Jaunts with Jozee: Forest Park in Portland, OR (and the Witch's Castle too!)

After reading about the Wildwood Trail at Forest Park in Portland, Oregon, I knew we had to check it out. With a 28-mile trail that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to walking and hiking options, I was more than happy to head down to Portland, our favorite Oregon destination, in order to visit the park.

We weren’t sure what to expect but quickly discovered this popular trail needed more parking options (difficult given the fact that the trailhead is right next to a residential area). We were fortunate when we spotted some visitors heading out of the trail and back to their vehicle. We unabashedly stalked them and immediately took over their parking spot when they drove away.

Once we entered the trail, we were immediately embraced by the beauty of it all. The trail itself is wide, thankfully, since you are regularly coming across other hikers, dogs, runners and bicyclists. We learned quickly to keep Jozee very close to us when we rounded corners, as bicyclists could be coming down the hill, not allowing much time to get your furbaby or the leash out of the bicyclist’s way.

There were two things I loved most about this trail:

#1 – The sheer beauty and tranquility of it, even though it was so close to the city. The lush trees offered enough coverage to hush out the signs of city life just outside the borders of the forest and there was no limit to the many shades of beautiful greenery offering enough cover from the sun to make a long walk more manageable.

#2 – I love, love, love the dog-friendly residents of Portland. Whether another hiker had a dog or not, this trail was a great opportunity for Jozee to meet many new friends, as it was rare for another hiker not to want to stop to give her some attention. And if the hiker also had a dog, well then, there was even more of an opportunity to make a new friend.

I don’t recall how far down this trail we actually went before we turned around to head back to our vehicle. We might have spent the whole day on the Wildwood Trail except for the fact that we were also on a mission to visit the Witches Castle (or at least I was). So we split up the day between the two items on our itinerary.

We drove to Macleary Park, took some time to figure out where to park and eventually found the Lower Macleary Trail. This is a pretty walk, with a narrow trail running down the hill and then alongside a creek once you meander down to the lower level. Once we made our way up from the creek and over a slight ridge, we finally came across the Witch's Castle.

This beautiful old stone building was a little on the small side, but did not disappoint when it came to letting my imagination run away with thoughts about when and who ever used this building.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was actually built as a ranger station and restroom for hikers many years ago and was eventually abandoned.

Why was it abandoned?

One story I read indicated hikers were spooked by possible supernatural events (toilets flushing by themselves). Another explanation was that it was badly damaged in a storm. Regardless of why it’s now an abandoned building, it would be an eerie place to visit in the middle of the night.