Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas

Being not only New Years Eve but, more importantly, the eve of my wife's birthday, despite my urge to take a major hike I decided to keep it low key. The hike I decided upon today is essentially my back yard. The patio of my apartment faces Mt. Talbert Nature Park and I could not be more thrilled about this.

After hiking Salmon River a few weeks ago, I expected Mt. Talbert, which is essentially a "city park" being that it is surrounded by residential areas and has a huge shopping district (Clackamas Town Center) not two miles away, to be vastly inferior to Salmon River. I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. True, it is inferior to Salmon River, but not vastly so by any means.

It is a wonderful park, a beautiful park, and it contains several miles worth of trails as well as a very secluded feel (if you can drown out the subtle hum of suburban traffic that surrounds the park). It has always been a dream of mine to live walking distance from a nature area, and the walk to the trailhead of Mt. Talbert from my living room took about two and a half minutes.

The first seven photographs are taken a very short distance from the trail head / parking lot off Sunnyside Road. After a short walk down to a bridge that crosses a gray, murky creek, you walk in a rather open space for about the first two hundred yards. After that, you enter a much darker, taller, older forest for the rest of the hike. But the following seven pictures are from the very start of the trail and the creek.

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

After about two hundred yards or so, you enter into a much denser, darker forest. Like most forest in coastal Northwest, it is mossy, wet, bright green, and magical.

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

 Although the hike up to the summit of Mt. Talbert can work up a sweat and force you to shed a few layers, the hike is easy, relaxing, and steady. This is a walk-in-the-woods more than a capital H Hike, but sometimes that's all that you want or have time or energy for. Once winter ends and I actually get to experience some daylight at the end of my work day, I hope to get into the habit of walking through this woods as often as possible for a little exercise before my wife gets home from work.

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

When you are in the park, from the looks of things it is very hard to believe that this is a "city park" in that it is surrounded by man kind. At times you can see residential areas or commercial areas off in the distance through the trees. And throughout the hike, especially while on the Northwest side of the park (the side closest to the junction of Sunnyside road and Highway 205, as well as the Clackamas Town Center Mall) you will hear the hum of motorcars. It is a distant sound, not by any means intrusive, but it is quite a bit different nonetheless than the hum of the river that you hear through my previous hike at Salmon River.

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

The Summit Trail within the park brings you up to the top of Mt. Talbert. Don't expect great views from up here, it is not wide open at all. Upon reaching the summit, I felt a stronger, cooler breeze.

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Below is a photo of the summit area. There is a patch of taller grass where you can stand and look off through an opening in the trees to an area Southeast of the park. I wondered if on a clear day you may be able to see the Sisters mountains near Bend from here, but I doubt it.

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

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Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

With several interconnected trails, it is easy to create different loops through the park, rather than a down-and-back trail like Salmon River. The loop I created for myself today was probably about 3 miles total and a great escape from my living room before my wife and I ring in the new year.

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

Mt. Talbert Nature Park - Clackamas, Oregon

I feel as though I have achieved a life goal by living on the edge of this park. It is so rewarding to live walking distance from such a beautiful place. I am grateful to not have to get into a car and drive twenty or more minutes to experience this level of natural beauty. There are far greater hiking trails out there surrounding Portland, and I will explore and document them in time. But on a lazy Sunday, when all you feel like is a walk in the woods, Mt. Talbert will perfectly suffice.


Mt. Talbert- a big, beautiful, forested mound in the middle of suburbia.

After the hike, to get an early start on celebrating the new year, I fished the Gurkha Crest out of my humidor and slowly smoked it out on my porch. Those trees you see behind the cigar are of Mt. Talbert Nature Park. The Gurkha was excellent- a perfect end to a walk in the woods. There is something just right about relaxing with a handmade cigar after a long hike in the woods.

Gurkha Crest

Up next, I hope to explore a trail within the Columbia River Gorge. In my next entry, if the gorge isn't blasted by snow and ice this coming weekend, expect photographs of waterfalls.