Walking (or running) routes from Mittleman Jewish Community Center
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crossed (to fuse adjacent images) and you will see the sculpture in stereoscopic depth. |
| MJCC lies
in the heart of some the the country's most interesting and beautiful urban
walking. There are numerous trails, some in deep woods, some along
bubbling streams, some up steep hillsides. Two abandoned electric
railroad routes have left streets and paths that are virtually level.
Several abandoned dairy farms and orchards have left old buildings and
many clusters of fruit trees that still yield their fruit to passers by.
And there is some interesting history here and there.
Here are five routes that head out in all directions and let the walker see a little of what is there to explore. The maps are more accurate than most you will find, and they include the many trails, stairs and walkways that give a person on foot advantages over the automobile. Try some of the other paths you see on the maps. There is much more worth exploring. |
| To the northeast lies the Town Center of Hillsdale and,
rising above Hillsdale, the southern end of the Tualatin Mountains.
The tip of the Tualatin Mountains is
Healy Heights, the site of the tall red and white transmission tower. The original road from Hillsdale to Healy Heights was 18th Drive, now a path no longer suitable for vehicular traffic... |
Mt Hood from Council Crest |
| To the west and southwest lies
Gabriel Park, site of the new Southwest Community Center and the village of Multnomah. Capitol Highway, which runs up the crest of the ridge that extends north from Mt Sylvania was once the route from Portland to the state capitol at Salem... |
Gabriel Park Off-Leash Dog Area |
| To the northwest lies
Fanno Creek, which is now the route of SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway. Numerous trails and winding roads on steep hillsides lie on either side of this upper reach of Fanno Creek Look for Eagles Nest, Rhino Way, the old Oregon Electric RR route, Albert Kelly Park, Hillsdale Park, and the high concrete bridge over a branch of Fanno Creek... |
Bridge over branch of Fanno Creek |
| To the south lies the upper reaches of
Tryon Creek, a large part of which is now Marshall Park, one of the lesser known
Portland Parks. This is a hilly part of Portland, and most of those
hills have a large, green water tank (or two) on top. Here's a route
that scampers up and down some of those hills on unusual paths, hidden
stairs, and (almost) abandoned roads...
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Trail and stream in Marshall Park |
| To the southwest lies
Woods Memorial Park, a pair of deep wooded canyons tucked away north of Taylors Ferry Road near Capitol Highway. This route follows the original route out of Portland to Salem (the highway to the capitol), a route that stayed to the tops of the ridges and out of the mud and floods of Portland's heavy rains...at least for a mile or two. |
Tethered bridge in Woods Mem. Park (an older bridge floated away in a storm) |