Category Archives: Parks

For sites that are a park setting.

Weaver Creek and Hidden Glen Park

Battle Ground’s Weaver Creek flows through Hidden Glen Park.  There are only a few short trails, and unfortunately the bridge in Hidden Glen Park is no longer there.  Short walks can be accessed from SE 5th Circle west of Weaver Creek or SE 5th Circle east of Weaver Creek, and from SE Scotton Way or SE 2nd Place.

Esther Short Park and Downtown Vancouver

I walked from Officers Row at Fort Vancouver through downtown Vancouver, along the Vancouver Waterfront and around Pearson Airfield for a great loop of a little under 4 miles.  You could choose any size loop.  While this is an urban area, there are still some very nice parks and sights of interest along the way.

Fort Vancouver

The area around Fort Vancouver includes a lot of great attractions to see, and plenty of paths to wander.  A good way to do this is to park along Evergreen Blvd, then walk either direction.  You can take a short walk along Officers Row, a longer walk around Historic Fort Vancouver, or even longer walks to downtown Vancouver, to the waterfront, and around Pearson Field.

The Discovery Historic Loop Trail is a great way to get to know this part of Vancouver.

Fort Vancouver

St Cloud

St Cloud Ranch is a small park along the Columbia River that provides a short, less than half mile, loop walk, and an area for picnics.  The is a national forest service site, so a forest service day use fee is required.

In addition to the loop orchard trail, a trail has been cut through the brush to the east.  I followed the trail about 500ft to where it hits Archer Creek.  I could see that the trail continued on the other side of the creek, but I was not prepared to ford the creek to follow it.  During late summer and early fall you could explore a longer hike up the Columbia River to the boundary of the Franz Lake Wildlife Refuge.

 

Tenney Creek Park

Tenney Creek Park is a nice neighborhood park to take a walk past lawns and through a forest creek side area.  The meandering paths total about 1/2 mile.

 

Access to the park is on NE 91st St, NE 94th Way, and NE 88th St (there is no parking on NE 88th St).

You could extend your walk through the park into a loop by going east on 94th Way to the Ridgegate Greenspace path, and take it through to NE 32nd Ave then back to the park.

Kelley Meadows Neighborhood Park

This is an undeveloped park that features a nice meadow area.  I was able to follow a path in the grass, and looped through the trees on the north east side of the meadow, for a walk of about 1.300ft.  Access to the site is from the end of NE 69th St.  Adding a walk up to the golf course adds about 300 to 400ft to the loop.  It would be possible to explore the golf course from here, but golf courses generally do not allow public access to people who are not golfing.

Gateway Green

Gateway Green is an area in the middle of the junction of I-84 and I-205 that has been established as a park area.  It includes a network of trails for mountain bike or BMX bike riding, complete with jumps and stunt routes.  Access is from either the south end through the Gateway Transit Center or at the north end through Maywood Park.