Harvey Creek Trail

Tucked snugly behind Dundee, this quiet hike is not at all sleepy.  Harvey Creek Trail is a short, steep climb. At the top, just over a half mile, is a small neighborhood, a very old historic cemetery and a million-dollar view.  Aside from passing a neighboring house at the beginning of the trail, the hike is anything but urban. 

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A footbridge crosses over Harvey creek and the trail immediately splits.  I keep left going up.  The trail offers many opportunities to fork off.  The fairly compact area can be deceiving; it looks much bigger than it is.  Keep left to the top. You’ll get to explore the looping trails on your way down (and I promise, you’ll enjoy the trails going down more than you would coming up). The trees are thick and the trail wide.  It is well maintained and needs little maneuvering, if any, aside from the first 50 feet of the climb, just past the bridge.  The tree cover is amazing from any spot and there really isn’t a prettier place than another.

The cemetery is fun to explore.  Most of the headstones have dates from the 1800’s.  Walk the length of it (it’s quite longer than it appears) and you’ll find generations buried near each other.  On the road between the cemetery and the row of houses, you’ll find a couple open spots for a view of Dundee.  Look far enough and you’ll see the Willamette River meandering in the distance.  We end up spending more time exploring up here than we plan for.  On a recent trek, we found a few plain markers, engraved with “occupied” and “unknown”. Some markers have moss growing in the engraving. 

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Keep left on the way back down, taking you down a little less steep of a descent and slightly longer than your trek up.  The trail, again, offers splits.  Keep left for one solid loop or figure 8 your way down the trails.  It really is a beautiful spot so enjoy the trail going down.  

I give this hike a 1.5 for difficulty, only because of the climb. 

Quite naively, I thought I could make a quick run of the trail on a “rest day” after climbing Mt. Defiance.  My calves were not at all agreeable.  After a quick compromise, I decided to walk up it and run down it.