Chehalem Ridge Nature Park is a new network of multi-use hiking trails in the forest with scenic views and opportunities to climb boulders and logs.

Chehalem Ridge Nature Park opened to the public in early 2022 with multi-use trails open to hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders for almost 10 miles of trails. Chehalem Ridge Nature Park is the largest Metro park on the west side of Portland and the second-largest Metro park. There are ten different trails with little maps at every junction. They are all well-marked. This nature park encompasses 1,260 acres and a variety of habitats, including (my favorite) the forest, oak woodlands, and wetlands. From the park, visitors will also see beautiful and refreshing panoramic views of the surrounding Tualatin Valley and the Coast Range, with farms and wineries below. 

A local lumber company purchased the land. Most of the nature park has 20 to 35-year-old Douglas fir trees with a few other vegetation types sprinkled throughout the park, including Oregon White Oaks and Pacific Madrone trees. Be on the lookout for black-tailed deer, coyotes, squirrels, bobcats, alligator lizards, mushrooms (including witch’s butter, which is one of the trail names), birds like the hermit thrush, and ruffed grouse. The birds are most audible in the spring.

There are some large boulders on the TImber Road trail and some logs and very large piles of branches stacked into tall pyramids that our children enjoyed climbing. Climb at your own risk and discretion. There are 11 benches throughout the park where you can stop to enjoy a snack to keep your children's energy level up enough to finish the hike. Most of the trails are only accessible via other trails. We chose to start on the TImber Road and take the Witches Butter Trail, which we loved. We came back on the Woodland Trail, and that was not my personal favorite due to the hill climbs and skinnier trees. 

The parking area has spaces for 80 cars and can be a busy destination for outdoor enthusiasts on weekends. Even in winter, the restrooms are unlocked and will fit a stroller because they're wheelchair accessible. There are only restrooms in the parking lot and nowhere else in the park. Many picnic tables are covered and uncovered near the parking lot with trash and recycling cans. Dogs are forbidden in the entire park, like all Metro parks.