Your votes are in and the winner is MT. BALDY! (If you're wondering which vote you missed out on, head over to Instagram and follow us at @gomomgohike for even more hiking fun.) Growing up here, I have heard of this trail, and just never figured out where it was. When I finally went looking for the trailhead, I couldn’t believe how easy it was. What took me so long?! Also – I love exploring new places in my hometown and seeing how everything is connected. I had to go home and GoogleMaps a satellite view to figure out how it all wound together.
 
How to Get There:
Drive south on Hilyard. Turn left onto E. Amazon as if you were driving to Mazzi’s/Hideaway Bakery. Turn left onto Dillard Road. Drive up Dillard Rd for about 2.5 miles – turn left onto Hidden Meadow Rd. Turn left again immediately into the small parking lot.

This is a very versatile trail that you can make what you need it to be. I was given insider tips from a friend who lives within walking distance and runs this trail frequently. I will walk you through what we did and then explain what else you can do. From what I can tell, there are three options.

Option #1: Mt. Baldy
This is the shortest loop that is offered. It’s right about a mile round trip. The beginning of this trail is groomed gravel/packed dirt with beautiful views of the city and large, sprawling estates. This part of the trail is the steepest. It is a pretty steady climb. Thinking about carrying a little, it would definitely make you breathe a little harder, but it’s short and the perfect distance to see what you are capable of with littles.

There is a bench near the top that you can sit and look out over the city in a new way.

Just beyond this bench, you will see a fork in the trail. At this point, we went left. (I cannot speak to what happens if you go right – if any of you explore this direction, let me know in the comments below!) By going left, the trail turns to bark and you can loop back around and head back to the car. Turning around here, you will have hiked just about a mile and been rewarded with beautiful views.

Option #2: Spring Creek Blvd.
If you continue down the barked trail, it begins to wind around a bit downhill, becoming more woodsy and covered, until you reach the end of Spring Blvd. (This is the part that BLEW. MY. MIND. How the heck did we get here? Clearly I know nothing about this town.) At this point, you will see another trailhead and the path leads back into the wooded area.

Technically, you could just turn around and head right back up the way you came, but I love exploring and loops. So off we went. This trail quickly becomes narrowed and ungroomed and at this time of year, muddy. We did our best to walk on each edge of the trail to avoid as much as we could.

We followed this until it reaches a clearing and followed an even less marked trail to the left. It did look as if the trail we were on continued ahead (another area we did not explore). This wound through the meadow and then connected back with the bark trail. At this point, we were walking parallel to and just up above Dillard Rd.  This quickly joined back with the gravel trail and dropped us back at the car.

Option 3: Dillard Rd.
From what I can tell, if you continued straight on the meadow trail, you will connect with Dillard Rd. My assumption at this point is that you would walk along Dillard Rd. back to your car.
 
Here’s what we loved:
Close to home. Easy to get to/find. Versatile. Accessible to all levels. Views. Kids loved that the "hard part" was right near the beginning and the rest was easy going, downhill/flat.

Trail Talk:
Hours: Dawn to Dusk
Parking: Well marked parking lot
Passes Needed: NONE
Distance: .92 - 2.2 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: 300 ft
Bathrooms: None
Trail: Gravel and bark paths
Mobility: Easy/Moderate
Cell Service: Yes
Potential Dangers: None
Safe to Hike Alone: YES
Animals: Dogs must be on a leash
 
Gear Gab:
Carrier: Ergo or light carrier
Shoes: Running Shoes
Kid Shoes: Running Shoes
Backpack: Small/Something for water
In the pack: Bare necessities

Disclaimer:
While I stated that there weren’t any potential dangers and that it is safe to do alone, PLEASE do what feels safe and comfortable for you. As I said, my friend runs this trail often and has never had any issues. There are, however, signs at the beginning of each end of the trail to warn of cougars and bears. As is true of any uninhabited area, there are things you should watch out for and be aware of. Also – when we were in the meadow area, we began to hear an odd sound which later turned out to be a man, partially hidden in the brush, using a metal detector. This gave us pause and definitely startled us. While there were 5 of us and we were fine, this was a good reminder that you should always be cautious and aware of your surroundings whenever venturing out – alone or otherwise.

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Jenna Eads is a full-time Special Education teacher, wife to a photographer, and mom to two kids ages 10 and 6. Their life is anything but slow or boring. She loves going on adventures with her kids and listening to them as they see and experience new things and new places. See all of her hike posts here.

There’s a new trail in town, Friends! I saw a few others post about it on social media, and we just had to check it out for ourselves. It did not disappoint. This trail is for everyone and if you are new to hiking or apprehensive about trying a hike by yourself or with your littles, this is the perfect place to start.
 
Willamalane Parks and Rec knows what’s up. They recently purchased 665 acres of land that they are now developing into a myriad of trails for hiking and mountain biking and they have done a spectacular job. We hiked this trail the week before the official grand opening celebration.  While Phase 1 was already open, it may be that more has been added in the last month or so.
 
I’m going to give you the textbook information first and then I will tell you what we actually did and how we turned what we thought was going to be a 2 mile hike into a 7.5 mile hike and were so incredibly happy that we did. Grab your shoes and favorite hiking companions – you won’t want to miss this.
 
We brought friends along for this new adventure so there were 5 kids (10, 9, 7, 6, and 4). This trail was easily doable by all and we saw others ranging from toddlers to the grandmotherly all successfully traversing the trail.

Thurston Hills Natural Area
Trail Talk:
Hours: Dawn to Dusk
Parking: Large parking lot right at the base of the trail
Parking Fee: FREE
Distance: 4.0 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: unclear
Bathrooms:  CLEAN, Full flushing, running water
Trail: Well-groomed, compacted gravel
Mobility: Moderate
Cell Service: Yes
Potential Dangers: None
Safe to Hike Alone: YES
Animals: YES!
 
Gear Gab:
Carrier: Ergo or Hiking pack
Shoes: Trail runners
Kid Shoes: Hiking shoes
Backpack: Only for snacks if needed
 
DO NOT GOOGLEMAPS THIS ROUTE. Since it is new, GoogleMaps doesn’t quite have the trailhead right and we were nowhere we should have been and awkwardly had to turn around in someone’s driveway waaaaay off the beaten path. Don’t be us.

Instead, Take Hwy 126 east toward Springfield. Turn left onto Main Street. Go down to 75th Street. Turn right into the parking lot. It's seriously that easy. Berean Assembly of God will be on your left at 75th Street and you will see a big sign indicating Thurston Hills Natural Area on your right. You can’t miss it. The parking lot has ample parking and two clean, full-flushing bathrooms. The start of the trail is directly in front of you. It is clearly marked and just right there.

The trail then continues into a wooded area much like Spencer Butte. The morning we went was incredibly foggy and added an eerie beauty to it. The trail contains constant switchbacks throughout, tricking you into forgetting that you are actually climbing and keeping you wondering what’s around every corner.

Because the entire area is still under construction, the trail just ends right around the 2 mile mark. There’s no hill top experience, gorgeous vista, or shocking sight. There’s just more semi-blazed trails that are not complete or groomed. So if you are the kind of person who feels satisfied by this, perfect! Turn around now and head back the way you came and congratulate yourself for a job well done. Four miles! With littles! You did it!!

Now, If you are slightly (er, completely) obsessive about seeing a trail to its end or you simply want to explore the UNGROOMED area, then by all means, keep going. Just know that it is very, completely, unimaginably muddy. Oh so muddy. Squishy squashy - lose your shoes in it - muddy. But if you have kids able to walk their own like we did?  It’s worth every single step.

At the juncture where the groomed North Access trail “ends”, and the ungroomed trails begin, you will see a sign that looks like this:

Stay with me. It gets a little confusing. The trail marker in that above picture says SPINE TRAIL. But at this point, we just kept going straight up. It leads you up and up towards what I’m thinking someday will be a summit. This way gets steeper and muddier and after 20 minutes or so we decided it wasn’t safe to continue because getting down was going to be a slippy-sloppy mess. (Plus we ran into a guy on the trail that said it continued for another 20-30 minutes of slow-going mud and never gets you to a definite destination.) So we turned back to the aforementioned juncture pictured above.
 
The SPINE TRAIL leads you down another 1.3 mile ungroomed, muddy trail that takes you to a small plateau. The youngers made it most of the way and could have pressed on, but there had been too many shoes lost, slips, falls, and rescuing out of sinking mud. One adult turned back with the smalls while I continued to the end with the bigs.  As mentioned, it was very foggy, so I’m not sure what the views (if any) there would be from here.

There are signs for more trails and another large trail map.

We then trudged back through the trail, found the rest of the party, and made it back to the car way muddier and later and with many more miles in than we had planned.

To sum up:
We LOVED this hike. Loved. I am so so glad we took the time to slop through the mud and explore a beautiful area right so close to us. The kids loved getting muddy and being allowed to just get dirty and explore. If continuing on through the mud is available to you, do it. But GO PREPARED. Bring extra clothes, extra shoes, towels, blankets, boxes for muddy clothes in your car, etc. And maybe don’t wear your favorite clothing….or white.
 
If you are just starting out, have littler littles, don’t have time or desire to explore, you will STILL love it. There was a steady flow of people on the graveled path to make you feel safe, the trail is easy to traverse, and the elevation not too hard. We can’t wait to get back on this trail when it’s a bit drier and explore all the unseen things.
 
Have you tried this trail?
Do have some tips to add about hiking in mud?
Can’t wait to hear your thoughts! 

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Jenna Eads is a full-time Special Education teacher, wife to a photographer, and mom to two kids ages 10 and 6. Their life is anything but slow or boring. She loves going on adventures with her kids and listening to them as they see and experience new things and new places. See all of her posts here.

How to Get There:

Take Hwy 126 west toward Florence. At (just before) the Siuslaw Bridge in Mapleton (46 miles from Eugene), leave Hwy 126 and drive south on Sweet Creek Rd for 11 miles to the Homestead Trailhead.

Trail Talk
Hours: None specifically stated
Parking: Well marked parking lot
Passes Needed: NONE
Distance: 2.2 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: 350 ft
Bathrooms: Vault Toilet
Trail: Damp dirt trail, wooden bridges, canyon wall “cat-walk”
Mobility: Easy 
Cell Service: None
Potential Dangers: None (unless you wade in the water then the rocks could be slippery and the current could be quick – use caution if you go in the water.)
Safe to Hike Alone: YES
Animals: Dogs must be on a leash

Gear Gab
Carrier: Deuter Kid Comfort II
Shoes: Any
Kid Shoes: Hikers or Keens
Backpack: Small
In the pack: Water & Snacks

What we love about this hike:

• It is short and easy
  
• It is gorgeous
  
• WATERFALLS
  
• Lots of places to sit along the creek
  

Grab a friend and go explore this trail.  Leave a comment when you have gone - I would love to know what you guys thought of this hidden gem!

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Jenna is mama to two awesome kids, a boy & a girl. They explore Lane County's hills & mountains on a regular basis. See all of Jenna's Hike Mom Hike posts here.

This was a beautiful hike.  Easy, rolling, four mile out and back trail. I HIGHLY recommend this hike.  The boys also recommend this hike.  Anyone else done this and have tips or tricks?  Post here! I want to hear them!

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Jenna is mama to two awesome kids, a boy & a girl. They explore Lane County's hills & mountains on a regular basis. See all of Jenna's Hike Mom Hike posts here.

Here I thought I was being so helpful in getting new Mama hikers out and conquering new heights, and they go and periodically close Spencer Butte.  Drat.  So let’s mosey on over to the other hill, er, mountain in our area.  

 The Howard Buford Recreation Area is a 2363 acre park that consists of 17 miles of trails.  There are seven official trails but for today we will be on Trail #1: Beistel’s West Summit Trail.  To learn more about the other 6 trails, click here.

From the parking lot, the park is very well marked and laid out.  The West Summit Trail, which we will be traversing, is immediately above you. (This is where the daily parking fee station is located as well.) You will immediately see lots of hikers going to and from here.  You can’t miss it.  There is a big gate that seems to be always closed – you just walk around it.

 If you aren’t ready to start your upward journey just yet, you can walk straight across a cute little bridge and find the bathrooms, the rental facilities, and a few of the other (flatter) trails. There is also an unofficial swimming spot that my kids LOVE. Disclaimer: It is a free running river so swim at your own risk. Also there’s potential toxins. The sign is clear enough.

So here’s what you need to know:

I have done this hike a dozen or so times since being a Mama. I have taken an infant in the front pack, a toddler in both the kid pack and the Ergo, and I have made the boy walk since he was about 4 ½.  This was the first time I made my bug walk it by herself – at not quite 4.  I wanted to know if she could walk it alone to be able to share with all of you. The answer is, yes she can (and she’s SO proud), but it was ROUGH. To be fair, she was awake about 2 hours earlier than normal this day, and she was very tired, and it was pushing dinner but oh the whining. But the way up wasn’t the worst part for me – heading down was super hard for her.  She was slipping and sliding and fell multiple times.  Holding my hand may have been making it worse as then her shoulder was getting pulled and she kept falling forward on her knees.  So she was in tears, her knees bleeding, and she was begging to go home. If you have in-betweeners like her (too big to really pack up, too little to do this well) I would highly recommend taking another way.  If you have all the time in the world to go super slow and stop often, heck, don’t let me stop you.  I for one, will be either packing her for a heavy workout out, or waiting to try it again until next year.

Things we love: 
· Distance wise, it’s not a very long hike but you still get a good workout.

· The views from the top are spectacular.  You can see the whole valley and surrounding mountain ranges.  

· It can be a very quick destination hike to the top OR a meandering family hike around the other trails.  

· There are ALWAYS friendly people there to help and because there is an arboretum there as well, I feel that there is always someone around in case of emergencies.  

· The bench – which I often use as bribery.  You know, “When we get to the bench, you can rest…When we get to the bench, we will eat our snacks….Let’s just hike to the bench!” God bless this bench.

Things we don’t love as much: 
· How hot and relatively steep the first part is.  This makes it hard to convince my littles that they want to do this hike with me. (The boy is much happier with switchbacks or winding trails rather than up – turn – up some more.)

· The crowds – It can be VERY busy and because it is so out in the open, it feels more congested. In the summer there are often weddings taking place as well.  Not on the summit trail, obviously, but it can make for difficult parking and a feeling that you are invading a private party when walking around.

· The trail - this does not feel like being out in nature (another thing that motivates my little to hike). It feels like walking up a long, steep driveway. So if lush Oregon green is what you’re looking for, stick to the bottom trails.

 I have been winding my way around these trails since high school. It is definitely a place worth checking out and revisiting.  There’s lots to see and do and experience out there.

Trail Talk
Hours: Dawn to Dusk 

Parking: Large parking lot right at the base of the trail

Parking Fee: $4/day or purchase a Lane County Parks Annual Pass for $40 (discounts available for seniors and military personnel)

Distance: 2.8 miles round trip

Elevation Gain: 1050 feet

Bathrooms:  Full flushing, running water

Trail: Well-groomed gravel and dirt trail

Mobility: Moderate

Cell Service: Yes

Potential Dangers: LOTS of poison oak/ivy

Safe to Hike Alone: YES

Animals: YES! Both dogs (on a leash) and horses (on specified trails)

 Gear Gab
Carrier: Ergo or Hiking pack 

Shoes: Any – I have hiked this in running shoes and Chacos (the gravel can get in your sandals, though, so use caution with sandals)

Kid Shoes: Keen Hikers

Backpack: Only for snacks 

In the pack: water and snacks
 
Have a great hike!

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Jenna is mama to two awesome kids, a boy & a girl. They explore Lane County's hills & mountains on a regular basis. See all of Jenna's Hike Mom Hike posts here.

I’ve decided we should start our hiking adventures together right here in town.  Don’t worry adventurous hiking Mamas, we will travel to new places, but for now, let’s stick with what we know and encourage new hikers or nervous hikers to get out on the trail.  Without further ado, Spencer Butte.
Having grown up here, I am no stranger to this trail.  I hiked it as a kid myself, and have found my way to the top many times.  Hiking it as a Mama, is a new challenge, but one that can be easily accomplished.  

(THIS IS NOT RIDGELINE TRAIL – WE WILL EXPLORE THAT ON ANOTHER DAY)

Trail Talk:
Hours: 6:00 am – 11:00 pm
Parking: Large parking lot right at the base of the trail
Distance: 2.16 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: 700 feet
Bathrooms: Port-a-potty at base of trail
Trail: Well-groomed dirt trail, rock scramble just before the summit
Mobility: Moderate (if you are unable to take bigger steps or do squat/lunge –type movements, the last bit of the hike will be very difficult.)
Cell Service: Spotty
Potential Dangers: POISON OAK, Rattle Snakes (which my father always warned me about and I NEVER believed him, until I saw one myself a few years ago)

Gear Gab:
Carrier: Ergo
Shoes: Nike Terra Kiger (trail runners)
Kid Shoes: Keen Hikers
Backpack: REI kids pack
In the pack: water, snacks, layers of clothes

I’ve done this hike twice in the last few weeks.  The first time, I went by myself with my two littles. This was the first time I attempted to have my smallest walk on her own.  She was determined to do it all by herself. (I wrapped the Ergo around my waist just in case). The second time, I went with just my smallest and a friend who carried her 2-week old baby in a front pack.

At 3 ½, my bug did a great job! She picked a steady pace and held to it the whole time. No Ergo needed!  The only struggle we had, and which I expected to have, was the scramble at the top.  She isn’t quite big enough or sturdy enough to do it on her own, so with that, I was doing a lot of lifting her up to the next rocky area and then scrambling up on my own and on and on.  The tricky part was keeping an eye on the boy who wanted to be able to just power through, scramble up, and not have to wait for us.

SOMETHING OF NOTE:  At this last part of the hike, height is on your side.  Even though I’m an average 5’6”, I have the world’s shortest legs.  In order to step up at the end, I would need to lean forward, etc. shifting my center of balance which can be particularly tricky with a baby in the front pack or a toddler in the hiking pack. However, when I went with my almost 6’ friend with the world’s longest legs, she just stepped as though it were nothing, keeping her balance perfectly while her 2-week old slept peacefully in her front pack. 

Getting down was also a bit of an interesting endeavor as my 3 & a 1/2 year old doesn’t quite get the concept of gravity or that if she simply steps off the edge she won’t necessarily land on her feet.  There were a few times that I was concerned for her shoulder dislocating while she was holding my hand as she slid/jumped/propelled herself off a rock.

This hike is the perfect place to start if you are unsure about hiking alone with your kids. It’s not too steep, not too long, and just high enough that your kids will feel as though they have conquered Everest.   My kids LOVE this hike.  Gorgeous fir trees keep you shaded for almost the entire trail.  The switchbacks make you feel like you are moving quickly.  The views at the summit are breath-taking. I have never been there when there weren’t plenty of other (friendly) people around to make me feel very safe by myself.

ADVANCED HIKE DISCLAIMER: This is a popular hike to do at sunset. Where it is totally worth it and the views are uh-mazing, your hike down will be DARK. You will definitely want headlamps/flashlights. This is NOT something you want to do if your kids (or you) are afraid of the dark.

NOTE:
There is construction going on at the top of Spencer Butte this spring & summer. It looks like it will be awesome & more accessible when it's done so that's really great. Periodically they will be closing the top for the more intensive construction. Check this link for up-to-date information about closures:
http://www.eugene-or.gov/spencerbutte

Hike Mom Hike!

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Jenna is mama to two awesome kids, a boy & a girl. They explore Lane County's hills & mountains on a regular basis. See all of Jenna's Hike Mom Hike posts here.