Trails for chairs

Many area parks, refuges accessible to all

By Allen Throop
Venture contributor

I was sitting quietly in my wheelchair, gazing at the shore along the pond.

"Carol, look at the two coyotes," I whispered to my favorite sister.

She grabbed her binoculars and started scanning the horizon.

"I can't find them."

"Put down the binoculars and look about 200 feet away."

"Wow!" she said as the two healthy animals strolled across the grassy field and eventually into the woods.

Undoubtedly, they would pay no attention to the No Hunting signs and would return at some time for a fresh drumstick or wing of duck.

The wildlife viewing blind at Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge was constructed to give human visitors a good view of the waterfowl in the marsh to the north and also into the surrounding woods in the other directions.

During my first visit to the site, in January, my attention was focused on the birds. In later trips, my fascination with the site widened to include other wildlife and the vegetation.

During my explorations, I realized that most of the site open to the public is wheelchair accessible.

The extensive boardwalks at Ankeny got me to thinking about numerous other accessible areas in the Albany-Corvallis area.

The short descriptions that follow are my favorites.

Monteith Park: The Albany park has had a riverfront path for many years.

In addition to a well-maintained mixture of pavement and boardwalk, two piers go out over the Willamette River. At the upstream end the path has access to the Calapooia River.

A recent downstream extension of the path leaves the riverfront to go between the Takena Pointe Restaurant and the railroad tracks.

The path then returns to the top of the riverbank and continues upstream with good views of the river on the left and with a series of abandoned commercial buildings on the right.

As the buildings are inevitably redeveloped, users of the path should get a great view of the construction projects.

The new path ends at Front Street after crossing Periwinkle Creek about a mile from the start. The creek crossing has the steepest grade of all the trails in this article.

Mountain bikers or walkers could continue on Front Street, turn left on Geary to Bowman Park and then follow an unpaved trail downstream to Simpson Park.

Monteith Park is located at Water Avenue and Washington Street adjacent to the Senior Center. Accessible restrooms are located in Monteith and Bowman Parks.

E. E. Wilson Wildlife Game Management Area: While the other routes at other areas were constructed to be trails, over 10 miles of almost flat pavement at Wilson are remnants of the military training base constructed at Camp Adair in 1942.

After the base was abandoned most of the buildings were torn down or removed, but the roads were left when the land was taken over by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The old roads are now a network of trails.

E.E. Wilson is about 10 miles north of Corvallis. A good starting point for exploration of the area is at an exhibit of exotic pheasants.

This exhibit is on Camp Adair Road about a half-mile east of Oregon Highway 99W. A memorial to soldiers who trained at the site is adjacent to the bird enclosures.

One trail goes north from the end of the bird display; others go north and south from Camp Adair Road.

The trails open to the public have cleverly designed gates that are wheelchair accessible. Many of the north-south trails extend for about a mile with numerous cross trails.

Maps are posted at the pheasant exhibit and at one other entrance but they are old and faded.

The wide abandoned roads are in surprisingly good condition given the little maintenance that they have received in the last 60 years. The grades are gentle.

Many of the wetlands that were drained when the base was established have now been reestablished. Some upland areas are planted with sunflowers or enhanced for wildlife in other ways.

E.E. Wilson is one of the few places in the valley where the gently rolling topography has not been significantly changed by urban development or long-term agricultural practices such as plowing and drainage pipes.

The site is a game management area supported by hunting and fishing license fees and is open to hunters throughout much of the fall and winter.

An accessible outhouse is located at a parking area about a quarter of a mile west of the pheasant exhibit.

Corvallis Riverfront Park: This parallels First Street through Corvallis. Visitors will get a view of the tree-lined banks of the Willamette River on one side of the path and, across a narrow park and First Street, a string of restaurants on the other.

The park features some interesting sculptures and a fountain that is generally filled with children in the summer. In the winter, when the fountain is inactive, visitors can explore the fountain's base, which is a map of the area's rivers and settlements prior to 1900.

The path along the river is about one mile long.

Toward the upstream end of the path trail users can look at colorful, ever-changing creations on a graffiti wall. Farther south, the trail splits, rejoins, and then splits again. One route crosses Marys River into south Corvallis.

Another branch continues up the Marys River past Avery Park, through Starker Arts Park and eventually ends in Philomath.

Accessible restrooms are located near the Van Buren Street Bridge and adjacent to the skate park under the Highway 34 bypass bridge.

Bald Hill Park: At the far end of the gravel parking lot on the south side of the Benton County Fairgrounds, on 53rd Street, a small paved parking area allows easy wheelchair access to about two miles of the paved Midge Cramer trail.

About a half-mile from the parking lot, the trail comes to a T-intersection. Turning left takes the visitor to a parking lot on Reservoir Road; the trail to the right ends at a parking lot on Oak Creek Road. Numerous unpaved trails branch off from the main routes; maps are posted in kiosks at the trailheads.

The trails run past grass fields, a mixed forest of Douglas firs and oaks on the side of Bald Hill and wetlands. An area near Reservoir Road has been burned in an attempt to maintain the oak savanna that was widespread throughout the valley 200 years ago.

From the same parking lot visitors can cross 53rd Street at the crosswalk and enjoy viewing llamas, a covered bridge and the OSU dairy herd on a road closed to all vehicles except an occasional farm tractor or truck.

The ADA outhouse, located near the middle of the Oak Creek branch of the trail, is separated from the paved trail by a stretch of rough gravel.

Jackson-Frazier Wetland: A short paved path starting from the north end of Lancaster Street in Corvallis leads to a kiosk and a raised wooden walkway through the wetland. A few hundred yards after the kiosk the boardwalk splits.

Since this is the start of a loop either choice brings you back to this point. A series of signs along the boardwalk explain the natural history and the human usage of the area. The round trip distance of this walk is about one mile.

A comparison of the site when it is dry in August with the site after a heavy January rain shows dramatically the effective water storage capacity of a wetland.

Much of the wetland area was mowed last summer to maintain its open character.

No restrooms exist at this site.

Ankeny Wildlife Refuge: Numerous opportunities exist here for viewing large flocks of ducks, geese, shore birds and other winter visitors.

To reach the site, take I-5 north to the Ankeny Hill Exit (Exit #243). At the stop sign turn left, cross the interstate, and stay on Ankeny Hill Road for about two miles. Look for a brown outhouse on the left (the only one on the refuge).

A parking lot here give access to a short accessible trail to an overlook offering a great, but distant, view of the refuge. Interpretive signs and maps help orient visitors to the refuge.

A mile farther, on Buena Vista Road, an easily accessible information kiosk offers a great close-up view of the largest pond on the refuge and more interpretive displays.

Two trails are located along Wintel Road. Both offer raised boardwalks leading to observation blinds. The boardwalks are well constructed through wooded wetlands. Both start at gravel parking lots.

One trail is entirely on a boardwalk the other starts with a few hundred yards of hard packed sand that is far easier for wheelchairs than the parking lot surface. The longer trail is about half a mile long.

The windows through the observation blinds have varying heights and orientations.

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