Hoyt Arboretum

I ventured to the Hoyt Arboretum this morning, determined to get back to hiking instead of walking. I've done a lot of hiking in my life - well, younger days. When my knees started going south I slowed way down. But now I've had both knees and a hip replaced and there is no pain and no reason at all why I can't get back into hiking shape!

We have a fabulous and enormous city park here called Forest Park. 5200 acres with a lot of trails - an amazing resources. The Wildwood Trail is the longest trail in the park, at 30 miles (see description below). At one end, close to the city, it runs around the Hoyt Arboretum (see extra) and this was my goal today! I'm not quite ready for a 30 mile hike, yet ;-)

Wildwood Trail 
Wildwood Trail is a 30-mile natural surface pedestrian trail that runs the length of Forest Park, from W Burnside Road, where it enters Forest Park, to its northern terminus at NW Newberry Road. From its more rugged northern end to its connections to popular destinations in the south, including Balch Creek Canyon, the Stone House, and Pittock Mansion, the Wildwood Trail can be part of an hour’s excursion or a full day hike, end-to-end—a popular challenge for long-distance hikers and runners!  

The Wildwood Trail was dreamed up in the early 1980s by a group of visionary and committed volunteers and Portland Parks & Recreation staff.  Through close collaboration between Portland Parks & Recreation and the Friends of Forest Park (now Forest Park Conservancy), property acquisitions, and hard work, it was completed in 1999, just following Forest Park’s 50th anniversary. It is a National Recreation Trail and a key segment of Metro’s Regional Trail Network.