Photo by Adam Sawyer
The Wildwood Recreation Site is a 600-acre recreational goldmine along the Salmon River, just west of Zigzag. The picturesque day-use park offers several short hiking options that include a pair of .75-mile interpretive loops. One of these barrier-free trails is the beginning of the 8.5-mile, 2,640-foot-elevation-gain hike up Boulder Ridge.
Photo by Adam Sawyer
Families will have a chance to explore natural stream and wetland ecosystems along the accessible Cascade Streamwatch andWetland Boardwalk trails, which are some of the best interpretive trails to be found in the region. Both offer self-guided-tour maps. If you walk along the Cascade Streamwatch Trail, you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy a three-dimensional scale model of the Sandy and Salmon River watersheds, check out the “Hidden World of Small Streams,” or observe native fish in an underwater viewing chamber (we spent an hour just in the viewing chamber the last time we were there). The unique Wetland Boardwalk trail offers three separate wildlife viewing platforms. Kids also have the chance to see a cattail marsh, a beaver dam, and a ghost forest teaming with wildlife.
The site also has family picnic areas that nestle into private forested coves or sit alongside the river. Each private area features a barbecue, fire pit, and picnic table. There are several group shelters and playgrounds, as well as swimming and fishing areas. Groups can take advantage of softball diamonds, basketball courts, volleyball courts, and horseshoe pits. Check out this informative online brochure for more information.
The Wildwood Recreation Site is open from 8 a.m. till sunset from mid-March through Thanksgiving. There is a $5-per-car daily use permit. To get there from Portland, take Highway 26 East towards Mt. Hood. Once you pass the town of Sandy, go 15 more miles and turn right into the Wildwood Recreation Site, just past mile marker 39.
–Adam Sawyer
Photo by Adam Sawyer
