S4. Hike #19 - Minto Brown Park, Salem Downtown.

 Minto Brown Park - Salem Downtown


Starting Location: parking area by the Carousel, Riverfront Park.

Point of Interest : trails for hiking, biking, river

Length of hike:  Several trails, we did just over 2 miles

Level: Easy,. mostly paved trails, some gravel, flat

Bathrooms: Yes, flush toilets

Parking: Large paved lot,

EV Chargers: No


Our main goal on this hike was to get some exercise before going to a local art gallery to check out some are made by one of our hikers. The weather had been rainy all morning, but we showed up in the afternoon, and got lucky.

Riverfront Park has some nice sidewalks of its own, along with the Carousel, a playground, and some interesting structures, including the bridge that leads over to Minto Brown Park. There are a lot of trails available, you can pick and choose which ones you want to take depending on how far you want to go. 

The park is well used, with joggers, bikers, and just walkers. The trails are wide, and there was only a couple of places we had to be careful of puddles or mud.


Someone had hung some ornaments on a few trees by the river, which added to the festive atmosphere. Riverfront Park also had some Christmas lights on display, which we planned to check out when we came back after the art gallery and dinner.

We didn't really get rained on, but we were treated to this large and bright rainbow as we headed back to town. We are not afraid to stop hiking and take a few pictures. In fact, it's more of a tradition now.



After getting back to our car, we heading into downtown Salem, to the art galleries displaying art made from one of our hikers. I don't usually go to many art galleries, so it's fun to see something new, and appreciate other people's creativity. We walked to 2 different Galleries. The Elsinore Art Gallery and Frame Store, And the Salem On The Edge Gallery.

We then went to dinner at the Masonry Grill on Commercial Street, just a block from Riverfront Park. Good food. Good service.



Finally, by the time dinner was over, it was dark, and the lights were on at Riverfront Park. There was quite a variety of displays and lights, many of which made good backdrops for pictures. The weather still held for us, and we had prepared for the cold, so it was a nice way to end the day.



If you do find yourself with business in Salem, Riverfront Park and Minto Brown Island Park are great places to visit if you have some time to kill before or after your main stuff.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

S2.7 - Trillium Lake.

Image
  Trillium Lake is just past Government Camp, on the foothills of Mount Hood. The boat ramp area is decent, with a small loading and unloading area, and a pit toilet. There is a decent amount of parking, and we got there around 9am, so no trouble finding a spot. However, it got a lot busier as the day went on. There is a day use area on past the boat ramp, and that's where most people go who are just coming to swim. It's always nice to get that first glimpse of the water you will be floating for the day, but the view you get when you get to the bottom of the boat ramp is breathtaking. Everyone who comes down always stops to enjoy the view, and usually to take some pictures. During our time on the lake, I took quite a few breaks to just enjoy the view. And take lots of pictures. There is a day use area on one end of the lake, and a campground on another. A 2 mile trail goes around the lake, although part of it was closed when we were there. The campsites are spaced quite a ways ...
Read more

#6 - Ermie Walters - Alsea River

Image
  We went camping at Beachside, just south of Waldport. Our intent was to try the Alsea water trail, which starts at the mouth of the Alsea, heads upriver, and into Drift Creek. Leanna's sister was with us, and so we called around to rent a kayak for her to join us. The advice of the renter was to skip the water trail due to wind and waves, and head upriver about 19 miles to the Ermie Walters Boat Ramp . So we did. Ermie Walters is a nice boat ramp with decent parking lot for this far upriver. No bathrooms. There were 2 other cars in the parking lot. One waiting to rent kayaks, like us, and another belonging to a couple who had set up shop at the bottom of the boat ramp, and were cooking up some crawfish they had caught. Once our other kayak arrived, we put in. I got all the way in, unintentionally, as I was trying to get in my kayak. The water level was pretty low, and I had to pull my kayak into a deeper channel from the ramp. Just slipped on slippery rocks. Good news is the wat...
Read more

2.3 Waldo Lake - North Waldo Campground

Image
  Waldo Lake is infamous for a few things. Beauty. Clarity. Mosquitoes. All are justified. The boat ramp at North Waldo is large and well maintained. There is plenty of parking, and there are relatively new composting toilets all through the campground, including the boat ramp. We ended up kayaking 2 days here, so this post includes both days. We stayed at the North Waldo Campground. The sites are large, well spaced, and come complete with friendly chipmunks and birds. Especially when you have food out. The mosquitoes were very annoying. We used a lot of mosquito repellent, and had 2 citronella candles burning most of the time. The campfire also helped. Between all 3 of those precautions, and the long sleeves and pants, the mosquitoes were manageable. There are quite a few first come, first serve campsites, which is what we got.  The boat ramp is in a small bay, with an island in the middle, so it is well protected from the wind. Once you pass the island, you are subject to wa...
Read more