Hike #22: Hike the Hoyt

Our 22nd hike takes us north of Sunset Hwy for a tour of Washington Park.  Read on for more details:

Name:  Hike the Hoyt
Neighborhood: Arlington Heights
Distance: 4.47 miles
Rating: Medium
Elevation Change:  461 ft
Start/End Location: Hoyt Arboretum (4000 SW Fairview blvd)
Map Links:  Interactive Map

Summary:
This 4.4-mile hike predominantly takes you on trails, but you will also walk on some beautiful neighborhood streets.  (See notes below on the Arboretum’s visitor guidelines). As this hike is a loop, for the purposes of our description, we will start and end at the parking area of the Arboretum’s Visitor Center, but there are several parking spots along the way for no fee. The Archery range is a good choice to park and then walk up to the Arboretum’s Visitor Center to pick up our narrative.

Interactive Map Directions:

• Touch the “Interactive Map” link at the top of this page to launch a web-based version of the route map from your mobile browser (i.e. chrome, or safari).
• Touch the locate me button in the top-left corner of your display to activate a ‘blue dot’ showing your current location
• Your blue dot will now follow the highlighted route from your mobile device!
• Note, you may have to grant permission to allow the application to access location services.

Step-by-step Directions:
From the parking lot, turn left (south) on SW Fairview and walk down past SW Knights Blvd to where the White Pine Trail meets the road, or take the stairs at the parking lot and follow along in the App. Go north (right) to travel along the west side of the Arboretum on White Pine trail. Being careful to stay on White Pine trail, after a while you come to a spot with 2 paved trails ahead of you.  Neither of these are the White Pine trail.  Look sharply left almost behind you.  The White Pine Trail continues as a dirt trail up the hill.

Continuing on you will be crossing SW Fischer Ln, SW Bray Ln, and SW Fairview Blvd. Keep a lookout for the short exit trail heading out to SW Bennington Dr, where you will proceed downhill for a while and merge at a left angle onto Fairview Blvd.  Look for some beautiful stairs on the right and take them down to SW Champlain Dr; turn right.  Cross SW Fairview and re-enter the park.  Meander down the trail following the signs to the Japanese Garden Trail; take a peek to see as much as you can of the gorgeous landscaping inside the Japanese Garden before continuing downhill to the Rose garden where you can wander around the perimeter as the route shows, or check out the hundreds of roses on the little side trails between the many rose bushes.  If you look down on the sidewalk near the brick area and fence you will find Portland’s Rose Queens’ Walk with a plaque honoring the yearly festival queen since 1953.  When you’ve fully enjoyed the roses, head over to the Gift Shop (closed) and restrooms (open) and turn left to take the sidewalk down Sherwood Blvd. to the Elephant House Picnic Shelter. Take the MAC Trail just opposite the picnic shelter across the street to reconnect to the famous Wildwood Trail. (The wildwood trail runs the entire length of Forest park from Newberry Road to the Zoo parking lot, a total of 33 miles!) The trail splits a ways after crossing SW Kingston; take the Left fork and wind around and up past the Archery range to the Overlook trail that will take you back to the Hoyt Arboretum Parking lot where you began.

Don’t forget to use the hashtag #swtrails to share your very best pictures.

Happy Trails,

SWTrails