Trails Program

Safe and Accessible Trails

Forest Park Conservancy works closely with Portland Parks & Recreation to maintain and improve 47 miles of soft surface trails in Forest Park for the use and enjoyment of all visitors. Trail maintenance and improvement projects happen year-round. We rely heavily on our vibrant community of volunteers to help us lead trail work events, report hazards after storms, collect data about trail use, educate the public, and so much more.

You can help us by reporting trail hazards, including trees down across the trails and fire lanes. Please email us to report a downed tree. When you report a tree, be sure to include the tree’s location, approximate tree diameter, and any other useful information. If you include photos, all the better! 

If you want to scout trails and report regularly, consider one of our Volunteer Leadership Opportunities, such as the Rapid Response Program volunteer program.

Tending Land Together

The basics of trail work are simple, but the variations are endless. Workers have to develop “trail eyes”—a special way of reading the land—to be successful. And although a trail can technically be re-benched or a rock wall built by just one skilled person, it will usually get done quicker and be of higher quality if done in community. Part of the beauty of trail work is that it takes a combination of technical knowledge, new ideas, head-scratching, and hard work, making it fulfilling for beginners and long-time professionals alike.

We invite you to join us in whatever way works best for your life: email Zac Peal, Director of Programs & Community Engagement to ask how you can get involved.

Working by the Seasons

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we tend to trails year-round in a never-ending seasonal rhythm:

Spring: We repair storm damage, remove downed trees, and work on special trail projects in areas that need more focused repair than regular maintenance can provide.

Summer: As plant life reaches for the sun, we work to brush the park, which means trimming back vegetation on the sides of the trail. Not only does this prevent branches from impeding hikers, but the way we brush also serves as a subconscious visual guide for hikers to walk where we want them to for the long-term health of the trail. As trails dry out, this is a perfect time to haul construction materials farther into the park with trucks and power wheelbarrows without tearing up the trail.

Fall: Early fall is a great time for re-benching trails since the soil is moist but not muddy. We use this time to correct outslope on trails and finish up special projects before winter. In November and December, we host as many volunteers as possible to help us rake leaves from all 47 miles of soft-surface trails before they get wet and muddy. Raking trails may seem like an unusual practice, but trust us! We have experimented, and the soil composition, rainfall, and unusually high use of our trails make raking an essential tool to prevent costly and time-consuming repairs later on.

Winter: The trails are muddy, the winds and rains are blowing in, and trees tend to fall across the trail all winter long. We use this time to clear drains and culverts, correct other drainage issues, and help PP&R clear downed trees. Winter is also when we dive into planning the project and volunteer training calendar for the rest of the year.

2022-23 Projects

Wildwood Milepost 12-13 & Chestnut Trail

We have worked in this area on and off for a few years now, and currently we’re putting on the finishing touches. We’ve built rock walls, armored the trail, fixed countless drainage issues, and corrected center-line erosion, among other issues. A big wind storm in January ‘21 plugged a large culvert on Chestnut, and we’re making temporary repairs until the drainage dries up and we can unclog it for the next rainy season.

The primary objective in this area has been to rebuild two eroded drainage crossings at mileposts ~12.4 and ~12.6, install a turnpike, and hopefully improve the intersection of Wildwood and Firelane 2. In 2020, we reinforced the trail so that it can withstand high traffic and the tracks of our power wheelbarrow; in 2021, we successfully rebuilt the drainage crossing at milepost 12.4. In our 2022-23 trails season, we’ll wrap up this project by rebuilding that 12.6 crossing and completing other small projects as needed in the area.

Wildwood Milepost 19.5-21 & Upper Ridge Trail

There are outslope, grade, and mud issues scattered throughout this area and the condition is only deteriorating. In 2023, we will build retention structures, raise slumping tread, and install turnpikes, among other things. We’ll improve the intersection at Ridge Trail and Wildwood and address drainage issues that have plagued Upper Ridge Trail for years.

Firelane 5

Firelane 5 between Wildwood and Leif Erikson has become more hazardous in recent years, with narrow trail sections and poor drainage. In Spring 2021, we teamed up with Northwest Trails Alliance (NWTA) to improve drainage, widen and armor the trail, and build a juniper retaining wall to reinforce and widen the most hazardous and slide-prone section of the trail (just above the first switchback from Leif Erikson Drive). But the Firelane 5 work isn’t over yet: we’re excited to keep NWTA involved to implement some long-term fixes to drainage and erosion issues that have plagued FL5 for years.

Miscellaneous Projects

Forest Park’s trails' needs are dynamic, just like the landscape they’re a part of. Each year, FPC works with PP&R to identify and respond to unforeseen repair needs and divide up smaller projects in-between our larger ones, which tend to take priority. Examples of past work include fence repair, re-establishing tread that has been lost to downed trees or small landslides, and assisting PP&R with logout following adverse weather events.

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The Need For Future Support

We have a plan to build capacity. What we need most to better take care of trails in Forest Park is boots on the ground, and we need support to financially sustain this goal in the long-term.

● 2023 will be the first time in four years that we will hire dedicated trails seasonal staff, and
● The very first time that we will be hiring them for an extended season, which helps us tackle the "regular maintenance" in the park and get ahead of issues before they become more costly and hazardous.
● These two new staff members will also be able to take on more of the focused, technical work that so many Forest Park trails really need. Our next stops are trails near Upper Springville and possibly some long-neglected sections on the northern few miles of Wildwood near BPA Road and Firelane 15.
● We're also looking to bring a GIS contractor on board to finish and refine our new project data tracking system, helping to streamline the reporting process for both staff and volunteers, and allow us to more easily share updates and needs with supporters. This database will need regular maintenance each year and it will help volunteers be able to help us more easily.

If you want to support our trails program, volunteer with us or consider becoming an FPC member.