Saturday began as a cloudy, drizzle filled morning, but the forecast was for clearing and sunshine, with cool Fall temps.
Mia and I wanted to get Codi back out into the woods again, so we took him on the quick jaunt out to the Tillamook Forest Center to hike part of the Wilson River Trail.

It takes maybe 30-35 minutes to get there in normal traffic.  Get stuck behind a log truck or two and you can add 10+ minutes to that.  So, while not as convenient as Forest Park, it is a lot less crowded on a weekend, especially this late into the year.

Wilson River Trail is also a very well known mountain bike trail, and one of these days I want to ride the whole thing.  Today’s hike gave me a chance to check out a portion of it and see how easy or difficult it is to ride.

We started the hike in some mist and drizzle with a touch of humidity.  By the time we turned around, the sun was out and a cooling breeze was kicking in.  Pretty spectacular weather!

The trail itself is very easy to follow.  Never very wide, but extremely well buffed out.

About half way through our jaunt is the not so raging and not so spectacular “Wilson Falls”.  Perhaps in the wetter parts of the year it’s a bit more exciting?

As we work on Codi’s overall fitness we only went out 3.2 miles to a nice little riverside area and then back.  While at the turnaround point though, we decided to let Codi play in the water for a bit to cool off.

Played around a bit with my camera too. It’s waterproof, so I wanted to get some under water shots.

Compared to last week’s hike, Codi really took to the water today.

After his short swim, we meandered back to the Forest Center.  Didn’t see a ton of people, but that isn’t always a bad thing.

One of these days we will perhaps do the whole traverse in a day or maybe an overnight with a car spot?  I’m definitely going to bike it in a day, just got to get the logistics on that one worked out.

So, if you’re tired of the Gorge, Forest Park and some of Portland Metro area’s other more famous options, head on out to the Tillamook Forest area.  Plenty of trails for hiking, biking, atving, etc.

Thanks for reading.

-Pete