Hiking Near Home: Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge

We can’t get out camping every weekend and sometimes we don’t go more than a mile from home but we can still get outdoors as a family! We frequently take family hikes at a wildlife refuge that is ~.5 miles from our house. Every time we are amazed by how much we see at a park that is almost in the city center in Portland. On this hike, we watched a bald eagle catch a fish, saw a blue heron, frogs and signs of beavers!

"The real voyage of discovery consists on in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes" ~Marcel Proust

We love to find new places but there is also magic in returning to a place over and over again to watch the seasons change.

You can watch a short video of our hike here:

Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge

Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge is in inner Southeast Portland - you can see the city’s downtown from one of the high points of the park. They recently did a wetland restoration project in this park restoring the wetland and building a better passage for salmon. That project resulted in a huge increase in animals in the park (and likely our bald eagle sighting). It is a fun place to watch the seasons pass by.

Hiking options

There are a couple of loops you can do in this park, all are less than 3 miles. The map here is courtesy of the Friends of Oaks Bottom. We tend to do one of 3 hikes when we go, either going along the marsh and back (blue line), making a loop along the waterfront trail (blue and green line) or going along the waterfront (blue/green to yellow line, probably not to scale). The Green portion is along the Springwater Trail so be prepared for a lot of bike traffic depending on the season. There is also no shade on that part so if it is hot we generally don't do that loop.

Our latest hike

Our first (or last) stop is always the Oaks Bottom tadpole pond. Salamanders and frogs both lay eggs here in the winter. You can see eggs in Jan through March and frog tadpoles and salamander large in April through June. This was during the off season but we almost always see frogs as well.

Ben is the master frog spotter, and saw this little guy hanging out in the marsh.

The main section of the hike takes you past the wetland area where tons of birds can be found. Great Blue Heron are a frequent sighting thanks to the proximity of this park to the rookeries on Ross Island (a rookery is a nesting area for birds that nest in groups like the Great Blue Heron). Find out more here.

We stopped to watch this old steam engine that the Oregon Rail Heritage Center runs during December. We call it the Santa train because, you guessed it, Santa rides with you! It is an amazing site to stand next to it as it takes off and fills the air with steam. The train is a Southern Pacific steam locomotive also known as the Daylight Express. The group also has a cool museum in Portland showing off the old trains - admission is free!

Because we were standing watching the train, we caught an eagle circling over the water looking for fish. If you watch the video you can see it circling and then if you look carefully, watch it swoop down, grab a fish and fly off.

Best part of all, nature's jungle gym!

What is your favorite local wildlife area?