good. It’s the perfect turnaround spot, 3.5 miles from the trailhead. Lovely just relocated here in February and is part of downtown Springfield’s renaissance, with cafes, wine bars and brewpubs now edging out the muffler shops and adult entertainment venues.

It’s become even more appealing as I’ve been rehabbing from a hip replacement. My surgeon’s kiss-off at 6 weeks: “Do what you want, but gradually.” Early days, I started with short loops of a mile, and then 2 miles, on Pre’s Trail. As my horizons grew, the physical therapist chimed in, in the form of a question: “You can walk longer distances, but do you ever, umm, stop and break it up?” It’s easier to do if you’re warm and out of the weather, with a latte or a bowl of soup in front of you

You could easily start the same 7-mile loop at Island Park in Springfield and walk the other direction. Reward yourself at the turnaround point (at the Alton Baker Park parking lot) with a surprisingly excellent cup of coffee and muffin in the lobby of Slocum Orthopedics, a couple of blocks away. There’s a kind of poetry in that adventure.

Pro tip #1: Wear lightweight hiker’s gaiters (I wear Dirty Girl Gaiters) to keep bark chips from working into your socks and shoes.

Pro tip #2: There’s not much tree cover on Pre’s Trail; you may want to skip it on a rainy, windy day. Unless you’re training for a rainy, windy hike.