yesterday i finally went to the last of the extinct volcanic cinder cones in the city, kelly butte. there is barely any information online but i did find someone who mapped their own trail. the post was from nine years ago though so the natural area has changed. i decided to walk there from my place which took an hour but was since mid-morning walk. many of the posts online about the place say it is a bit creepy or spooky and they aren’t wrong. but it is also beautiful.
when you arrive you pass a small parking area and gate. then you walk up a paved hill to another parking area (though unused due to being inaccessible). from there the trails are up the paved path to the right past the grassy hillside. i did not know this and went left going through overgrowth and climbing through a fence to examine the graffiti on two water tanks. after exploring i went the other way and found the hiking trails. they are unmarked so you just have to you know where you came from in order to find your way back.
once finding the trails it became a hike, as if i didn’t i wouldn’t have considered it one. i went around a few paths, went down a hillside, and then turned around. i almost went the wrong way but once i realised the trail i turned on to was wrong i went back and then found the trail i turned from. i remembered the branches i ducked under so i knew i was going the right way. the entire time it was just me up there but as i left the trails i saw two other people. it was odd to be there on my own at first but then quite comfortable.
it’s sad that this place has been forgotten about and abandoned. it’s been overgrown and remnants of the previous homeless camps are still scattered throughout the trails. i’m not sure what recent restoration has been done but i hope more happens. there isn’t even the wooden portland parks sign that all the city parks have. if you weren’t looking for it or didn’t come across it online somehow you probably wouldn’t even know it existed.
but i really enjoyed it. as i mentioned, the trails are all unmarked, so you really are making your own way. but it is a good hikng area. i do intend to come back here soon and explore more. i would’ve stayed longer if i wasn’t planning on being in a coffee shop for a couple of hours afterwards. there are still more have to explore. i told c that we should go here sometime. i may even return soon because i am so intrigued by the place. there are supposedly these stairs known from what i can tell as the “doomsday stairs”. i want to find them. and next time i will.
i don’t know how far i hiked or the elevation gain but i made an estimate in terms of where i went and the old post i read about a trail the author mapped.
1.2 miles, elevation gain: 50 ft.
