Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
29
SELLWOOD: ANTIQUE JUNGLE
BOUNDARIES:
SE Milwaukie Ave., SE Tacoma St., and the Willamette River
DISTANCE:
4 miles
DIFFICULTY:
Easy-moderate
PARKING:
Small free lot at start/finish; nearby street parking also available
PUBLIC TRANSIT:
TriMet Bus 19 (numerous stops along SE Milwaukie Ave.)
Annexed by Portland in 1893, Sellwood for many years was its own incorporated
town, and it still has the independent, off-the-main-drag feel of “elsewhere.” The
neighborhood is known primarily for Antique Row, the nickname for SE 13th Aven-
ue, although these days many of the antiques stores along the street have been re-
placed by restaurants and coffee shops. Sellwood's other claim to fame is Oaks
Amusement Park, a charmingly low-key family-fun spot with year-round roller skat-
ing, and the abutting Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, a great place for bird-watching.
The trail through the refuge is part of the Springwater Corridor trail network, which in
turn is part of the metro area's 40-Mile Loop trail system. (The Springwater Trail cur-
rently runs 21 miles from industrial Southeast Portland to the town of Boring; plans
call for eventually connecting it to the Pacific Crest Trail.) The narrow, 85-year-old
Sellwood Bridge is Portland's southernmost; it was built on a budget and is about to
undergo an elaborate makeover, partly to improve its earthquake-readiness.
Start at the small parking lot for Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, where
SE Milwaukie Ave. meets Mitchell St., just north of Sellwood proper. The
refuge includes about 160 acres of woodlands and wetlands and serves as
home or landing strip to more than a hundred bird species. A paved foot-
path descends into the woodlands between Sellwood and the river. After
about 500 meters, the pavement swoops right, toward the river and the
Springwater Trail—instead, you'll take the Bluff Trail, a narrower dirt
path that continues straight.
About 800 meters farther along, look uphill to your left to see the back-
side of Wilhelm's Portland Memorial Funeral Home, which has been
cheerily brightened up with paintings of birds on the lake (but remains,
somehow, just a little creepy). The opposite side of the trail here is a
dense marshland that feels quite far from the bustling neighborhood just
over the ridge.
